1972 Orange LHD 240Z Cali

[Albrecht]

Sean: could be that the purchase was made in Japan and the car was drop shipped to a dealer in the states for delivery. Or the military shipped it for free which saved him some money. I understand he was a pilot joc and probably saw the Z sitting on a lot one day and thought to himself it was a pretty cool Japanese car to have in the states.

99% of cars purchased in Japan by US Forces personnel were to be locally registered (on special 'SOFA'/Status Of Forces Agreement license plates) and used in Japan, at least for the duration of the tour in question. On returning to the US, such cars could either be sold 'on base' or locally in Japan, or brought back to the US gratis as personal effects.

Occasionally such cars ended up in the UK. When USAF personnel on RAF/USAF exchange schemes spent time on attachment at UK RAF bases, they often came via a deployment in Japan. It made sense for them to bring their RHD Japanese cars to the UK with them, and either sell in the UK at the end of their tour or - if they wanted to - take them back to the US gratis.

My 1970 Fairlady Z-L was bought new in Japan by a USAF pilot, then brought to the UK when he was on an RAF exchange programme. He sold it on locally when he went back to the States. I have the original bill of sale, registration papers, servicing records and all sorts of other stuff for it.

 

[SeanDezart]

Thanks guys.

Similar stories have happened here with military personnel on bases in Germany and at SHAEF in Belgium.