Question about 240Z fairlady cars

[Guest dantm]

Hi, a few days ago I joined this forum and asked a few questions regarding body kits and so on...now after reading a lot, I realize that the body style I like the most from the 240-style cars is the Fairlady as seen in the following picture:

 

 

Now, can somebody tell me more about these cars, what is their history, how rare are they and so on...I absolutely *love* the lines on this car here and I'd be interested in getting such a car for myself.

 

Thanks a lot,

 

 

/Dan

[inZane 240]

The member that would be able to give you the most information regarding this car, a 240zg, is HS30-H. Not only is he an expert on the history of these cars, he happens to own one. Hopefully he will chime in here, but you might want to PM him.

[BayAreaZT]

Welcome to the Z world . You can read up on the history at this site http://www.zhome.com/

[Guest ON3GO]

well like the otehrs said HS30-H is the man about this but if your in the states then the car you see before you never came here.

but you can build one just like it to a USDM 240Z.

what that car has is the G-nose front end with headlight covers, Euro rear bumper (same as 240Z bumper but without the black rubber parts and no holes, it has ZG mirrors, and ZG flares which are the wider ones (the ones im trying to find!)

It has Watanabe wheels and Euro turn signals (not sure if the JDM Z's had the clear ones too).

it has teh 432R wing (im 99% sure).

 

mike

[HS30-H]

Hi dantm,

Thanks to inZane 240 for namechecking me.

 

First, a quick heads-up; ALL Japanese domestic market S30-series Z cars were called Fairladies. All the subsequent models too for that matter, but you seem to be interested in the S30-series of "Fairlady Z" - so we'll stick to that series for this thread.

 

The picture that you attached shows a fairly well-known car ( at least its fairly well known on the Web ) and I believe that it belongs to a gentleman named Mr Miya in Japan.

 

When you look at that car, you will notice the body differences between his car and the 'normal' shaped S30-series Z cars ( as were delivered to the USA / North American market - where I believe you reside ). The main differences are the extra pieces at the front of the car ( the longer 'sugar scoop' headlamp cowlings with their plexiglass and stainless steel covers, the Bonnet - sorry Hood - extension, the Urethane front bumper and the extended lower body panel ). You will also notice the fibreglass "Overfenders" that are pop-riveted to the wheelarches. What you cannot see is that this car also has different Bonnet - sorry Hood - hinges to the 'normal' bodied cars.

 

In fact the car in the picture is a replica of a limited-edition model of Fairlady called the "Fairlady 240ZG". Its Factory model code was "HS30-H", and it is commonly called the "ZG" or "G-Nose". It was built by Nissan between late 1971 and late 1973, and was a special model intended to homologate aerodynamic body parts for Nissan's Group 4 circuit race cars in Japan. Once the Factory had built and sold a certain quantity of this model to the general public ( 400 examples were stipulated for Group 4 at that time ) it allowed them to use even more radical equipment - based on the standard production model - for their domestic circuit racing programme.

 

Nissan also made these parts ( and the more radical versions of them too ) available to the general public, and to privateer race teams, through their "Sports Option" parts lists in Japan. These parts lists were a wealth of performance equipment not usually seen outside Japan. Some of these items were sold via Datsun Competition in the USA - but only a comparatively small proportion of them.

 

However, the "G-Nose" panels DID make their way to Datsun Competition in the USA ( or at least a very few of them did ) and were sold to racers and street performance enthusiasts. Thereafter, fibreglass copies of the real ( 5-piece ) thing were taken and some companies ( notably EVA ) sold their own versions. These were, on the whole, not a patch on the excellent quality of the originals.

 

It should be noted that attaching replica ( or even real ) G-Nose panels to a 'standard' model will NOT make it a genuine "ZG". Only the Factory in Japan could make a real ZG. Think of it as something akin to a Plymouth Superbird and you will get the feeling for what I mean.

Of course I would say that, as I own a genuine Factory-built Fairlady 240ZG here in London, England. Its the only genuine one in Europe, as far as we know.

 

There were actually myriad differences between the genuine HS30-H model and the other models - too many to go into here - and it takes a lot of explaining. If you are genuinely interested in them, then I would be happy to try and advise you if I can.

 

Good replicas of these panels can still be bought in Japan - but they are rather costly I'm afraid. Shipping and taxes also hurt. NOS Hinges are in very limited supply with specialists and private dealers, as are the Headlamp Covers. Companies such as Motorsport Auto in the USA sell their own versions of the fibreglass parts, but I'm sorry to say that in my opinion they do not fit or look like the real thing. I believe their "Overfenders" - manufactured by Classic Datsun Motorsports? - are much clser to the real thing though.

 

I'm also sorry to say that you won't find too much enlightenment on the Japanese domestic models ( or indeed any of the RHD 'Export' models either ) on zhome.com................. It seems to be an area that is something of a blind spot there.

 

I'm always willing to help if I can. I spend a little more time over on classiczcars.com than here on HybridZ, but still look in from time to time as I think there are excellent technical minds here. You can take a look at some images of my own car ( along with many other Japanese domestic models ) in my Gallery at classiczcars.com - its listed under my User Name there of "HS30-H".

 

Sorry to plug another site, but that's where most of my images reside.

 

Best regards,

Alan Thomas.

London, UK.

[Guest ON3GO]

HS30-H could you help me out one this..

i want the ZG flares thats on that car in the pic.. as you can tell and know there wider then the ZG flares they sell at MSA and CD...

do you know where i can get these. i dont care if there not rear ZG flares, but do you know if anybody sells aftermarket copys of these?

thanks

 

mike

[HS30-H]

Hi Mike ( ON3GO ).

Yes, the car in the pic has Overfenders that are wider than the genuine ZG Overfenders - so they must be aftermarket.

 

A little-known fact is that the part numbers for the ZG-type "Overfenders" were actually the same as those for the Fairlady 432-R ( PS30-SB model ) which became available from 1970 - a full two years before the debut of the ZG model. They even had the same Nissan part numbers, so really its a grey area as to whether the Overfenders on the original ZG are actually the 432-R Overfenders or ZG Overfenders.....................

 

The Overfenders on the car in the picture are wider than the standard ZG items - and are therefore aftermarket parts. The wider than stock Overfenders associated with the "Type A" and "Type B" Works /Sports Option aero package were NOT like those in the picture. Please do not confuse the wider "Type A" and "Type B" Overfenders available from the Sports Option lists in Japan with the ones that you see on the car in the photos. The ones on the car in the photo are NOT Factory parts, and therefore its difficult to pin down the supplier. They could have been made by any number of companies in Japan, and they even may be copies of copies. They are NOT replicas or versions of Nissan Factory parts - so its impossible for me to guess the supplier, Sorry.

 

Please do not call them "ZG" flares, as they are NOT the same thing at all. I will have to look into the supplier situation of these parts in Japan for you.

 

With respect, I have to point out a couple of other points too:

 

The fender-mount mirrors that you see on the car in the photo are no different to the fender-mount mirrors that are seen on other early models of Japanese domestic market Z cars. There is no such thing as a ZG mirror; they are the same as those on the other models.

 

The front indicator lenses on the early Japanese domestic market S30-series Z cars were amber. The clear or 'white' lenses were not correct for the Japanese domestic market models. This applies to the ZG model too. It had amber lenses from the Factory.

 

The rear bumper on the ZG model was painted in the same metallic Gunmetal grey colour as the Overfenders, front Bumper and lower panel. It was not chromed. It also had an additional rubber trim in the centre of the bumper that joined the two corner trims.

 

Alan T.

[inZane 240]

Hey Alan,

I love it everytime you post! So much information. If you ever write a book about Z's let me know and I'll be the first to buy it!

[Guest JAMIE T]

WOW! Great information. As some of you know, my '71 may have been one of the first to have been fitted with "ZG Flares"(or should I say 432-R flares?) in the US. My '71 has had them since the very early 80's as told to me by the guy who installed them(poorly). When I first saw my car(before I bought it), I fell in love. It was the hardest, meanest looking Zcar I had ever seen. After searching the web, I found out that pretty much all of the popular cars in Japan looked like mine. I installed Fairlady mirrors, and got some original Fairlady Z emblems. It already had an air dam and rear spoiler. It seems like everyone has them, or wants them now.

 

For the record, since my wife just gave birth to our daughter, I would give up a testicle to own an original 432-R.

 

I'm not a huge fan of the G-Nose, but would take one if it was a good deal.

[blueovalz]

Excellent material there Alan, Thanks

[Guest Speedmade]

Hello,

I joined this group a few days ago. I just pulled a 75 Fairlady from a field in Kentucky. It was brought into the US by a serviceman coming back from the Phillipines. I have no idea how it ended up down south.

 

I am selling some of the parts.

Original G-nose front bumper with the metal frame backing -excellent-

Original fender flares -good usable cond-

Original rear spoiler -good useable cond-

Full set of Mikuni triple carbs with intake and linkage -needs rebuilt-

 

I did not get the G-nose section. If anyone is interested I can send pictures. Just e-mail me.

I like to offer parts to club people before I E-bay them.

Reed Herman

[Guest ON3GO]

Speedmade please send me some detailed photos of the spoiler and overfenders..

oldschoolhybrid@yahoo.com

 

HS30-H thanks for helping me out on that. I didnt think the clear lights came on the cars in japan, nor the bumper thats why i said Euro.

if you could find out any info on where i could buy the wider "ZG" Style fenders it would be awesome.

also they offered the Fender mirrors in both chrome and Black right? was it just a different option when buying a Z? or is the chromes ones you see on the cars from aftermarket companys?

thanks for the great info on these cars, im loving it

 

mike

[Guest Z kid]

I would be interested in the front ZG bumper, if it is of the correct material, not an aftermarket fibreglass one. Also the carbs, sent you a PM.

[Guest Speedmade]

Gents,

Sorry this took so long. I have uploaded pics of the bumper, the flares, and the carbs in a personal photo album on this site.

The bumper is fiberglass, I have been told that it would not be original, but it was with the car when I bought it. So I don't really know.

Let me know if anyone is interested.

Reed H

[DAW]

Great thread! DAW