Sleek Z Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 OK, so this is just a teaser to find out if anyone understands the significance of the Topic line above? First photos will appear soon at ZPARTS.COM Anybody got something to contribute or are ya'll just stumped in your tracks? John Washington, "keep your mouth shut on this one" 'cause you already know the skinny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleek Z Posted February 7, 2004 Author Share Posted February 7, 2004 RacerX is on the right track. I am going to leave my question up for a few days more just to see how many here, at a site that is primarily devoted to customizing Z cars and body mods, are aware of the rarity and significance of the Nalle GT kit related to the history of body kits made for the Z car since the 70's. One question I am trying to research is about whether Pete Brock?, former partner with Carroll Shelby, and the one often credited with the design and development of the Shelby company's Daytona Cobra racing coupe, actually collaborated on the development of the Nalle GT rebody kit for the Z car? Tid bits of info I have tracked down suggest that there is a slim possibility that this may be true in some way. For over 10 years I have been chasing historical documentation on two virtual "phantom" Z car rebody kits from the past that have greatly fascinated me, the Nalle GT in the US and the Piranha in Europe. Until last week all these efforts had not resulted in one confirmed sighting or known existence of either of these kits in the current day. In fact, as readers can see by the lack of response to this topic thread so far, virtually no one here even has even heard of a Nalle GT rebody kit! After you see how cool this kit looks on a Z car you will wonder, "how come?" The 3-4 photos that I had collected together from books and magazines of these two kits from the past suggested to me that both looked exceptionally good on a Z car body and were well thought out and constructed and yet, like vapor drifting in the air, they both seemed to have just disappeared from the planet and the awareness of the Z car and kit car enthusiast community around the world. Now I have been contacted by an owner of an officially manufactured Nalle GT by the Nalle, Ltd company. Even more impressive is that the Nalle mfg plate on the car appears to state that the guy's car is production car #001 ! OK, so come on guy's surely amongst all of you that are always discussing and debating the merits and designs of all kind of Z car body mods, some of you surely must be able to contribute more to the Nalle GT topic thread? Hint, there is an infrequent poster here from Pennsylvania that may actually have a Nalle kit in his possession, but can not document that possibility yet. Anybody know who I am referring to? Oh, and yes, for those of you that prefer easy answers instead of questions, the gods willing, there will be a full set of photos, possibly some close ups of the construction, of this recently found Nalle GT Z car rebody kit, publised at my ZPARTS.COM website eventually. Right now the Nalle car is stuck in a garage with a bad cam, but first photo I have seen shows it's body kit to be in excellent condition with two classic, bold white stripes down the center of a subdued blue paint job, sporting cool looking headlight clear covers, integrated air dam, dual chrome bullet mirrors, large mesh style wheels with center spinners and I think I can see a rear wing?. OK, so who else besides John Washington and RacerX knows something else about the Nalle GT rebody kit or the company that used to make it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240Z2NV Posted February 7, 2004 Share Posted February 7, 2004 Gosh, oh gosh, I'm just gonna pee my pants if I can't see this mysterious car Seriously, it sounds fascinating. Is this owner (oof 0001) selling? With all of the time that you have spent researching, why not publish the story somewhere? Anything to do directly or indirectly with Mr. Shelby ALWAYS gets 'ears perked up' of car enthusiasts of every genre. The Z fanatics are notably appreciative of many purist race designs..... Why are you not posting the pics here directly at a time you deem appropriate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleek Z Posted February 8, 2004 Author Share Posted February 8, 2004 RacerX, again you come through on topic with asute observation and valued info. Up to several days ago I had never seen a frontal view of a Nalle GT so I too was quite surprised to see that little slot in the forward hood bulge letting me peek inside to see the engine valve cover. Maybe it was little "oops" features like that that insured that the Nalle GT never sold in high numbers? Hopefully the owner I am in touch with will eventually dispell much of the mystery about the kit for me and others once we get some good documentation photos coming my way. btw, RacerX, throwing out or giving away old kit car magazine's from the past is a big "NO NO" for bodymen and kit car aficionados, IMO. I would even hazard a guess that St. Peter himself might bar you from passing through the "Pearly Gates" as a respectable body man if you don't bring a ton of historical kit car magazines with you to pass eternity with. Maybe you should go and "borrow them back"? because I'd really like to score copies of any old articles on the Nalle GT that might be in those issues for my archives. What are the chances? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleek Z Posted February 12, 2004 Author Share Posted February 12, 2004 OK, guys, I guess no one here, beside RacerX and John Washington, knew of or had ever seen a Nalle GT body kit on a S30 body before so now I have just published the first preview Photo of a Nalle GT at ZPARTS.COM Start at link below and click on photo above "Coming Attractions" to take you to the larger photo. http://www.zparts.com/home.html Main link to just the preview page is at http://www.zparts.com/showcase/bodykits/nalle_gt/nalle_gt_001.html Hopefully, I will receive several more photos from the new owner soon to publish that will give you all a much better impression of the kit's design overall. Also have sent Pete Brock, Carroll Shelby's partner from the past, a questonnaire about his original Daytona Cobra design and it's history, through a mutual contact that knows him well, hoping to find out about what he may know about the Z car based Nalle GT body kit. Enjoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roggaman Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 How did they come up with the company name Nalle?? "Nalle" in Swedish means teddybear... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleek Z Posted February 13, 2004 Author Share Posted February 13, 2004 Best I know, at this point, the body kit was named after the man that created? the kit, Tom Nalle and his company, Nalle Motors, LTD. See the fuzzy photo of the Nalle Motors manufacturing plate below that was found rivited to the #001 production car recently found. What I would like to know is what the words "Daytona R/T" refers to on the plate. Reference to "Daytona" on the official name plate seems rather risky from the copyright violation point of view unless Nalle Motors actually had some kind of official permission from the original designers of the famous Daytona Cobra race car? Anybody know what the "R/T" on the plate refers to? "Road & Track" perhaps? Side Note: New owner, Dennis Urick of Richmond, Virgina, has told me that he has driven to the last known address for the Nalle Motors company in Virginia attempting to trace the history of the company and it's kit, but has drawn a blank so far. Based on rumors I have run across in the past 2 years of searching, my suspicion is that Tom Nalle made an effort to sell off all of his inventory ( aprox 8 kits or bodies") sometime in the past 10 years and has since past away? Based on those rumors, I believe that 3 of the partially finished kits sold by a mystery man in Virginia (Tom Nalle?) now are located in Pennsylvania owned by two friends which have not managed to finish their kit projects to date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JAMIE T Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 I have seen Nalle Daytona's. The same guy owned a couple of them, and a couple of unbuilt ones. The cars were rough. He sold them rescently to a guy in PA. He lived not far from me in Richmond VA. Gosh, all somebody had to do was ask... The same guy also has a Vette with a horrible body kit on it('70's). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted February 15, 2004 Share Posted February 15, 2004 "Tom Nalle designed and built a conversion kit to transform Datsun 240Z sports cars into a quasi-replica of the Cobra Daytona Coupe. The kit consisted of a set of fiberglass panels that were attached to the Datsun body. Datsun running gear could be used or an engine swap was available to fit a Ford 302 under the hood. Nalle was located in Richmond, Virginia." -Harold Pace page 151 of - The Big Guide to Kit and Specialty Cars Maybe R/T means "Road and Track", meaning a dual-purpose car. Real Shelby GT350s used the notations S or R Street or Race. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KillerZees Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 does anyone have a link that this piece can be viewed from. I tried searching it on the web but got no good sites turned up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KillerZees Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 nevermind you posted it on the site since I checked last Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JAMIE T Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 The guy that sold the cars and body kits to the guys in PA is an Asian guy who owns a nail salon in Richmond VA. I think he said he had 7 of them at one time, but has sold all of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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