240Z: G-Nose 1/5 clay Model and some background information

Recently, I got a very nice clay model of the HS30-H Fairlady Z-G blunt nose.

But this story started 7 years ago, in May 2019, when an Australian JDM-parts-dealer shared this on his Facebook page. I was immediately hooked. Could it be an actual clay model from the design-phase of the G-Nose?

I started to go through my archive, and discovered that Nissan Indeed used 1:1 scale clay-models for styling and “rapid prototyping” by the standards of the 60ies.

In 1965, they switched to 1:4-scale clay models:

They were used for flow testing in Wind-tunnels, water-channels and also for designing the exterieur.

I contacted the seller, but he told me it was already sold. Little did I know back then that the item was not actually sold. Neither by him, nor by the original seller. Probably it didn’t get any bids, so it remained with the seller.
A few years later, I found a magazine article about a Japanese guy who owns some very special S30Z cars. And I noticed that exact same clay model in one of his shelves. The details made clear that it was the same car.

Fast-forward to 2025, where I met the actual owner and his car at the S30.world Japan excursion Meeting. And fast-forward some more months, and now I’m the proud owner of that car.

The car is made out of modelling clay, with an underlaying wood structure.

Some details like the windows are painted on and the overfenders (partially missing) seem to be made out of some styrofoam or something similar.
The details are quite accurate, if you ask me. So somebody must have spent a lot of time to get it right.

I was trying to find some marks or any hints that this car was originally used by Nissan, but there are no marks at all.

Some body gaps are made by using something like a foam-tape, which, unfortunately has lost its stickiness.

The length (without the G-nose) is about 80cm. Considering that the original car is about 4.14m sans g-nose. This is about an 1:5 scale model.
So considering that there are no marks (I would somehow expect that from Nissan), and that styling prototypes probably never left the factory, Plus the fact that a model with such a construction doesn’t make a lot for usage in a wind tunnel, if you ask me – make me believe that this is something else. Either it was a hobby project of somebody, or something else. Either way it’s a cool piece of history and I love it.

Update: I got the following information from a fellow Z-head on ClassicZcars.com

My understanding, from looking at the CSP311 Silvia design, that the modelling clay was initially supplied in the early 1960’s by Chavant, made with bees wax and is easily worked at 40 degrees c. And its red in colour, you can see red on worn bits of the clay model, the same material….?

In the meantime, I also got the following photo from an 1972 Nissan Image brochure, which shows the designers (left is Tamura-san) working on a clay model, that seems to confirm what is written above. But to be honest, it’s difficult to say if it’s the same material. Many modelling clays are reddish, so this isn’t a confirmation that it is an official Nissan Model, but it also doesn’t deny it either.