Unsure if this has been posted in the past. Does anyone know Production Numbers for JDM models ? Slicktop vs Targa Top , Rare paint and trim options ? etc
I just happened to have seen this blog the other day, it might help you out. https://z32enjoytheride.wordpress.com/jdm-production-number-list/
Ive been in contact with john via email for many years now. He is a great wealth of z32 knowledge and information as you can see he has a very rare and expensive collection of rare z32 parts. It started off as a simiple q&a about my z project and what my goals were for my car and as it turns out, we both had nearly exactly the same desires for building our Z's with not just later spec parts but to also find and install rare optional parts to our cars to make then unqiue and interesting. As you can see from his website vlogs he has quite an extensive collection of z optional parts, including the ukspec powering cooler, optional mirror targa top glass, us based incar phone and many others. He has been in the z game for alot longer then me and his collection started well before i started mine. We have shared z specific information to each for many years but unfortunately we have fallen out of touch as of the past few years.
Another source for the Z32 production numbers appears in the "300ZX 350Z The Z-car story" by Brian Long. Subtracting the "Exports" totals from the "Production" totals gives a value of 64,884 for the JDM.
Not sure I agree with those numbers, it's pretty common knowledge that Z32 production commenced in July 1989. I'm thinking something got lost in translation with that book. I'm currently working through the VIN list from FAST and hope to have something out by the end of the year, but the VIN records definitely don't line up with those numbers.
Remember that the Z32 was launched in the US at the Chicago Autoshow - February 11th-19th 1989. The show attracted over 990,000 visitors. This show was the main launch event for the US, Nissan's most important marketplace for the new car. The NA 2+0 went on sale from May 1st 1989. The NA 2+2 went in sale in June 1989, followed by the Turbo (2+0 only in the US) in September 1989. Katsuo Yamada, chief designer of the 300 ZX project for Nissan Motor Corp., stands next to the new 300 ZX Turbo model that was introduced, Feb. 8, 1989 in Chicago, just before the opening of the Chicago Auto Show. The JDM launch was July 10th 1989. Nissan would have needed cars in the showrooms in the US to support the marketing and sales campaigns together with test cars for journalists and dealers to support. So it is likely that the production line would have been started up before the US launch to get the cars built and shipped to the US in time and to get the production line running smoothly. This undated photo from "The 300ZX enthusiast's companion" by Ray Hutton shows a LHD 2+0 NA alongside a Z31 so there was overlap between building the two types.
Does anyone know how many slicktops were made? I couldnt see any break downs in the link. I read a post that less than 600 jdm slicktops in manual TT were built between 89-00.
Good point, I didn't factor in US cars. The earliest cars with a VIN are dated February 1989. Of those, I would assume a number were pre-production as #000034 was the 'jump car' that featured in the superbowl ad. The only reason it survived was that it got donated to a university and then instead of being disassembled like intended it just sat in storage for 20 years. I remember seeing photos when it came up for sale and noticing that it had a few distinct differences, like the NA intake hoses being different. I've tried to find photos but unfortunately there's not much available on it. I also remember reading that Nissan donated a number of cars to be used at race tracks in the US with the provision that they never got road registered but cant find the original source for this so take it with a huge grain of salt. It's very likely that a few test mules were made in 88, but I can't see Nissan making several thousand. And with no vin's showing production in or near 88 I just don't think nearly 5000 is believable (also the one in the photo has the nissan logo on the nose panel which wasn't available in any market for years so maybe this was a pre-production sample?) Still a cool photo regardless.
I think more like early prototype designed intake pipes. They open up space to get to the PTU and CAS more easily but they look really out of shape when you think about it, and i doubt they would flow air as efficiently as the standard intake pipe we finally got in all z32 production models.
July 1989 to August 2000, there were 4075 hardtops produced (for Japan). 2293 NA, 1782 TT 2494 manual, 1581 auto In the last few years of production, 2+0's were only offered as manual hardtops (NA or TT). I'll let you guess how many in total were factory manual TT
Well the cat's out of the bag now. I analysed the 2+0 FAST database yonks ago and then promptly forgot about it. My numbers nearly exactly match yours Ryzan, but i won't spoil the number of factory hardtop TT manuals. I also looked at paintcodes and options, didn't bother compiling stats for options though. 4777 TT 2+0 Ttop 2850 Man 1927 Auto 1782 TT 2+0 Hardtop ??? Man ??? Auto 2719 NA 2+0 Ttop 1567 Man 1152 Auto 2291 NA 2+0 Hardtop ??? Man ??? Auto The rarest possible chassis configuration of 2+0 is: TT 2+0 Hardtop Auto. There were 2 'mystery' frames amongst the 2+0, these frames are flanked by regular cars in the same series but have no information recorded besides production month. Would be very interested to see what happened to these cars! CZ32-500012 Z32-003868 The rarest 2+0 (Hardtop) colours are: EJ0 1 <- Gold pearl, otherwise a Canada/US exclusive colour only 1 built, NA 2+0 Hardtop Auto 326 2 EM3 3 EV1 10 DN1 11 KR4 32 LP2 34 KL1 50 GL1 66 AH3 120 TH1 126 AJ4 133 QN0 135 KH3 136 TK3 138 EH7 145 KL0 189 KH6 283 KH2 459 AG2 524 673 718 732 758 I don't have colour data for 2+0 Ttop yet. Got started getting through the 2+2s but there are ALOT more of those (>5:1 compared to 2+0) and frankly i don't care much about 2+2s so lost interest.