It’s red. It’s fast. It’s a Datsun 510 wagon! Troy T is the owner of this unique vintage race car, I mean racing wagon:) Rob at ZCG helped dyno tune this beast on the dyno last year with great results. Catch the wagon’s full build-up on Troy’s site, RacingOnTheCheap. Here is Tim A with a full race report from the VARA High Desert Challenge last month:

I was invited to co drive in an Enduro race with friend Troy Tinsley’s Datsun 510 Wagon race car. Yep wagon, wood roof rack and all. It is actually a full cage race car that looks like a Nascar under the skin, but it makes for a great conversation piece when it is not on track. The car was built by Paul Moore’s Race shop in Seaside CA, Moore Speed, from a rolling shell. Troy helped over the last two years or so to build the car. The car was finished up a few months ago and Troy has run the car at a few track events and a couple of races so he is getting comfortable with the car and was ready to go back to Willow springs as he had not been there in years, and the VARA event originally had three flag races he could enter, so he could not pass the opportunity for so much track time.

Unfortunately after about revision four to the schedule, two races, the VARA annual evening two hour enduro, and the Classic Motorsports Magazine small bore challenge race were combined into one run group that was one hour long. So the requirement for a co-driver was removed as the race was shortened to one hour. Since two changes to the schedule were made that eliminated separate run groups and then cut the time on the enduro eliminating the second driver, I was not needed to participate in the Enduro. However I had scheduled the weekend and figured Troy would probably like the company and some crew help even if he had to suffer my incessant chattering in the car on the trip. Fortunately all worked out with my home schedule and I was able to go along

Additionally I found out another Datsun Buddy Paul Moore of Moore Speed in Seaside who had built the wagon, was attending the event with his Datsun 510 Coupe as he had not been in a race in a couple of years and was eager to get back to a race event. I figured it would be fun to hang out and help the two of them as they did not have any other crew for the weekend. During the week Paul called and offered me to drive the Enduro Race in his car if I wanted as he was not going to participate in that event. Hmm, this certainly was sweetening the pot so to speak. I did not sign up, but checked with the organizers to see if I could sign up at the event as I wanted to think about driving another persons car, and to make sure we all were there and running well before making a commitment.

Troy and Paul went out for the small bore class warm up session and ran well coming in all in one piece and having a good time getting back out on track. The next time out on track for us was the Enduro practice in a couple of hours. As the cars seemed to be running well I made the decision to sign up for the evening Enduro. The club president was at registration, so I asked him about which group he would like me to run in, the VARA Enduro or the Classic Motorsports Magazine small bore challenge? He said it did not matter, but suggested the VARA group as it combined all classes of VARA cars. He also explained the Classic Motorsports Magazine small bore challenge group was going to have handicaps based on speed as they were trying to calculate a flying finish of all cars hitting the checkered flag together. The VARA group would have ten minute fixed time pit stops, meaning you would get more track time in the VARA Enduro as the Classic Class was a pit stop of ten minutes plus the handicap time. I wanted to support the club, so I signed up for the VARA group and told him he could enter me in which group he wanted and set starting position, etc.

After looking over the cars and doing the pit work to check lug nuts, fuel, fluids, etc., Troy and I got suited up and headed to the grid for the Enduro practice. The organizers were using the practice session to get lap times for the Enduro participants as they were using lap times to set up a handicap system for the Classic Motorsports Magazine small bore challenge. This was nice as it actually added a half hour back of track time for the Enduro being cut short as there is normally not a practice session just for the Enduro. So that was a nice bonus.

Troy and I went out together, but I ended up ahead of him on grid, so I said to just pass me when the green flag was shown so I could follow him around for a few laps to see the track again, then I figured I might lead for a few laps if I could stay with him and get up to speed again quickly. After the warm up lap he did not pass me so I just ran the lines I remembered for a few laps and then slowed down and pointed him by to pass me so I could watch him in his car for a few laps. It was fun to see the wagon on track and to watch him drive the car around the track. After a few more laps I decided to try to speed up for a few laps to see how the car felt. Unfortunately it had a vibration above about 5,000 RPM in fifth gear that was bad enough that you needed to lift off the gas and just hold speed at that RPM. So that problem was limiting as you hit the speed by half way down the back straight and also half way on the front straight. The checkered flag came out that lap and I did not really get a chance to push the car hard enough to get a feel for it, but it was still running and in one piece.

After lunch and a once over of the cars Troy and Paul suited up for their Qualifying race in the afternoon. They were gridded about mid pack. There was a clean start, except for one of the cars on the front row took off before the green flag. They threw the green anyway and later penalized him so he had to start back in the pack for the Sunday Flag race. Troy was a bit faster than Paul and worked his way up towards the front of the pack. They ran consistent times, Paul was able to get some clear track and run laps, Troy seemed to attract cars all around him to race so there was a bit of passing up and back, more up than back so he finished sixth overall for the qualifying grid on Sunday. About three laps from the end Paul pulled off track, so something was wrong.

Paul came in via the tow truck and said the engine had seized and he thought a connecting rod had broken. We pulled the hood and spark plugs to look. I checked and all the pistons were where they belonged, and a check of oil and water looked fine. After inspecting for awhile Paul pulled the starter motor and found the problem, the clutch had disintegrated. I wandered off to see if I could unsubscribe to the race as I figured this was an overnight repair or fix later at the shop. When I got back Paul had already found a clutch at a relatively local parts store, score one for Datsun volume of production cars to still have a part for a forty year old car in stock! So he sent me for pick up and said he was going to keep working on the car.

When I got back he had the transmission out and was ready for the clutch plate! Wow that was fast, I am still thinking he is trying to fix the car for his race the next day. He checked the time and said I think we can get this back together to still have you make the race. I was in disbelief, but said ok how can I help, so I worked on fuel and the rest of the preparation on the top of the car while he got the clutch changed, then the two of got under the car to re install the transmission. Troy helped man the jack to lift the transmission into position while we did a lot of wiggling and some inappropriate words from Paul as he was banging his knuckles and such trying to fight the transmission into place while laying on asphalt under a car. After awhile of fighting the transmission it succumbed and went on the engine. Paul asked Troy to swing by registration and tell them we were trying to be ready and make sure we could still participate. He came back and said they were fine if we made it.

Once we got all the bolts secured and the transmission in place Paul said I could suit up and get ready as he could finish all the under car installation of exhaust and driveshafts. Troy had left to head to grid so I knew we were close, but may make it for the start. I finished up some top side assembly and preparation and then got suited up and into the car. Just as I was finishing getting in the car he said I could go, so I tried and the car started, so to my total amazement we were off to grid for the Enduro race.

Troy was gridded about sixth and we were in position nine for the start of the race with a Porsche 911, BMW 2002, and another 510 gridded between us. So off we went behind the pace car for the start of the race with this being the only chance to check and see if everything made it back onto the car and it was running ok. The pace car pulled off and we rolled to the starter who thought the line up was good so the green flag was thrown and we were off. I am used to some faster cars blasting by you on the start, but everyone stayed about in the same position with a couple of cars spreading out to find a way around cars ahead of them, but no one seemed to be moving up or back. As we entered turn one the field seemed to still be side by side and as we exited turn one the cars all fell in line to the left side of the track to line up for turn two a long sweeping 180 degree turn. I just kept accelerating and stayed to the right and passed a few cars. Then going into turn two I was on the inside and managed another pass or two, then went around the outside of a car in the turn and catching another car heading out of turn two.

On the way to turn three I had caught up to a Camaro Z28, he pulled right to line up for turn three and as I had momentum I stayed to the left and passed him going into turn three heading up the hill. As I was going up the short hill I could see the two lead cars just ahead of me, so wow, now I am pretty excited thinking I have moved up to third place and had caught the leaders by turn four, this is getting fun!

Well as we got out of all the turns and headed over another hill onto the back straight my enthusiasm was brought back to earth as the leaders drove away and the Z28 blasted by me feeling like it was going to knock my tires off the rims from the shock wave of sound and speed. Just as the Z28 blasted past I hit the dreaded 5,000 rpm vibration and had to lift off the throttle to hold speed. Quickly checking my mirrors for more cars ready to fly by me I was surprised to see that there was a gap behind me. Getting through the high speed turns eight and nine and onto the front straight I was able to accelerate again until about half way down the straight to the starter where the vibration kicked in again, so I had to lift throttle and hold speed again.

After going thru turn one and two I realized I was catching the Z28 again, and by turn four at the top of the hill I was all over him. So I figured I would be like a mosquito and buzz all around him trying to get him to drive his mirrors and hopefully miss a turn to give me a chance to get by. It looked like it was working as he was sliding and wiggling around looking like he was really trying hard to keep ahead of me. Once over the back hill and onto the back straight away he ran off again and the lap was looking like the one before, so it was obvious the vibration was not going to go away and I was not going to have much top end speed and would have to do what I could in the corners to make up any ground on the Camaro.

The next lap I caught the Camaro heading to turn three so I passed him again on the inside of the entrance to turn three. My hope was that if I could build enough of a gap to keep him from passing me by turn one I might have a chance to build a gap to keep him behind me. This time as we headed out onto the back straight I had built up enough of a gap that he actually was not close enough to pass me by turn nine, so at least I had held him off for half a lap. Going down the front straight he quickly caught and disposed of me and as he went by he cut back in front of me just missing my fender, so I figured that was his equivalent of the Navy shooting a round in front of a ship as a warning to back off and let him go.

Unfortunately for him, he did not have the big gap entering the turns and I caught him in turn two and went to the inside for a pass, however he wanted nothing of it, so I let him drive to the inside and then dove across the track for an outside pass. He went back to the outside preventing that move. As we headed to turn three I moved right to get him over there so I could set him up for an inside pass into three again as I knew that had worked. He made the car really wide and drove down the middle to make sure I had nowhere to go. Up and over the hill he was squirming and sliding all over, but did not get out of shape enough to give me a passing opportunity. So at that point I started thinking we were three laps into a thirty lap or more event, so I was not going to win in the first corner so to speak. However as hard as he was having to drive his car to stay ahead of me I started thinking longer term and figured if I could just really pressure him the weight of the big bore american iron might overheat the brakes, wear off the tires, or such to give me a long term chance at getting ahead of him if he had to slow down due to equipment limitations.

This pattern of him driving away from me on the straights and my buzzing all over him in the turns repeated for about twenty more laps, which was two thirds of the race. So at least I had something to do beyond just logging laps for awhile.

At the drivers meeting they had told us there would be a crossed flag at the half way point and you had to come in for your manditory pit stop plus or minus ten minutes of that. I had not seen the flags, however I spotted Troy in the pits and knew Paul would be helping Troy with his car for his pit stop. So I figured three laps would be enough time for Troy to finish up and I would be in the required window. Two laps later I saw Troy had moved and Paul was on the pit wall waiving madly for me to come in. As the Camaro and I came around turn ten I pulled over to head into the pits and he was pulling off too. I thought that was good as perhaps it would intimidate him into thinking we were going to try to pace his stop and keep pressure on him.

Going into the pits there were two workers who split the traffic and stop you so they can figure out the time that you can exit the pits based on the minimum pit time or assigned handicap and then write the time on a window sticker for the grid person to let you re enter the track after the stop. Once up to our pit location I got out and added fuel. As I was getting back in the car Paul checked the tires and then started making thumbs down and choking kind of motions. He said the front tire was down to cords and I could not go out to the track. I asked if he wanted me to keep going and just run slow careful laps to try to finish? He said he had a spare tire, but it was back at the truck. So I said run get it if you want me to finish the race. He jumped the wall and took off running.

After sitting a few minutes I was afraid I was loosing a lot of time in the pits as the Camaro had left to head up to the track re entry starter and I was just sitting. Not to mention figuring out the irony of doing to myself what I had hoped was going to happen to the Camaro with running the tires off the car, ha! I told another person standing near by to tell my crew that I was going to go around one lap and come back in for him to change my tire and they said ok. As I was starting to move away he yelled out that he could see my crew coming so I stopped. Paul spent about as much time getting ready to change the tire as he did too get working on the clutch, which was zero. He jumped the wall grabbed a jack and had the tire changed out in what felt like thirty seconds and said I could go!

As I rolled up to the re entry starter I could see the Z28 had left. They checked my time sticker and held me while looking down the track for what I assume was looking for a clear opening to send me out on track. After about another thirty seconds they waived me out. So at this point you have absolutely no idea if your laps down from sitting in the pits or if I had just fallen behind the Camaro I had been racing with the whole time prior to pitting.

Entering turn two the used tire that had been put on the car felt like a truck tire was installed and you had a power steering failure at the same time as the steering was so heavy from the replacement tire installed. Since I wanted to finish the race at this point I figured I would just slow down a few seconds a lap and hopefully make it to the end without a tire problem and just keeping the car on track as some finishing position was better than not finishing. Interestingly enough I did not see any cars ahead or behind me, so I had come out in an open area of traffic. After about five laps the Spitfire that I had seen in second place came flying by me like I was running on two cylinders, so I knew I was going slower than I was guessing.

About two laps later on the back straight I could see some red in the mirror, meaning there was a car coming as the vibration was so bad you could not make out much in the mirror at speed on the straights beyond some color shift. An Austin Sprite passed me on the inside of turn eight heading to turn nine as I had moved over to give the oncoming car some room to pass. Exiting turn nine I could see my buddy Troy was right behind me and he flew around me heading onto the straight. As Troy and I had been close on track earlier in the day I figured I could step up the pace and stay behind him. Unfortunately the car seemed to be sliding around in several turns as I increased the speed for the next few laps, so again I figured finishing was a higher priority and then adjusted my plan thinking I would run at a reduced speed until about three laps from the end at which point I would speed up and try to catch Troy and the Sprite. Unfortunately it was just like the pit stop, you really have no idea of time and what your position is in the race as the white flag came out informing you that your on the last lap of the race. So I stepped up the pace but realized with all the sliding that I did not have a chance to catch and pass Troy and the Sprite, but I kept trying to the checkered flag.

Coming into the pits from the cool down lap a person stopped me and handed me a checkered flag. I did not have any idea what that was about and headed back to our pit area. After getting out of the car Paul said they announced the Camaro won, the Sprite was second, and I was third overall. I was thinking that was a much better result than I had expected based on the challenges of the race! I gave Paul the flag as a trophy for the shop as he sponsored the race and had made a heroic effort to just put me in a position to finish the race. We headed over to the end of the day beer and chip area to visit with the other participants and people at the event and hear the large fish stories for a little while. Then Troy Paul and I headed to town for dinner and then to the Hotel. I looked for the Camaro to congratulate the driver on doing a great job with sliding around and keeping the car on track. I did not find him and he was not at the track Sunday, so maybe he wore his car out too and was not able to run Sunday.

The next morning when we got to the track to start getting ready for the Sunday practice and race Paul was already there preparing his car for the day. Troy and I went over to say hi to Paul and he asked if we had seen the tire. Neither of us knew what he was talking about. He showed us the outside rear tire that had been on the car and it was worn down thru three layers of cloth! Well that explained why the rear was sliding around a lot after the pit stop when trying to go fast. So it seem that the poor car truly had the tires driven off of it!

Paul changed out that tire with another spare from a used set and then he and Troy went out for the morning practice. After the practice I headed up to timing and scoring to pick up a results sheet from the Enduro. Much to my surprise the results showed I had actually come in third overall. I also noticed the organizers had entered me in the Classic Motorsports Magazine small bore challenge race and I had come in first for the Classic Motorsports race. That was a nice surprise, but hey I am just fine with taking luck for a win! So in terms of not having any idea of who you are actually racing during an Enduro, the Camaro I had been racing with most of the race was not in my class so I was not really racing him, and the leaders that had run away in the race were in my class, but did not make up for their assigned handicap in the race. I really have no idea what happened, but I will gladly take the win based on Paul’s heroic effort to just get us back on track in time for the race, and to run and get another tire on the car during the pit stop!

Based on the morning warm up session Paul decided that he did not want to run the flag race due to the vibration in the car as he really wanted to fix that problem before taking the car on track again. We drove into town for lunch and to fuel up the trucks for the tow home. After lunch Paul packed up and left to be able to get home and unload before dark as it was a long drive from Southern California to home.

For the final Sunday Flag Race Troy was gridded sixth based on his results in Saturdays qualifying race. This turned out to be a great race with lots of passing and close racing in various packs in the race. Troy managed to loose a few positions in the first few laps, then he settled down and started to pick off competitors one by one. He kept getting faster as the race went on and by mid race was back where he started. He managed to catch a few competitors he had been behind all weekend an passed them to come in with a fourth place overall at the checkered flag. Once we picked up the results we could see he came in second in class! This was a great weekend for him as his new car ran flawlessly and he has been consistently improving in the car with each race he has run.

So overall we could not really ask for a better weekend. Everything went well with the tow in both directions, we managed to get a lot of racing and wrenching in, Troy got a ton of track time and figured he ran about 120 laps with over three and a half hours of track time, we got to visit some racing friends from Southern California, not to mention the good finishing results for the effort. Paul is replacing some parts on his car trying to fix the vibration, Troy is waxing his Red Radio Flyer Wagon, and we all are excited to get together for the next Vintage event at the end of the Month at the world famous Laguna Seca. Tim