The drive from Solvang to our hotel in the LA area was fairly uneventful except for the hour of inexplicable traffic that we sat in for no apparent reason on a Saturday afternoon.  After we checked into the hotel we went out for some dinner at a sports bar so that we could watch the San Jose Sharks game, they won in OT.  Most of us then decided to turn in so that we could be rested for the show on Sunday.

We checked out bright and early and made our way to one of the quaint little towns that speckle the LA area, if you know where to look, to get some breakfast.  With our tanks full we venture on.  When we finally arrive at the venue we are not surprised to see what seems like hundreds of cars in line waiting to get in.  Good thing we ate.  After a good forty-five minutes of inching forward (some of it just coasting down hill with the cars off) we arrived at the front gate.  Every car in sight was a Z.  All years, every possible combination of mods, mild to wild paint jobs, you name it and a Z had it.  This was like a pilgrimage that had reached its destination.

The entire event report and a ton of photos are after the “read more.”  So click and read more.

We proceeded to park our cars in the appropriate 370z and 280zx sections and then the detailing session began.  For everyone at Z Car Garage driving the cars we build is the payoff after all the hard work and we were happy to clean off a few hundred miles of grime that a good road trip produces.

We were happy to see that the ZCG 370z wasn’t the only modified 370 at the event but we were caught out by the aftermarket powerhouse Mine’s bringing their car.  Does your 370 need a $4,000 cat back exhaust?  They seem to think so, and I wouldn’t turn one down.  All of the other 370’s were nicely done up and Rob and I made our way through the owners talking to each about what they thought of the car.  Most had only good things to say and not surprisingly most of them had plans to enter into some sort of product development or marketing business using the new Z to get their foot in the door.

Time to walk around the show!

We (Rob, Meghan, Bill, Tiffany, and I) decided to start at the back of the show and work our way forward to make sure that we got a chance to see everything.  In the very back this year were the Z32 300zx’s and boy were there a ton of good looking cars.  Like I said before there is a car here for every taste, from super clean, stock cars to the crazy, Lambo door’d twin turbo beasts.  See pics below for proof.

The next section up was the earlier Z31 300zx’s.  Again here, cars ranged from clean and stock to modifications that you would never believe could work in a Z31.  A 4.5L Infiniti Q45 engine, yes sir-eee, I saw it with my own two eyes.  The swap was done really nicely too.  It’s nice to see that people love this series of Z cars almost as much as the more desirable models.

Now to the S30 chassis 240Zs.  This is by far the largest group of Z cars at this event.  I really should have counted how many were in attendance but I was too busy getting sun burned.  Hahaha.  I can’t really describe everything cool that I saw, but just for you I’ll give it a shot.  This is just a short list.

Turbo Tom’s turbo kit on a 240z:  Some of you may know that Rob knew Turbo Tom back when he lived in Georgia and this really took him back to see one of his kits on a Z that Rob doesn’t own.  The only other Tom’s kit that I’ve seen is installed on my Datsun 510.  This car features a four barrel Holley carb that sits directly behind the turbo.  The exhaust exits forward after the turbo and then makes a U-turn to exit towards the rear of the car.  That is a terrible explanation and I know that I am not doing this car justice.  These cars make great power and have awesome driveability, the pictures below can finish the rest.

There were a couple RB cars at the event this year too.  Our friend Wade brought his RB26 240 which has been restored to an insane level of detail and features just about any modern amenity you could want from a car.  There was also a beautiful RB powered JDM Fairlady Z there.  We have been following this car since we first saw it at the Japanese Classic Car Show at the Queen Mary two years ago.  This project continues to impress us and after talking to the owner for some while it was nice to discover that Rob’s Go Green 240z was the inspiration for this build.  Also on the menu was a “home brew” RB25 car that was still a work in progress.  This car was well on its way to becoming a monster and I hope to see it near completion in the future.

L-series 240Zs:  Wow.  So many quality cars to talk about here.  There were daily drivers, fully restored cars, and barn finds galore!  I’m going to focus on one car here that takes the cake.  A father and son brought out a car that had been sitting in the father’s parents’ garage for something like twenty five years!  They drove the car to the show after a tune up and a good washing and brought along with them all the goodies that were originally included with the car such as all the original paperwork, touch-up paint, tool kit, and the list goes on.  This car is so clean that the car had zero rust under the battery tray and the frame rails were in absolutely perfect condition, which means it’s never been lifted by some hack mechanic.  I wish that I had cool grandparents with a barn full of original Zs.

There were also two V8 Zs that caught my eye.  The yellow car some of you have seen at the 370z release party at Z Car Garage back in November but the other has an LS1 out of a Corvette or a Camaro and it was easily one of the cleanest swaps I’ve seen.  I really home that I get a chance to see this car again to get some more info.  (And yes I know that the silver car is a 280z)

There were many more beautiful 240Zs but the pictures will have the tell their stories.  Please make sure that you see the pictures of the car with the fully re-engineered suspension.  Interesting doesn’t begin to describe this car.  There is a full gallery of the entire event at the end.  Don’t miss it!

Now to the 350Zs:  There were some really nice examples of modified cars including one that had just about every part that could be made made out of carbon fiber installed on it.  It was quite a sight when the sunlight hit it just right.  The Harajuku Lovers 350 was also tastefully done if you are into that sort of thing, Meghan loved it.  My personal favorite 350z was one of the simplest, a nicely lowered NISMO edition.  Classy and simple.  Nice job.

280zx:  You already know that we brought our fully restored 280zx 2+2 so I will get to the other beautiful cars that others brought.  Just two cars down from our car was an amazing unrestored 280zx that was owned by an older gentleman who had passed away a few years back and just recently found its way to the current owner.  I was tempted to take parts out of his interior so that we could dye them for our 280zx, it was that nice.  There was also a clean black ZX that was lowered and had a nice set of Panasport/Konig hybrid wheels (not sure of the brand.)   If you have a modified ZX and it doesn’t look like this you are doing it wrong.

280z:  Quite a few nice cars in this group too.  The red car below has one of the nicest wheel choices and fitments of the entire show.  I’m not one for modern wheels on Z cars but this one struck a chord with me.  Another stand out car was the primered widebody car that had a large Panasport style wheel.  What I loved about this car is that none of the body vents and and light holes were cut out of the car, maybe they never plan to be cut, all the better.  It’s the out of the ordinary things that I like.  I also took a picture of a 280z that was for sale.  It was a clean car but nothing special and then I saw the asking price, $11,900!!  Holy Crap!  Zs are gonna be worth some money friends.  Pics below.

And finally the 370Zs:  All the cars were modified in one way or another and all were tastefully done.  Our car was one of the only cars that had the stock wheels still on it.  The Mine’s car was fairly stock except for some large wheels, stickers, and the $4K exhaust but it looked amazing.  It was pretty cool to be parked next to it.  There was a nice set of the Volk Racing T2 wheels on the blue car and matte black set off rollers on the silver car.  Again most of the cars had some sort of intake and exhaust but that is about where the mods stopped.  We were the only car with a big brake kit and that drew somewhat of a crowd once people noticed.

Now to the awards!!

We came into the event hoping that the freshly restored 280zx would win some sort of an award so that we could give the proud owners a trophy of some sort when we deliver the car in the coming months.  As luck would have it we took first place in the stock 280zx class.  They were overjoyed when we gave them the news and it was really nice to see all that hard work pay off, Fred really worked his fingers to the bone to get this car ready in time, good job buddy.

Now in the 370z class there were so few cars that we sort of expected some sort of prize but we were not expecting first place again.  The voters for the awards were all the Z owners who entered the show and I guess they liked what we brought to the table, so a HUGE thanks goes out to all of the people who supported and voted for our cars.  Thanks!!!

This show is proof that there really is a Z for everyone.

Post show antics!!!  You won’t want to skip over this.

We get ready to head back on the freeway for the long drive home and we stop to top off all of our tanks, especially the thirsty early Zs.  The 3 speed auto ZX was getting amazing gas mileage to my surprise even with the 4,000+ rpm cruising speed.  Anyways, after the 370z was filled I moved it to the front of the gas station to make room at the pumps for the other Zs.  As soon as I park it and get out I hear the tell tale sound of screeching tires and a loud BANG!  I’m now twenty feet from the 370 and I see a Chevy Blazer on its side less than five feet from the 370z!!!  AHHHHH!!  A pickup had rear ended the man in the Blazer and when he hit it the vehicle rotated 180 degrees and ended up on its side.  It was so close to our car that there were small chunks of plastic and glass on the fender and hood of our car.  The first thing I did was run over there and move it so I don’t have any photos with the 370 right there, sorry.

Everyone was alright in the end and the police and fire units were there in under two minutes.  With everybody, and the cars, unharmed we headed back home to the bay.  Nothing eventful on the way back other that the purring sound of a Datsun 2.8L at 4,100 rpm.  It doesn’t get any better.

All the decent pictures are below.  ENJOY!!!