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1979 Fairlady Z RHD with No VIN Plate?


Erins.ZCar

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Looking at buying what appears to be a true RHD Fairlady Z. Weird thing is it has no VIN plate behind battery or on shock towers or body tag on door jams.The cowl has the VIN S130-008634 stamped onto it. It also has a bizarre cowl hood and what appears to be a Pantera Hatch with a Whitetail spoiler glassed in. Has anyone ever seen anything like this? Problems uploading pics right now, will try to add later.

 

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Edited by Erins.ZCar
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Current owner says it went from California to Missouri according the guy he bought it from and that it was SCCA raced in CA supposedly. I love my 4 speed coupe and hate the idea of trading it for a non-running project but if this is a rare car and not cobbled-up piece I don't want pass it up.

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My 72 car only has the VIN stamped on the firewall, and provided on a VIN plate in the engine bay.

 

JDM cars did not have, to my knowledge, VIN plates on the dash or door jam. Not entirely sure why.

 

I'd pass, S130 Fairlady Z's aren't exactly rare, and come up pretty often. Especially if it was raced and has all these body mods to it.

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The firewall VIN is the one to worry about...plates are easily changed.

 

The Fairlady z had a VIN Tag plastic riveted to the firewall like the US model, as well as the typical underhood plate with Chassis and Engine SN.

 

No door jamb, nor dash board plate was installed ( though if imported to comply legally it should have one on the DRIVER's side ( right side)

 

The car as stated IS NOT worth even the $1,200! I'd offer half that as a gift... I got a 78 Fairlady 280Z(X) GIVEN to me!

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Just got from from seeing this inigma live! I feel so bad for the current owner. He was sold this car as some one of kind special vehicle and it is a cobbled up POS. No VIN plates anywhere, no holes in the cowl behind the battery or on the shock towers to indicate a plate was ever attached either place. There's no VIN plate on dash or even the FMVSS body tag to indicate this car was even legally imported. The rear hatch is just as I thought it was, a Panteta hatch with a whaletail spoiler very poorly glassed on to the back end. Both rear quarters are shot and need replaced. Doors skins are rusted thru in multiple places. The motor appears to be an 82 L28ET and has been pulled for at least 3 years. There is a 5 speed trans for it that I don't think came with the car or motor. The only two positives I saw was the fiberglass cowl hood and the original power remote fender mirrors. The hood is definitely professionally built of dense fiberglass matting using a mold of the original hood. Then they cut a rectangle in the center of the hood and mounted and blended a 4" raised cowl with vent pockets in front of the angular cuts into the hood for air flow. Not my particular taste, but very well done. I have never seen and can find no pictures of that cowl design on the internet at all. The drawback to the remote electric mirrors are they ABS plastic housings, cleaned, sanded, and repainted they would nice.

 

I suggested that the owner consider parting everything out since it is already taken apart completely. He bought it on a Missouri bill of sale and never titled here in Arkansas.  It was registered in MO last in 2008 which requires vehicle inspections as indicated by the window sticker, so I'm confused how it was titled without VIN plates. Oh well, it's his problem not mine! I suggested he register here and sell the parts, hopefully there will be an influx of RHD parts soon.

 

Thanks again for all the advice!

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You don't NEED VIN plates (once AGAIN "they are easily changed") you title it off the HARD CHASSIS VIN which you show CLEARLY exists!

 

Was the car Manual R&P or power Recirculating Ball?

 

I can't understand what the obsession with VIN plates is....of ANY identifiers of vehicle origin, they are the LEAST reliable. I have seen COUNTLESS swapped plates, so many I can't count. But in only ONE case did I find (On a car with swapped VIN Plates, no less!) a car with a VIN that was bondoed over to conceal the vehicle's TRUE origin. For all the Salk of cutting and welding Hard VIN's to make "the perfect swap" I haven't seen any accomplished on a Z-Car. They simply aren't worth the money to justify the expense. On the one instance if the bondoed over VIN, I was doing what the Official Police Garage should have done...verifying plate to chassis number. It wasn't there, and a pocket knife revealed the ruse... I actually bought the car....once the VIN was CORRECT (only the stamped one in the chassis really counts...)

 

For the others, I've see inspectors accept Dymo Labelmaker Plates! Kinda hard to passably falsify the hard stamped VIN in the Firewall....

Edited by Tony D
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The firewall VIN is the one to worry about...plates are easily changed.

 

The Fairlady z had a VIN Tag plastic riveted to the firewall like the US model, as well as the typical underhood plate with Chassis and Engine SN.

 

No door jamb, nor dash board plate was installed ( though if imported to comply legally it should have one on the DRIVER's side ( right side)

 

The car as stated IS NOT worth even the $1,200! I'd offer half that as a gift... I got a 78 Fairlady 280Z(X) GIVEN to me!

 

I don't want to argue about this. The concern for me was as you stated above "if imported to legally comply" it should have some type of VIN plate or FMVSS body tag. The condition of the car, the possible title issues, and the questionable body modifications done did not warrant any kind of offer from me. It surely wasn't worth, in my opinion, the value of my 76 coupe nor was it worth the possible time and money I would have to spend if I encountered title issues were I to buy it.

 

Thank you for your time and opinion, as well as everyone else's. This is the best Z community I have found!

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Only at time of importation, there is no real federal requirement they stay there. Feds are more interested in skylines and high-value cars my way. These are old enough for DOT exemption now so the point on that part is academic. You obviously have never encountered a "legally imported"! As I mentioned DYMO LABELMAKER VIN TAGS pass muster. And they fall off if you don't use the good stainless steel tags. Stick another one on there. You're not altering the VIN doing this, merely replacing a missing tag. It's nt NISSAN that supplies those tags on individual importation....it's the importer. Same for the GVWAR and importation date stickers, the tire pressure sticker in the glove box, the seat belt buzzer, rear marker lights, the 85mph speedometer, blah blah blah... Once the car is imported and cleared, you can do anything you want! People put KPH speedos in US cars, JDM Tailights, JDM non-compliant bumpers, shaving the rear marker lights... The same goes for individual imports. Once compliance is achieved and bond is released, it's like any other car, you can modify it to your heart's content. Federal importation on a now-DOT exempt vehicle. Pffft! The Feds don't care, they said so with the exemption from compliance! You're running by a play book written for cars over five model years old, up to 30 model years old. This car hasn't been required to meet that standard for at least three years! It's a non-issue.

 

And believe me. On this, THAT phrase coming from ME in relation to a federal compliance issue is monumental. I was the naysayer on the R32 imports...the guy who "was being unreasonable" because "the Feds don't care, when was the last time you saw one impounded?"

 

The car is a nice $800 parts find, or a driver... Legal importation ceased being an issue on that model years ago...

 

Why did you reference the older post and not the latest?

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I understand and appreciate your opinion here. The only point I am trying to make is that "for me", due to the combination of things I've listed previously, the vehicle is worth nothing to me. The VIN plate situation is only one of those reasons. I have been collecting, restoring, and selling custom vehicles for 30 years in my spare time. I have learned to walk away if it looks like a duck and smells like a skunk. I brought this situation to this forum for other opinions and because I could find no old threads similar. I can happily say that if anyone else runs into a similar situation your information will help them make the right decision for themselves. Thanks again for your info.

 

I only quoted your earlier statement because you referred to the fact it should have some kind of plate if legally imported. Honestly, I thought you were joking about the Dymo Label. Sorry I misunderstood. Take care!

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My 1973 GS31 ứa legally imported, the idiots at the DMV ALWAYS look on the Left Hand B-Pillar for the VIN number, to head them off I put Dymo Labels like I'd seen in the past with other grey market imports... It was five minutes into the inspection before the inspector realised it was RHD. Then he couldn't properly interpret the FMVSS Individual Importation Sticker on the Right Hand B-Pillar (stated date of importation, "1987" so that was the year model the fool wanted to use. That's how I ended up with a replica of the 1973 Tokyo Motor Show 260Z(E)!!!

 

For others edification to reinforce what I'd said earlier:

 

CAR-CHRUSHIN' FEDS

 

Apparently it still is 25 years and not the 30 I stated... But there IS a point where The Feds just can't bother with the background noise. The grey area in which I have always subsisted... Like Bo &Luke Duke.... Well, at least like Uncle Jesse or Cooter...

Edited by Tony D
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  • 3 weeks later...

I agree exactly with everything TonyD says above for extra reference.  My father legally imported my 79 RHD JDM ZX through California.  He had to add the dash VIN plate to match the firewall plate, take some pictures proving the safety conformance and pass an inspection only one time.  That was over 20 years ago though so maybe some of the importation laws have changed.  From what I've seen though I think it would have been the same today though.  Like you said though, I'd be more worried about the actual condition of the car and the cost/time to drive it instead of the VIN stuff.

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