New purchase, first Z, seeking history

Mark Flower

Club Member
Hi. I'm new here so please be gentle with me :)

I have just bought my first 'Z, which I guess many of you will have seen was up at Silverstone Auctions recently.

http://www.silverstoneauctions.com/datsun-240z-12918

It needs some work of course, but that was expected - I am very happy with the car but know little about the history. I am trying to piece it together as best I can. I know it was raced for many years and had the inevitable bumps, so I'm not looking for war stories - just keen to (a) chart it's ownership history - I'm number 11! - and (b) figure out what the original spec was (especially the original colour, as it has been repainted a few times so the stickers are long gone).

I'm also keen to confirm whether it's a genuine 'Series 1' car as I believe it to be, how do I check that for sure? It's a 1971 with an early chassis number and the tell-tale vents in the tailgate, but I've no idea if that's the original tailgate! Does the chassis number tell all?

JGX 620K
HS30 00967

My plan is to strip her right down, dip the shell and bring her back to her former glory hence interest in original spec, colour etc.

There can't be many early UK RHD cars left? Is that something this forum tracks?

Apologies if I'm asking questions that have been answered a thousand times, I have tried looking but I haven't found anything definitive yet so am hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

THANK YOU!

Mark

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Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
Congrats on your purchase but to strip it and start again?

At what stage in it's history do you want to return it to?
 

Mark Flower

Club Member
Hi Rob. Thanks. Undecided yet... Depends if I like the original colour once I find out what it was! Car seems in fair shape but it does need a little TLC and I'm a little obsessive about my cars, I don't like doing half a job. So I'm considering biting the bullet and sorting the shell out properly rather than patching it up and keeping going as is. I'm in no particular rush and have no intentions on selling any time soon so I don't mind putting some effort and money into making it right. And if I'm going to all that trouble, I may as well return it to original colour... unless it was gold :)
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
Ok.

Series 1 - many will have an opinion on this however does it have little tool 'hatches' in the rear deck or round holes?
 

uk66fastback

Club Member
Later bodyshell then I think ... I don't think there is a way of finding out what colour it was originally as the sticker in the engine bay with the colour code on will be long gone now I am sure, plus, no way to tell from the VIN what the colour was. So pick an original colour you like and have it that colour!

Oh, and Safari Gold is THE next big colour with these cars - 918 is paseé ... !

I think the car looks fine as it is btw!
 

jonbills

Membership Secretary
Site Administrator
I saw it today at Bicester and believe it has vents under the emblems on the rear pillars, which I think supports it being a later car with an earlier hatch.
It looked nice although the stretch on the rear tyres not my cup of tea.
 

Mark Flower

Club Member
Later bodyshell then I think ... I don't think there is a way of finding out what colour it was originally as the sticker in the engine bay with the colour code on will be long gone now I am sure, plus, no way to tell from the VIN what the colour was. So pick an original colour you like and have it that colour!

Oh, and Safari Gold is THE next big colour with these cars - 918 is paseé ... !

I think the car looks fine as it is btw!

Thanks Mike!
 

Mark Flower

Club Member
I saw it today at Bicester and believe it has vents under the emblems on the rear pillars, which I think supports it being a later car with an earlier hatch.
It looked nice although the stretch on the rear tyres not my cup of tea.

Thanks Jonbills... and I agree, those stretched tyres just look wrong!
 
This guess it’s history racing means it’s likely it’s had an interesting past. It’s chassis number doesn’t fit the shell age so just paint it whatever colour you like.

Safari gold is the new orange. Looks great. Just pick a stock colour that you’d enjoy seeing.
 

Woody928

Events Officer
Staff member
Club Member
From your comments I'm assuming the respray was of literally the entire car? No hidden areas that may have been ignored such as under your rear deck tool hatches, spare wheel, under the seats or insides of the doors which could reveal the original colour?
 

Mark Flower

Club Member
From your comments I'm assuming the respray was of literally the entire car? No hidden areas that may have been ignored such as under your rear deck tool hatches, spare wheel, under the seats or insides of the doors which could reveal the original colour?

Yep, over / under / inside - I haven't started pulling it apart yet so there's bound to be some good clues buried behind the dash or wherever, but they've been quite liberal with the paint gun! :)
 

IbanezDan51

Well-Known Forum User
Hmm does this shout re-shell? That VIN number surely doesn't tie up with the shell used? There are parts of early Z and later Z all over. I know its the model year changes started so expect some dissimilarities...

The centre console has no choke levers (although an early console looks to have had an ashtray stuck where the levers should be?)

Rear hatch vents and body vents?

I quite like the colour and styling though apart from the stretched tyres.

Seems to be a D.J car?
 

johnymd

Club Member
So this car does not appear to be the one you have a log book for. That car is much latter than the vin number. Can you take a picture of the engraved vin just above the brake booster. Does this tie in with the log book? On road cars this is quite important. Race cars were often re-shelled and no one seemed to bother about it as it was not really used on the road. Not really sure what the implications are if you turn it back into a road car.

PLEASE DISREGARD THE ABOVE. I’ve now been educated.
 
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Albrecht

Well-Known Forum User
'HS30-00967' would have been an RHD Export type 'Datsun 240Z' manufactured around the middle of 1971, and would have had vented type rear quarters, non-vented type tailgate and 'tool box' type rear deck area.

I think some (of the usual) confusion regarding chassis numbers is evident from the comments here. And all that "Series 1" and "Series 2" stuff is a retrospective labelling that was never used by Nissan in period, and certainly doesn't work when applied to product aimed at markets outside north America.

The main immediately identifiable change to bodyshell construction type is that from non-vented quarter/vented tailgate to vented quarter/non-vented tailgate. The car in the photo at the start of this thread appears to have a vented rear quarter, which - if it has not been cut in later in the car's life - means it left the factory with a non-vented tailgate. Tailgates are bolt-on panels, so are not in themselves the best witnesses to the manufacturing date of a bodyshell.

As an ex race car, it will have 'had a life'. You might not want to dig too far unless you are ready to find out something that you'd rather you hadn't. A 'transfer of identity' (ahem...) is always a strong possibility with such cars...
 

uk66fastback

Club Member
"JGX 620K was registered on the 1st of October 1971 and is a genuine UK-supplied, RHD car making it quite desirable in today's market full of imported LHD models. It was fully prepared for circuit racing and was successful in the HSCC class in which it raced from 1979 through to the early 90s driven by Andy Standford. There are many magazine articles and features detailing the car's success and they are with the car. After its racing career was over it was put into storage for a number of years prior to being converted back to a road car we believe around 2012 - 2015."


DVLA says registered July 1, 1971. And it was MOT'd from 2006-2011 so not sure about the above description stating 2012-2015 ... ?

Seems to be some racing history evidence with the car - mag articles etc.
 

johnymd

Club Member
I never realised there were so few early UK cars with this one being a late car and still having a sub 1k vin number. Were early (pre vented quarters) cars actually supplied to the UK?
 
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