EVENT: S30.world Japan tour pt. 1 – Kyoto car meet and rollout

If you follow some of the bigger S30 specialized accounts on social media, I’m sure you’ve seen photos of the S30.world Japan expedition. Over the last 10 days, we spent time in Japan exploring the local S30 scene, culture and cuisine and nothing could have prepared me for what I’d witness during that time. What the Team put together was truly incredible, with many dreams of mine coming true in a short time, and that all in the company of some of the world’s leading S30 experts. I’m still trying to process it all and have thousands of photos to go through.
Due to the sheer volume of impressions and things that happened, I have to split the report in several separate posts, so this is part one. And expect a lot of more content coming in the coming weeks.

So, where do we start? On 1st of November, I landed at the Osaka Kansai Airport and continued the journey to Kyoto, where the other guys were already busy with setting up the S30.world car meet for the following day.

The show was privately organized and an invitation-only event, as some of the cars were very valuable, and we didn’t want to attract too many people wandering around the precious machinery.

Day 1: S30.world Car show
The next day, the remaining cars started to roll in from all over Japan. From as far as Sendai, driving 500 Kilometers in very rare cars, to locals from the nearby cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Nara.

I think even for the Japanese owners, this meeting was very special, as such a group of cars usually never gets together in one place at the same time. In the end, S30.world’s Endo-san managed to bring together the who-is-who of the Japanese Fairlady Z S30 owners with no less than 15 very special and rare cars on site:
1. 1970 PS30-SB – Z432R (heavy modified race car) // S20 Engine // Orange
2. 1970 PS30-SB – Z432R // S20 Engine // Orange
3. 1970 PS30 – Z432 // S20 Engine // White
4. 1970 PS30 – Z432 // S20 Engine // Silver
5. 1970 PS30 – Z432 // S20 Engine // Safari Gold
6. 1971 PS30 –  Z432 // S20 Engine // Red
7. 1972 HS30-H – ZG // Nissan Sports option LY280 Engine // White
8. 1972 HS30-H – ZG // L24 Engine // Maroon
9. 1972 HS30-H – ZG // L24 Engine // Maroon
10.1973 HS30-H – ZG // L24 Engine // Maroon
11. 1974 S30-A – ZL // OS-Giken TC24-B1 engine // Safari Gold
12. 1973 S30-A – ZL // L20 engine // Green
13. 1973 S30-A – ZL // L20 engine // Red Works Safari Rally style
14. 1974 S30-A – ZL // L20 Fuel injected Engine // White
15. 1972 S30-S – ZS // L20 Engine // Silver

We spent all day talking to and interviewing the owners, admiring the details of their cars, and just enjoyed being in such nice company. It’s very special to see such rare cars up close and being able to talk with the owners about their cars history, modifications and how it is to own such special cars.

How about some beautiful engine bays?

With such an assembly, it’s difficult to pick a favorite, but I have always been a big fan of the Office Tomitaku OS-Giken TC-24B1 (the old, O.G. version) Engine and the story around the car, so it was great for me to meet the owner in real life and check out many of the details.

Another favorite of mine was the white G-Nose with the LY280 engine in it. Not only that, but the car basically had the complete Nissan sports option catalogue worth of parts installed. Most of them are very rare and valuable these days.

A fully race-prepped Z432R is also something you don’t see every day. The car was heavily modified over the years, but has a proper racing history to back up all the modifications. The owner is said to have an extensive collection of competition and works racing parts for his car, which he regularly swaps for different purposes.

And then of course an almost original, street-driven Z432-R is something you don’t see every day. Note the Euro-spec front chin spoiler installed on the car, which he mentioned makes a big difference in high-speed stability!

With such a lineup, you quickly get distracted from all the other cool and rare cars on display, all the HS30-H’s, which once were considered the top of the lineup, but also the factory fuel-injected cars and all the regular Z432’s in top condition. It was really a joy to ooze over all the cars and study their details and differences.

It’s not every day you see a proper G-nose HS30-H, or four thereof. I was never a big fan of the typical maroon color and the blunt-nose style to be honest, but I have to admit, seeing the cars in real for the first time changed my mind.

We also had two vendor booths on site, which were busy selling their Parts: E-ZA Vintagecraft, who is specialized in Mikuni / Solex Carbs, Hitachi car radios and Rally clock repairs, but also an expert in early A-type transmissions and making beautiful shift knobs and carb-tuning tools by hand:

And the other one was RS-Mach. A specialist shop for vintage Mach reproduction steering wheels and other goodies. Again it was a joy to talk to the owners and discuss their products and craftsmanship.

Aside from our own videographer (expect a nice video, soon!), who was busy taking shots and interviewing the owners, the famous Japanese “Nostalgic Hero” Magazine was on site to talk to the owners and take pictures, so expect to see professional photos from the event soon on various digital and print channels.

We also had a lot of other guests who enjoyed the cars, but our very special guest was Mr. Miyazaki, who held a nice speech in the afternoon, explaining his involvement in the development of the Z432 and S30 cars in general, how they tested and improved aerodynamics, crosswind stability and much more.

His presentation also included nice graphics and photos from that time, some of them which I’ve never seen before:

Most of the owners have never met him before and carefully listened to his explanations and asked questions in the following Q&A session:

After the event wrapped up, we headed for a nice dinner and mingle in the Hotel. All the owners and S30.world members got introduced to each other, we had some drinks and nice Japanese food, and the the passenger-seats got drawn in a raffle for the following day.

Local Nissan Kyoto representatives gave a speech and explained our route which they had planned for us the following day. Morita-san, editor at the Japanese “Motor Magazine” and publisher of the “Fairlady Z Story and History” books, enjoyed being on site and showed some of his work.

Please check the following gallery, and click the thumbnails to see a higher-resolution version of the event, before we come to day 2 further down the story.

Day 2. Photoshoot and S30 rollout
The following day, we rolled out all cars of the exhibition hall

And assembled them at the big sun-dial behind the Hotel. Seeing the cars out in bright sunlight with all the reflections was again something else.

During the preparation, most of us got the honor to have a quick passenger ride around the block in that 300HP, LY280 equipped white G-Nose. What a great car, engine and owner. He told me that probably around 15 LY engines are known to still exist and that probably around half of them are running, So this is a very, very rare opportunity, and I’m very grateful for this. The owner didn’t hold back either when stepping on the throttle pedal. Hearing those 50PHH Mikunis on the crossflow head is a truly stunning experience!

While we set ourselves up in front of the huge sun-dial, some excited pedestrians of all ages took the opportunity to take some photos and talk to the owners.

We got accompanied by a few more cars, as two had left us the evening before to head back home.
Totally, 15 vehicles were joined by this beautiful R30 “Iron Mask” Skyline, who would lead the way for the day. A great choice for a Pace car.

First we had photo shootings of all cars grouped outside plus all the S30.world members, drivers and all together by the different journalists on site.

Here we have all the owners, some of their wives, S30.world visitors and Miyazaki-san in one photo (Taken by Morita-san).

Before we hit the road, we got handed coins for the toll booths, a tour guide and maps, plus some instructions for the day. We got divided into 3 groups and then started with passengers joining the drivers according to the raffle from the previous evening. I was happy to enjoy the 1973 Maroon HS30-H G-Nose from the passenger seat.

Despite the language barrier, we had some great conversations and lots of laughs. What a great Guy! He also owns a Z432 and Hakosuka GT-R. Of course.

The tour started in Kyoto and took us to various neighborhoods and then the beautiful countryside with some nice hills and roads. Wherever we drove, people were waving and showing thumbs-up and just smiling when we passed by. Every now-and-then we would stop on the roadside to lineup again before the trip continued.

We stopped at the Takayama Dam, where also this lovely Honda S2000 was taking a break.

We then continued our journey through nice bamboo forests, rice-fields, along khaki-trees and green-tee plantations. I couldn’t think of any better scenery for this.

After a little drive, we stopped for lunch at the Figaro Cafe for delicious food and coffee from the lovely team with an incredible view. The place is worth a visit itself, full of car memorabilia of all sorts. And as the name suggests, the owners had a soft spot for the quirky Nissan Figaro cars. Miyazaki san seemed to enjoy it a lot and was all smiles and telling stories.

After our bellies were full of Japanese curry, snacks and hand-brewn coffee, some of the drivers started their journey back home, while the rest of us continued the tour to a local Train station, where we dropped off some of our guests and some of the passengers switched seats. I was again enjoying the passenger ride in a a different 1972 Maroon HS30-H G-nose back to the Hotel with another lovely owner. I would like to thank my drivers for the day for the great company, nice talks, laughs and just for having a great time. Domo Arigato!

After that, most of the owners headed back home, with a few staying another night to be fresh for their long journey home, the following day. Check out the gallery below to see some more photos from our rollout:

We ended the evening in style with a delicious Korean BBQ, before heading to bead tired, but very, very happy.

Now, this experience alone would have been worth a trip to Japan. I don’t think such an assembly of special and rare z’s have gathered in Japan before, and I doubt this will happen again soon. But remember, these were only the first two days of our trip, and clearly set the pace of what to expect the remaining time. Stay tuned for an overload of incredibly cool things and stories to come!