drifteroa3 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 hey everyone, i am looking for information regarding my '71 Z. i puchased the car 3 years ago and when i bought the car the previous owner gave me the history of the car. i would like to confirm his story if at all possible. this is what i was told. in 1971 a member of the U.S Airforce purchased the car while staioned in japan. he kept the car over there the whole time he was staioned in japan. after that he had the car shipped to the states and sold it to a military friend afterwards. his friend had the car until the day he died. his wife stored it in the barn until the guy i purchased it from found it. now i do have what i believe to be the original owners manual and on the inside cover the information reads that the car was purchased in Kadena Okinawa Japan. i dont remember the address off hand. the VIN# does match the book.(all typed in English) i do have a few of the 2nd owners registration papers and the car does have stickers for an AF Base in Maine and San Diego. it also has a sticker for the Dept. of Defense.( i dont know if any of that helps but you never know.) in all honesty i dont care much about the middle part of the story, i would really like to know if the car was purchased in japan and was driven on japanese soil. is there any way to 100%confirm this? thanks for the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theguppies Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 is it right hand drive? any datsun that was purchase from japan should be right hand drive (steering wheel on the right side) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drifteroa3 Posted February 6, 2011 Author Share Posted February 6, 2011 No. LHD. I was told it was ordered LHD because he planned on shipping it stateside. Sorry that i didnt clarify that detail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drifteroa3 Posted February 6, 2011 Author Share Posted February 6, 2011 Maybe this could help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theguppies Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 that's going to be a tough one. people in japan drive NISSAN. it's only called DATSUN outside of JAPAN. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drifteroa3 Posted February 6, 2011 Author Share Posted February 6, 2011 I personally think they let him have one before they put it on the boat. I would like to know if there is record for the sale or another shipping manifest.. i dont know what channel to use for any of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Have you tried www.classiczcars.com? Much more likely to get some good help over there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoneStarS30Z Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Looks like a pretty legitimate military address for Kadena. I'm going there in June with my Z. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS30-H Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 in 1971 a member of the U.S Airforce purchased the car while staioned in japan...... ........now i do have what i believe to be the original owners manual and on the inside cover the information reads that the car was purchased in Kadena Okinawa Japan. ...in all honesty i dont care much about the middle part of the story, i would really like to know if the car was purchased in japan and was driven on japanese soil. Okinawa was under the administration of the US until mid 1972, and Nissan sold LHD 'Export' model vehicles - as well as RHD 'Domestic' models - in Okinawa until the reversion to Japanese administration. But at any time you could have bought an 'Export' market model through Nissan's Diplomatic / personal export sales offices in several locations on the Japanese mainland. This is a well known and documented fact in Japan. Some of the privateer Japanese racers who wanted to use L24-engined S30 models in Japanese domestic racing before they were sold in Japan ( from Sept. 1971 ) bought cars from Okinawa, or from the Diplomatic sales offices. I'd say it was almost certain that your car was bought new in Okinawa, driven there for a while and then personally exported to the USA. You'll have to hit the paper trail to prove the dates and times, but I would not doubt that it is true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drifteroa3 Posted February 7, 2011 Author Share Posted February 7, 2011 HS30-H, Thank you. I learned alot from that. It also helps me confirm the story. Keep the info coming people. I like what i see so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pharaohabq Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 you might investigate how cars were registered in Okinawa back in the 70's. Unfortunately this long later you can about guarantee that nobody would have save any of the paperwork about it. Any of the records even on the shipping from Okinawa are likely gone too. The original owner may still be alive, so if you can track him or his relatives down they may be able to tell you more of the car's story. It's pretty cool that you know as much as you do. My Car for instance, I know was the lady I bought it from's mom's car, and it sat for 10 years after she blew the HG, before selling it to me because she was moving to AZ. I haven't found any paperwork other than main records from the 80's. the 90's and 2000's are a gap other than what she'd said, and the marks on the driveway that'd substantiated what she'd said. Not to mention she had no reason to lie. so tracking down the PO's family et al to see what they remember might be an idea, not to mention there might be photographs from that time. wouldn't that be cool, a pict of your car on Okinawa... Phar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drifteroa3 Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 Yea i been trying to locate him for the last few days. All i have found is records from his commercial piloting. I didnt even think about getting a pic of the car in japan! That would b great. Now the hunt begins! Thanks for all the help people! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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