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Nissan Fairlady Z / Datsun Z (S30)

7K views 67 replies 4 participants last post by  Motor 
#1 · (Edited)
Fuel injected Jag 5.3L V12 mated to a T-56 6 speed tranny, 12 bolt Corvette IRS with 4:11 gears. Approx. 400 bhp. Very quick. New paint, 18" wheels, 225/40 and 275/35 tires, battery and tune up. Too much to list. Google V12 240z for more info and pics (car was silver). Now British Racing Green with black flares. Nice stock black interior. Custom touches can be changed to suit different taste. A dependable driver that turns heads everywhere. Built properly-not just thrown together.
Price: $9,800.00
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#3 ·
What I love about the Jag 12 swap in an old car is that it looks classic. High Five!
 
#9 ·
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What do you get when you cross a rusted 1971 Datsun 240Z with a Chevy 4.3L V6 and a turbo from a Ford Power Stroke Diesel? The Rotsun! During Roadkill Episode 25, Freiburger and Finnegan revived the Rotsun expecting it to dominate in the 9-car autocross showdown of previous Roadkill project cars. It also needed to beat a 2014 Kia Rio 5, but failed to do so with the Rotsun shamefully breaking down before completing a decent lap. So in this episode: revenge. After swapping in the mismatched turbo and making nearly 400 rear-wheel horsepower, the guys head to the autocross at the Goodguys 5th Spring Nationals in Scottsdale, Arizona and mingle with fans on their way to a rematch with that dastardly Kia.
 
#11 ·
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This week's Car v Bike battle mixes up the formula, with the off-road KTM 450 EXC going up against a long-distance rally prepared Datsun 240Z. Who will come out on top?
 
#12 ·
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The only thing rarer than the sight of a Datsun 240Z in the English countryside is the sight of two 240Zs in the English countryside. Spend enough time on the backroads of Kent, however, and chances are Mel Streek and his son, Ollie, will scream past you in their pair of Z cars.

Rest assured, you’ll have no trouble telling the two cars apart. The “Ratsun”–so nicknamed for its rough exterior–belongs to Mel, though after purchasing it he quickly found that he was seldom able to drive it because Ollie was always in it. This sent Ollie on a quest for a 240Z of his own, and he found it, in Copenhagen, in the form of a pristine 1973 model. This automotive odd couple can now be found barreling through the country lanes in tandem.

Not that having his own Z has stopped Ollie from eyeballing his dad’s car–he’d like to own both. After all, Ollie’s car may be easier to drive, but it’s Mel’s that gets the attention of onlookers.

“Mine’s the one that actually turns the heads,” says Mel, smiling proudly.

For now, though, Ollie can take solace in the fact that these two Datsuns seem destined to share a garage–if not an owner–for a long time to come, as both of the Streek’s refuse to part with their 240Z.

Drive Tastefully®
 
#13 ·
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I had a bad history of asthma as a kid, and my dad rushed me to the ER late one night in a brand new one. He was pretty worried and drove like my life depended on it. It was the scariest and most awesome moment of my childhood- Ben Davis.
 
#14 · (Edited)
'Mr. K,' Datsun pioneer and father of the Z car, dies at 105
http://www.autonews.com/article/201...n-pioneer-and-father-of-the-z-car-dies-at-105
He fought Nissan's conservative management in Japan to build U.S. unit

Yutaka Katayama, Nissan’s first U.S. president, who grabbed American consumer awareness by introducing the affordable Datsun Z sports car in the early 1970s, has died at 105.

Known publicly as “Mr. K,” Katayama left his U.S. post 40 years ago and retired from Nissan altogether in 1977. But his lingering presence as an elderly, spry and sometimes critical voice from the past has continued to sustain U.S. brand interest in both Nissan’s Z cars and Nissan itself.

In the 1990s, Nissan’s U.S. sales and marketing subsidiary -- where Katayama had been president from 1965 to 1975 -- began featuring a look-alike actor portraying “Mr. K” character in its TV advertising.

News services are reporting Saturday that Katayama died of heart failure Thursday evening in a Tokyo hospital.

Katayama is widely associated with the original Datsun 240Z, introduced in 1970 in the wake of the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro’s popularity. He remained active until recently as a visiting celebrity at Z fan clubs and Datsun and Nissan heritage events.

It was also under Katayama’s pioneering years that Nissan’s fledgling U.S. retail network rolled out the iconic Datsun 510, a small but racy Japanese sedan that Katayama hoped would steal some shoppers from Germany’s BMW.

In 1960, Katayama was dispatched against his wishes to the U.S. for early market research. He considered the posting “exile” for speaking out against Nissan’s Japanese unions. Once in place in Southern California, he earned a name for himself as a Japanese executive with little patience for the cautious and conservative outlook of his decision makers back in Japan.

A break from traditional thinking

His career serves as a vivid snapshot of what Japan’s auto industry went through to establish itself in America.

Japan’s automakers in the late 1950s widely believed that venturing into the United States was foolhardy. Conservative managers at Nissan and other Japanese auto companies were reluctant to offer their small, typically underpowered products for America’s high-speed highway driving.

Katayama repeatedly locked horns with corporate management back in Japan, insisting that there were viable opportunities for the taking in America.

In the late 1960s, Katayama balked at the plan to market the new Z sports car in the U.S. under its Japanese name: “Fairlady.”

Nissan’s 1970s management, in turn, refused to plan for the production volumes that Katayama insisted his U.S. organization could sell.

It also fell to Katayama to sew together a hodgepodge of Datsun dealer arrangements in America. As was true for other Japanese companies who dared enter the U.S. in the 1960s and 1970s, Nissan’s Datsun distribution plan was a loose mixture of independent dealers and distribution regions that did not quite add up to a 50-state retail network -- nor attempt to cooperate.

Los Angeles dealer Morrie Sage, who died in 2011, once reminisced with Automotive News that Katayama had inspired him to leave his job as manager of a local Ford dealership to become a Datsun dealer. Sage recalled that in 1969, Katayama told a room full of potential Datsun dealers that “everyone in this room will become a millionaire one day.”

Nissan Division now has approximately 1,100 U.S dealerships, who last year sold 1,269,565 cars and light trucks.

Outspoken in later years

Katayama continued speaking his mind beyond age 100. After Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn resuscitated the Z in the 2000s with the 350Z and the 370Z to global acclaim, Katayama dismissed the 370Z as a “so-so” car.

In 2009, he told Automotive News that the 370 was too heavy and too expensive, compared with the nimble and affordable concept behind the 240Z.

Katayama also made no secret of his disapproval Nissan’s 1983 move to do away with the Datsun name in favor of “Nissan” as a brand name.

Nissan is now working to reintroduce the Datsun brand name in selected emerging world markets.

Life & Times of Mr. K

Nissan produced a three-part series of videos titled "Life & Times of Mr. K, Yutaka Katayama," in which he reflects on 80 years in the car business.

Note: The interview was conducted in Japanese. For English subtitles, click the "cc" button below the video after it begins playing.


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#17 ·
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“This is where it all started, this is where the roots are,” says Glenn Chiou. “It has that ‘Z’ because of this car.”

With a 1972 Nissan 240Z-L in his care, Chiou is already the owner of an exceedingly rare car in the U.S. He then used his knowledge of history and Nissan’s past to source unobtanium-grade parts from the period Datsun competition catalogue, which tastefully brings this car up a notch in performance but retains a completely authentic look.

Drive Tastefully®
 
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