zmann

Curious to know if anyone has ordered the JDM "Fairlady Z" badge and if you did, where did you place it? I think it's a pretty cool nod to the Japanese Z. I have one, and think that placing just the "Fairlady" badge (drop the Z) on the decklid opposite the "350Z" badge (i.e., on the right side of the decklid) would look nice, and generally "OEM", if you will. Thoughts? I do NOT want to remove the "350Z" badge.

Selski12

iTrader: (11)

Well, if you want the OEM look then say bye to that 350Z because that is the only place I have seen people put it.

mgl

iTrader: (10)

i think that you should pick one or the other. both emblems is too much.

s9am_me

iTrader: (1)

i went straight for the JDM look... here's some pics..

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....airlady+emblem

samw1978

I'd just replace the 350Z

westpak

iTrader: (19)

I got one but ended up selling it because I just couldn't get myself to put it on, it is a 350 and goes along with the 240....... heritage.

The guy that bought it from me put in place of the 350Z on the hatch and he got a second one and put in on the dash in front of the passenger.

ragtopz

s9am_me,

hey checked out your link. that looks sharp. i bought the emblem but i am a bit unsure as to where i should put it. it seems from the japan pictures i see, the "f" of fairlady should be placed at the same location where the "3" of 350 is. is that right? or is yours at the correct location? i havent seen a head-on view of the japanese one... only angles, so it is hard to tell. just curious.

actually, if i am right about the actual location of the emblem, i think your location looks better. the pics i saw of the actual one seems too far away.

zmann

Well, here is what I ended up doing, actually, just as I said I thought I would. 350Z is on the left, Fairlady on the right. I put the Z that comes with Fairlady on the far right of the dash. It's not too much, at all. In fact, it is rather interesting. A couple people have asked, and it's been kind of neat telling them about the two nameplates. After all, it is both. If I get pics, I'll put them up.

srm

s9am_me

iTrader: (1)

You're right. It should be placed where the "3" is. What i did was lined up where the "Z" was... and lined it up with the "Z" on the Fairlady. Its actually the wrong way. I didn't know until i saw some pictures online of JDM 350z's. No biggie... looks better my way IMO

zmann, post some pics when u get the chance bro

n8vz

Courtesy Nissan and StrictlyZ has them for $27 or so. I just took my 350Z rear emblem off and replaced it with the Fairlady Z emblem. The template made it really easy to align the letters

2003z

iTrader: (7)

The Purpose of this page is to give some background and understanding to the name "Fairlady" as applied to the Z Car outside the US market.



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The Short Story:
Fairlady - The name given to the first line of sports cars designed and built by Nissan Motors Japan after W.W.II, with the specific intent of being marketed in the USA - 1960.
The name "Fairlady" was given to the new sports car line by Mr. Katsuji Kawamata, President Of Nissan Motors Japan, after he attended the Broadway Musical "My Fair Lady" while visiting the US in 1958. He felt that the name would invoke an image of beauty for the car - because people would think of the beauty of the music and the leading lady in that Broadway Musical.

This is a common and accepted practice within the Japanese culture for selecting automotive names. It is not a usual cultural method here in the US however - so Nissan more commonly used engine size and model numbers as Model Names for the US market. (Note: There are also minor differences in many cases related to engine sizes, safety and emissions equipment between the Japanese home market models (Fairlady Z's) that those exported to other countries)

The More Complete Story: The SPL212 was introduced in 1960. It was a two passenger car with a 1.2Liter four cycl. engine ( 2 12). The "S" stood for Sport, the "P" was the designation for the Bluebird chassis, and the "L" stood for left hand drive. It is significant to note that "L" left hand drive cars could not be sold in Japan at that time. Thus Nissan's first Sports Car was specifically designed and intended solely for the US market.

To understand why the name "Fairlady" was given to a Sports Car, one has to think in terms of the Japanese culture, rather than that of the America culture. The Japanese revere traditions of Art, Music, Philosophy and the study of Beauty. All of these cultural values are considered to be acquired tastes and skills, gained over a lifetime, through personal study and practice.

Here in the US we place a much higher cultural value on personal creativity. Art and Music are considered to be more a matter of inspiration, personal expression and creativity. We therefore place a higher value on personal creativity and expression, than the resulting traditions of the art or music.

While Mr. Katsuji Kawamata, the President of Nissan Motors of Japan Ltd., was visiting the United States in 1958 he attended a performance, on-Broadway, of the hit musical "My Fair Lady".

A couple of years later (1960), when Nissan was about to introduce its new Sports Car Line, Mr. Kawamata gave it the official name of "Fairlady". He had been so impressed with the beauty of the music and the leading lady in that Broadway Musical, that he thought everyone would relate the name of Nissans new sports car "the Fairlady" to the beauty of the music and the leading lady in the play. Indeed, that is what happened in Japan, the name made perfect sense there and was readily accepted in that market.

The Fairlady Sport Car line continued to evolve through the 1960's with the introduction of the Fairlady 1500 in Oct. of 1962, then the Fairlady 1600 in 1965. Along with this evolution of its product lines, Nissan Motors was attempting to increase it's exports to the US Market.

Mr. Yutaka Kayatama, then President of Nissan Motors USA, knew that his customers would not accept the name "Fairlady" for a Sports Car here in the USA, so the Sales and Marketing departments in the US had used the cars model numbers for the most part, in advertising and sales promotion, and with the introduction of the new models for 1965 the badging on the front fenders was changed, on the US cars, from "Fairlady" to "Datsun 1600".

When the new S30 "Fairlady Z" was designed and built for the US Market (as the HLS30) - Mr. Katayama suggested that it not be badged as the "Fairlady' in the US. Mr. K. thought that the car should be named something more aggressive, like "Tiger" or "Shark" in keeping with US cultural traditions and values. That idea having been turned down in Japan, he was willing to accept "Datsun 240-Z". The 240 was a shortened version of the 2400cc engine displacement, and the "Z", which had been the new car's product file designation within Nissan's Design Department.

Mr. Teiichi Hara, General Manager of Design Department No. 2, had given the original sports car plans the file designation "Type Z", as most all of the other characters in the roman alphabet had been previously used. (I suppose that the roman alphabet is used in Japan for alphabetic filing systems ie. alphabetical order.) -Z-



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{ref: &qout;Datsun Z Fairlady to 280Z", by: Brian Long}

jj1814

I just placed my FairladyZ badge on my car, and it helps that the foam piece that encases the badge is the shape of the side edge and bottom edge of the hatch. This will help you properly place the badge.

However, I really like where s9am has placed his badge.

CenterCircleZ

i just put mine on the right side of the hatch, looks pretty good and have gotten compliments from other z owners and also they have asked where to get it from... i may just replace the 350Z emblem with it later i dunno bout the look for myself...

s9am_me

iTrader: (1)

thanks for the brief history lesson 2003z

zmann

The story of the origins of "Fairlady" was very interesting! I have to confess, I wondered about it's origins. I think on the convertible it is a most appropriate label. Now, when people ask, I can give them the "rest of the story". Thanks for the feedback; looks as though this has been a thread of interest to many of you. I've got some pics I need to get up; it is just a matter of getting the time to load and all.

Everyone have a great weekend...and get out and enjoy the roadster!!! It was made for weekends like this!

srm

zmann

here are a few pics:

zmann

here is another

jj1814

ZMANN....

got pics of the Z on the dash?

zmann

Here is a pic of where I placed the "Z" of the Fairlady Z badging. Also, I'll attach a better shot of the Fairlady on the rear.

srm

zmann

Here is a better/clearer shot of the rear (I'm having trouble getting these pics down to <20k).