First Datsun sightings of my US trip

[richiep]

First Datsun sightings of my US trip NOW PIC HEAVY - DATSUN MUSEUM EXHIBIT

Well, I'm now in San Diego, CA, after two weeks of covering ground from Massachusetts to New York and New Jersey, and Texas (Houston and Austin). So I've finally reached the land of the "rust-free" Z! Went on walkabout earlier down the trendy, funky Garnet Ave in Pacific Beach, the neighbourhood I used to live in when I was at Uni here (and where we are staying for the next week) - and saw this:

It pulled up for a couple of mins across the road from us - long enough to snap anyway! Less than 5 mins later and a couple of blocks along the road, another 280zx 2 seater (this time a black one with big aftermarket rims and rather aggressive exhaust) rounded the corner and burbled down the road.

Also saw, but wasn't able to photo, a JDM 70s TE27 Corolla. And I've seen several Z31s, including one today, again on Garnet, that was very minty indeed - burgundy coloured and looking not far from showroom condition.

No S30s yet, but I will fix that tomorrow - going to the Datsun/Nissan exhibit at the San Diego Auto Museum in the afternoon!

Also discovered there is a street in SD full of salvage yards called Datsun Street!

 

[SeanDezart]

Great - please keep us posted - I love it !

 

[richiep]

Something I forgot to mention - I have seen a lot of 350Zs over the last couple of weeks - clearly they are very very popular. Also seen quite a few 370Zs - including a dealer in Houston with a row of about 8-10 of them out front.

On the non-Z level, I had forgotten how great San Diego is for classic car spotting - on a drive up to the UCSD campus and back through Pacific Beach and La Jolla this afternoon, I saw many interesting pieces both on the road and parked up - all sorts of 50s-70s Americana, old Porsches, Mercedes, a classic car dealer's lot rammed full of 70s and early 80s BMWs, and another top-level classic dealer with some serious pieces in the showroom, i.e. 50s-60s Ferraris. Despite being coastal, things just do not seem to rot to any significant level around here (apart from the few rat rods I've seen!). Plus on top of all this you have the bike scene here - Harleys everywhere with a few custom choppers thrown in for good measure. More photos will follow as and when I snap anything interesting.

 

[richiep]

Okay - today was Datsun day! Kerry and I visited the San Diego Auto Museum at Balboa Park and saw the "Datsun / Nissan: the American Story" exhibit. This was put on with the backing of the Nissan Heritage Museum in CA. Overall it was definitely worth the visit, although some of the exhibit's factual inaccuracies and gaps were fairly glaring and enough to displease the Count that is for sure! However, ignoring some of the misinformation and omissions from the Z car's history, the vehicles themselves were interesting.

They only displayed one S30 unfortunately (I thought they were supposed to have several) but it was a good one - a 1970 owned only by father and son and meticulously cared for by both since new. Original paint, mileage, matching numbers, etc. Incredibly clean:

Kerry and the Z!

Me, the 240Z, and its neighbour, a 10th Anniversary 280zx 2-seater:

On to the rest of the exhibit....

Datsun 2000 Roadster:

Bob Sharp Racing/Paul Newman Z31 race car:

1936 Datsun Phaeton:

Very minty Z32:

Here's an interesting one: Nissan US's La Jolla-based design bureau's attempt at a 350Z concept - interesting, but I'm glad Ajay Panchal won out! Interestingly, the car's accompanying blurb omitted mention of that fact....

Datsun 1300 pickup:

Datsun B210/120Y:

510:

 

[richiep]

240sx drifter:

:O

Oil paintings by the designer of the 370Z:

Kerry and Mr K!!!

More pics to follow from other non-Z spottings today....

 

[richiep]

Earlier in the day, we were wandering around the Gaslamp Quarter in downtown San Diego, and ended up in a classic car showroom...

A Dodge Charger Super Bee - very rare limited edition, in excellent near original condition - $104,000.... :O

Jag XK120:

One of my favourites - 68 Chevy Camaro SS. $22,000. I'd expect to see at least 22k pounds for the same thing in the UK, probably quite a bit more...

Note: also another Z spotted "in the wild" today - another 280zx, black, 2+2, for sale on a car dealer's lot - $3,000.

 

[richiep]

Momento from the Datsun exhibit - now how do I fit this into my luggage????...

 

[datsun dave]

Some great pictures Richard.

 

[Rob Gaskin]

Yeh, great pictures - thanks. That terrocota estate thingy looks a bit like my 240 .

Balboa Park, is there still a Zoo there and Space Museum?

The 240 you pictured is in nice condition but looks so unsporty in that colour, ride height and wheels. So it looks it's age, but it's original .

 

[JK240]

Great Pictures....that showroom is ace, shoehorned in there or what...wonder what they do when a guy wanders in and says "err...can I test drive that one in the middle"

 

[Quagmire]

Some great cars there I'll take the Porsche Speedster

 

[Albrecht]

This was put on with the backing of the Nissan Heritage Museum in CA. Overall it was definitely worth the visit, although some of the exhibit's factual inaccuracies and gaps were fairly glaring and enough to displease the Count that is for sure!

Richard,
One of the directors of the 'Datsun Heritage Museum' considers your S30 Fairlady Z-L to be "irrelevant" in Z history, so it's hardly surprising that there were factual inaccuracies and gaps in the exhibition.

The biggest gap of all might arguably be the gap in their collective imaginations.

Nice photos though! .

 

[JEZ 280ZX]

I wouldn't mind the "10th Anniversary" 280ZX!

 

[richiep]

Hi Alan - I was aware of that individual's involvement in the Heritage Museum (and of course zhome.com) so I wasn't surprised about the omissions and inaccuracies, especially the total absence of mention of the JDM - I think I was actively expecting gaps! There were a few basic errors though that were sloppy - the 280zx labelled as a "280z", the Z31 race car as a "Datsun"...

That Z car banner you can see in some of the photos also had some odd picture choices on it - the Nissan UK car for a 240z, a modded 280z with 240z bumper conversion, etc.

The collection needed IMO examples of each and every Z model, which it did not have (no 260z, 280z, "real" 350z or 370z).

Overall though, it was worth going purely to see the examples on display. That 240z was in utterly enviable condition. Plus, on Mondays admission to the museum was only 5 bucks!

There were also a lot of other interesting things there - I will post some of these later, such as the classic British bike collection.

Rob - the auto museum is next door to the Air and Space Museum and the zoo is still there - we didn't go to either this time though.

JK240 - I had wondered the same thing! Definitely a test by prior appointment situation!!!

 

[samuri-240]

The 240 you pictured is in nice condition but looks so unsporty in that colour

Rob, wonder what Mr Porter will have to say about this comment !!!!

 

[SeanDezart]

So can this museum be considered to have been collated with what was available rather than collected to a theme ? We see many small museums here which are more collections, either group or private in the same vein.

 

[datsun dave]

Rob, wonder what Mr Porter will have to say about this comment !!!!

 

[richiep]

The Datsun Heritage Museum has other cars in its collection that were not part of the San Diego exhibit - its just a pity that a few more of them weren't on display in SD - e.g. the #46 John Morton car among other S30s.

The DHM's take on Datsun history is not exactly definitive, as noted by the Count... If you want to see something really cringeworthy, watch this video interview with one of the guys from the museum - not exactly a high level of expertise or accuracy...

YouTube - 1972 Fairlady 240 Z

Nice car though!

 

[MCMLXXXV]

fully awesome!

 

[rhanagar]

So glad they changed their minds after that 350Z concept. It looks hideous. Nice write up and good collection of photos