HS30-H

Cheers again Ernie, I'll see if I can get to the bottom of that site. So do I, but your photos are all 365 GTB/4 Daytona Competiziones.........

Hello Ernie, Thank you for your kind words. I'm relieved that you took my post in the 'right' way, and I do hope that I did not offend - as I meant no personal disrespect to you at all. I find it really sad that it seems so difficult to refute all the bad information now out there on the 'net. Misleading information and bad research used to be a little easier to weed out before it went into old-fashioned paper print, but the 'net effectively gives a green-lighted shortcut to the bad as well as the good and discerning one from the other is pretty hard sometimes unless you already know what you are talking about. If there is any way to contact those responsible for the bad information you cut and pasted, I'd like to give it a shot. Maybe it can be put right? Goertz passed away recently, and a fresh wave of bad information washed up on the beach. The man was a talented 'stylist' and certainly put himself in the right place at the right time occasionally, but he let his ( sizeable ) ego get in the way of the truth too often. He fostered misconceptions and assumptions, and the guys who did the real work on these cars never got the credit they deserved. I've been lucky enough to meet both Yoshihiko Matsuo ( chief designer of the S30-series Z ) and Shihomi Hosoya ( part of the Toyota 2000GT design team and one of Japan's foremost race drivers of the 1960s ) and both of them are disarmingly modest and retiring, insisting that they were team players - the complete opposite of Goertz in fact. It is fascinating to listen to them talk of why they did certain things in the designs of these cars, and what they would have liked to have done given free reign. It is a pity that their voices are only usually heard in Japan......... Anyway - back to your thread Ernie. Keep the good stuff coming. I'm especially loving the tubbed B110 and your red AutoX B110. Beautiful! Best wishes, Alan T.

Racer X, Please don't take this personally ( and I'm sure you must have cut-and-pasted from somewhere - or at least I hope you did ) but the above paragraphs are complete crap. And "Raymond Loewy of Yamaha"???????!!!!!! That especially is a new one on me. May I suggest that anybody who is seriously interested in learning about the true history of the Toyota 2000GT invests in Shin Yoshikawa's excellent book, 'Toyota 2000GT, The Complete History Of Japan's First Supercar', published by K.A.I. ( ISBN 0-932128-10-6 ). For the record, Goertz was involved with the A550X design study - which was nothing to do with the Toyota 2000GT or the S30-series Z. Goertz was directly involved with neither the Toyota or the Nissan. Satoru Nozaki was the designer of the Toyota 2000GT under project chief Jiro Kawano, along with Shinichi Yamazaki ( chassis / suspension ), Hidemasa Takagi ( engine development ), Shihomi Hosoya ( assistant designer and development driver ) and Eizo Matsuda ( test driver ). Yoshihiko Matsuo was the chief designer of the S30-series Nissan Z, along with Akio Yoshida ( interior & exterior styling ), Hitoshi Uemura ( Suspension / drivetrain ), Itsuki Chiba ( interior ), Tsuneo Benitani and Hidemi Kamahara ( engineering ) and a cast of many others. Goertz had absolutely nothing to do with the Z. The people who did the real work deserve the credit, not the liars. Alan T.

The Parking Brake parts in an HLS30 are already RHD spec. If you reside in an LHD market, the most important thing you need for this conversion is a damned good reason. LOL

It says: "Kako nai wa 4wd sha". My translation: ( Information ) "inside the brackets applies to 4wd vehicles".

LOL Maybe you heard 'My Country, 'tis Of Thee', but the Renault engineers were playing 'God Save The Queen' and 'The Marseillaise'. The Renault F1 team is a 'French' team based in the UK ( formed out of the old Benetton team in fact ). The two tunes reflect those facts. I'd have thought a Canadian might have recognised one or both of them? Maybe not.

You are very welcome. I am glad that they were of interest. I'm also pleased to read your comments about the strength and location, as quite a few people with personal experience of these works and Sport Option roll-over bars say the same thing. Once the whole thing is bolted down in position it really is very strong. Still pretty frightening to think that this was just about the only crash protection that the works rally crews were given....... ( ! ). Different times indeed.

Hi Tony, They are from a genuine ex-works rally car that is being restored here in the UK. You can read about it in an upcoming issue of Nostalgic Hero magazine. The Editor in Chief and a staff photographer were over here a few weeks ago, and we covered two ex-works Zs and an ex-works 240RS ( chassis no.1 no less ). I think it will be published in November. Sure. They are more complicated that they might look in the photos though ( quite complicated pressings in very thick material ). Contact me offline about that. Cheers, Alan T.

EDITED On the subject of spoilers and other aero devices for these cars, I think it can be useful and educational to see and understand what the factory and their works race teams were doing back when the cars were current, as well as the different approaches of privateer teams. There's a lot to be learned there, even if not all of it turned out to work........ EDITED

Yes, that's a 100 litre FIA / JAF homologated works tank - just like the ones first seen on the PZR. The works cars later used a 120 litre version, and some of the fuel injected 240ZR circuit racers used a 180 litre tank. Imagine the amount of space they took up. Exactly. But the same thinking could also apply to circuit cars with low ride heights. The point in posting the pics was to show that the exhaust exit location(s) does not necessarily dictate the type of engine being used. It was designed by engineers at Nissan before Pete Brock had even seen an S30-series Z. No disrespect to BRE ( far from it ) but the attributation is erroneous, and it seems a pity that it is probably now too late to change it.

Back in 1973, some of the Nissan works rally cars were using exhaust systems that exited on both sides of the car, and also on just the right side of the car. Guess why: Back on the subject of spoilers; I see people here referring to a "BRE" rear spoiler for the S30-series Z cars. As far as I am aware, BRE never designed a rear spoiler for the first generation car - did they? Alan T.

PM received. I e-mailed you in reply. Remember you need to tell me which type of L20a you need specs for ( there were several different types - and many different specs ). Single carb / twin carb, high compression / low compression, early / late etc etc etc. Probably best to indicate what model it was originally fitted to. What car do you have?

PM your direct e-mail address to me and I'll send you some scans of factory data for the L20a.

Surely you are not comparing this car to a genuine factory original Fairlady 240ZG model? If it were a genuine factory-built 240ZG ( and the jury is still out on that one ) then it is far too adulterated to bear scrutiny in a like-for-like price comparison. This car - being 'unique' - is worth worth what ever anyone is willing to pay for it. Unfortunately, it appears that Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory was chosen rather than the Nissan factory at Oppama where it was originally built.

The original artwork ( penned by Takeshi Hosokawa ) was printed as a fold-out in a 1971 issue of 'Autosport' magazine of Japan. The other side of the fold-out is arguably nicer.....

That was never done on a Nissan works-built S30-series Z to my knowledge. JAF and FIA Groups 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 rules would not have allowed it at the time. These works 'cages' were simply roll-over protection ( in Japan they called them 'Safety Bars' ) and were not actually intended to strengthen the 'shell in any major way - although they did brace the 'hips' of the car quite well. Are you perhaps thinking of the BRE cars?

Some references: Works cage in a circuit race car: Works cage in a rally car: Detail of original Works side bracing brackets:

Welcome to 1969...........

Hello Andy ( waving ). I'm not here, I'm working. You haven't seen me, right? Max, As I have mentioned many times in the past, my opinion is that Honsowetz's quote should be disregarded because it is completely unsubstantiated, and was probably second or third-hand opinion from somebody with an axe to grind in the first place. Think a little about the politics that might be involved between a USA-based race shop ( assuming such a concern was the origin of the "4~6% gain" quote ) and a Japanese manufacturer. I've lost count of the number of times I've seen quotes that imply that the Japanese had no idea what they were doing when it came to race-prepping the L-gata engine. Much of this stems from ignorance mixed with some kind of jealousy, and in almost all cases these comments overlook the fact that Nissan were most actively engaged in completely different types of racing to the likes of BRE and BSR et al. I've even read that BRE were supposed to have "discovered" the crank harmonics issues with the earliest L24s, and "told" Nissan "how to cure" them - even though Nissan knew the problem and were working on the crank re-design long before BRE had received their first Z. It just illustrates the gulf that existed - and indeed arguably still exists - between Japan and the rest of the world. I have no idea how anybody would go about making a fair and honest like-for-like comparison between the 'normal' L-gata engine ( in what state of tune, and for what type of race? ) and a full 'LY' engine ( what capacity, what induction system, and again for what type of race? ). To offer up the quote of "4~6%" gain without any mention of parameters or variables is farcical. To sum it up, he was pretty much saying "We can't get it over here anyway guys, so best forget about it..........". Alan T.

Just about everything on an early S30-series Z makes 'more sense' in RHD configuration. That's just natural when you consider the source of much of the mechanical componentry ( Nissan's home-market sedans ), and the fact that Japan is an RHD market. Different engine mounts and a completely different bellhousing were part of the 'kit' for the 'LY', and these combined to sit the engine block at a quite different angle to the stock non-crossflow engines. The 'S20' too sat at a different angle, which was achieved with another ( different again ) bellhousing and a completely different front crossmember. I've just been through all that for my 432R replica project. Yes that's a dry sump pump, but I think the tube you can see is part of an engine stand similar to the one on the engine in the background ( except that the 'LY' has a super trick piece of 4x2 under it too .... ). Breathe out now: Alan T.

Single turbo blowing through triple Weber DCOE carbs, built and used ( although rather limited experimental use, it has to be said ) in Group 4 and Group 5 European racing by JANSPEED - based in Salisbury, UK - during the mid to late 1970s. JANSPEED obtained this particular 'LY' engine as something of a leftover from Nissan's rallying activities here in the UK, and did a little of their own experimentation with it. However, by all accounts the blow-through turbo setup was not all that satisfactory and was not pursued further. The JANSPEED 'LY' passed into the hands of others, and lives on in a road car here in the UK ( with a normal aspiration setup and Weber 48DCOEs ). We actually have two running 'LY' engines here in the UK, and I have just spent a few days with the people from 'Nostalgic Hero' magazine of Japan who are doing a feature on one of them - amongst other interesting cars here in the UK. There's at least one twin-turboed 'LY' still running around in Japan too. I took some photos of it at one of the Sagamiko meetings. I'll see if I can dig them out. Alan T.

No problem at all. You are more than welcome. Just let me know nearer the time. It should easily be road-legalised by then, so if you bring an international driving license you can have a turn at the wheel. Same applies for the ZG ( and the 432R replica if the engine is reassembled in time......... ). Cheers, Alan T.

Hello Yasin ( waves ), Well, I've not been anywhere in particular. Just a bit preoccupied maybe. Nothing Z related I'm afraid, but it might be of interest to you ( and it is in the same family.......... ). Read about the new arrival here: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22575 Cheers, Alan T.

I stand corrected. I believe Rohrl was the driver in at least one of the early Ruf videos. I have the film on VHS here somewhere........ With your quote right there, you made the point much better than I did. "Hollywood" driving is exactly what I reckon we should call it. Awesome skills nonetheless. Cheers, Alan T.

You still don't seem to be comprehending the nature and purpose of the video. Why are you automatically presuming that the main consideration in the car's setup, and the driver's intention, was to post the fastest possible lap time? It was a promotion video intended to publicise Ruf. They had cameras dotted all over the 'Ring, and even a helicopter filming from above. Now ask yourself what style of driving would Rohrl choose for maximum effect in those circumstances? A nice smooth lap with the fastest possible time wouldn't have been posted here all these years later now, would it? Looks to me like his intention had the desired effect.......