IN MEMORY: Remembering Joel Anderson, Datsun Race Car Driver, 1942-2021

Filed under: 240z,Automotive History,Events,Racing
by Alvin G @ 5:10 pm on April 2, 2021

Joel E. Anderson, beloved friend and race car driver, passed away 3/29. He was 79 years old. Joel was an immensely talented graphic artist and successful privateer Datsun racer with regional and national championships all over California. We miss him dearly and offer our deepest condolences to his family and friends. Let’s take a brief look at Joel’s automotive career and how he touched our lives, knowing fully that a single blog post offers only a glimpse into Joel’s achievements and larger-than-life personality.

Joel Anderson, Epic Datsun Racer

Joel Anderson’s racing career began in the late 70’s while working with another Datsun legend Frank Leary at FAR Performance in Mountain View, Ca. He was racing his Z cars as a privateer against many high-dollar teams/cars. Here is Joel re-telling these events in a interview I conducted in 2014:

“In 1974 Walt Maas had just won the National Championship in C/Production in Atlanta, GA in the FAR Performance 260Z called “The Giant Killer”. At the time Frank Leary was Walt’s crew chief and the service manager at FAR. Frank was also building a Z of his own to road race in the carport of his condo in Santa Clara. I helped Frank build his car in exchange for his secrets to make a Datsun fast. While working as Leary’s crew chief I had converted my Z to a full on road racer and ran SCCA solo events and won the C/P class. In 1977 I went through SCCA’s driver’s school and started road racing, by the end of the year I had won most of the races and regional championship and was issued my National license. In 1978 I ran SCCA’s National events and qualified for the runoffs in Atlanta. At Atlanta I had my first DNF due to running too much timing which split and exhaust valve. In ‘79 I turned the SCCA car over to my wife so she could compete in regionals and I built my IMSA GTU car.”

(L) Joel’s C-production Z, in the iconic black-arrowed hood with orange and yellow accents. (R) Frank Leary with Joel.

Joel was Frank Leary’s crew chief and later became a fellow competitor. As he mentioned above, Joel raced at Atlanta when Frank won the American Road Race of Champions in 1978, as seen in this cool video. Enjoy this period article about Joel and Frank’s competitiveness and friendship HERE. The two shared a shop together in Santa Clara for years. Here is Joel in the office doing graphic art work, and also wrenching on L-series drivetrains!

It was his talents as a graphic artist that led to the white and black CP-Z race car being casted in the Walt Disney film Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo. Note that it was filmed at Laguna Seca Raceway!

Joel’s favorite track was Laguna Seca, here are a few period photos of him in the white CP-Z and his black IMSA GTU at familiar courses like Sears Point and Road Atlanta. More pics in the gallery! We highly encourage you to check out our interview with Joel back in 2014, it’s a good read!

Our friendship with Joel

Joel came into our life in 2010 when he started selling all of his race cars. Rob made an offer that Joel couldn’t refuse:

“I would love to tell your story. I’ll buy the car if you help me assemble it with all of your knowledge. You will drive it at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Renuion at Laguna Seca.”

Rob had been building street cars for years, and attending Historic racing events for years, but he had little experience building one. Of many lessons Joel would teach Rob, he taught him that there is nothing street car about a race car. From 2010 to 2014 Joel, Rob and the ZCG crew worked slowly but surely to assemble his IMSU GTU Z car. Joel describes this car’s history:

“The car was originally presented by Mr. Katayama to Mr. John Cooper, President of Ontario Motor Speedway in 1972 to be used as the Official Pace Car for the Third Annual ” California 500″ held on Sept. 3, 1972. (it still has the built in flag holder) The car was later given to the Bob Bondurant Driving School at Sears Point. In 1977 I purchased the car from Datsun Comp. for one dollar and picked the car up at Sears Point. I ran the car at all the west coast IMSA races in GTU for three years. Starting in 1980 I ran the car in SCCA Super Production setting the track record at Sears Point and Laguna Seca and winning The Pacific Road Race Championship as well in S/P. When I got the car back it had been in a storage shed for 15 years or more.”

In 2014 we applied for admission to the Rolex event and got accepted, even though Joel’s Z was not completed. In the course of 8-10 weeks before the actual race, friends and family banded together. Joel taught us so much, discussed suspension setup, etc and guided us throughout the build. Josh, Alvin, Lou and others all worked nights/weekends to finish the car.

This magical story culminated in a successful race event with Joel and his #49 IMSA Datsun 240z at the Rolex Motorsports Reunion in August. Please see our coverage of the event HERE

Watching a race car that you restored out on the track is amazing. Topping that off, the driver that originally built the car is at the helm, some 35 years later. Laguna Seca’s track layout has changed since Joel and #49 were here in ’79, but the car looks pretty similar if you ask us 🙂

Despite the competitiveness we finished the race without incident, actually placing midpack and on par with fellow 240z’s. Rob recalls the feelings of many at the race:

“The first time since 2001 when the BRE 510 510 ran at Monterey and after watching Against All Odds many times… that didn’t hold a candle to watching a man who built this car 30 years ago drive on the same track, same livery…it was awesome. We all got emotional as Joel drove away onto the starting grid.”

If finishing this race wasn’t enough, the supreme measure of satisfaction and validation for countless hours spent on #49 came when a teary-eyed Joel gathered everyone around to thank us:

Being a part of this team was the highlight of my year and the dedication from all members and friends that helped really showed. We had #49 t-shirts made for the crew/spectators and Meghan even sported an original 70’s shirt with nails to match. Mike Joy from FOX Sports even interviewed Joel:

Telling Joel’s Story

In 2015 we applied again and got accepted to the RMMR. Unfortunately Joel wasn’t feeling well, and we were 3-weeks away from the event. Rob was focused on telling Joel’s story….how he raced against factory-backed teams and was competitive…the world needed to know! With race week fast approaching Rob enlisted the help of his hero and legendary race car driver John Morton. You can see our report from the 2015 RMMR HERE.

It had been Rob’s dream to drive the #49 IMSA GTU car and he had one rule: he would never sit in the driver’s seat until he was driving on the track at Laguna Seca. So, since 2010 he did not sit in the car and Joel told him it was time. Joel pushed Rob to make his dream a reality. Joel wanted the people around him to succeed. Rob would gain his SCCA license (special shoutout to Larry Oka) and competition license. In 2018, after running a full SCCA season Rob had the racing bug bad. We finally got accepted to 2018 RMMR.

It was Nissan’s first time being honored at RMMR, and the first time Rob Fuller would race a historically significant Z car.

(L)Photo: Mark Hutchinson

Adding to the experience was the support from friends and family. Having Joel Anderson close by to see his old Z racing and Rob’s excitement was endearing. Rob was on cloud 9, the student and master both together having a great time.

We would not be doing the things we are on the track without guidance from Joel. Off track, he was guy that walked into a place and the room changed. he simply oozed cool. Rob remembers Joel and his personality:

“For his 75th birthday in 2017, we flew out to Texas to surprise him. We worked on his hot rod, reminisced, made good food, drank beers. He was just brimming with personality. Our friend Steve S would say ‘If half the s__ Joel did in his life is true, it would make for a movie’. The guy lived so many lives: he was in advertising (working for Atari), owned his own pool company, landscaping. He can fix anything. A fond memory: We were running behind on the IMSA build. He flew in to help for a weekend. Meghan asked me to put ceilings fans in our house, and Joel taught me how to install them! He was LeMons racing with us too. Such a larger-than-life personality. At the 2014 Rolex, people remembered that car.’Is this Joel Anderson’s car? Whatever happened to that guy? I would point he’s right over there!”

We miss Joel. Even though he is gone, his spirit lives on through friends and family. We will continue to share his story with the world. ZCG will restore his C-Production Z (currently in fabrication stage) and race it just as we did with Joel’s IMSA GTU Z. From Rob:

“My condolences to his family and friends. Brace yourselves… we are slowly losing our heroes but it’s up to us to keep their spirit alive. Everyone knows the BRE Datsun 240Z, and to me Joel Anderson is right there…we loved him. 79 years on Earth is not long enough. Wherever he’s at I hope there’s a race program and he’s kicking ass.”