The 2022 Japanese Classic Car Show was held on September 10, in Long Beach, CA. This is the original vintage Japanese-car event in SoCal and in its 17th year, JCCS has grown incredibly. Over 20k spectators enjoyed 300+ cars in displayed at Marina Green Park.
The vehicles themselves remained a fantastic blend of stock, modified and restored. This is the most important show for Japanese cars, and Z Car Garage keeps coming back every year to soak up the sun, see old friends and drool over some spectacular vintage builds. Here is Rob’s report from the show, enjoy!
Rob grabbed a last minute flight to SoCal and joined our good friend Jan Trondsen to check out JCCS. We have watched this show grow and change venues over the last 17 years and it never disappoints.
“It’s one of our favorite car shows. The people, the cars are always on point. I gotta give a huge shoutout to to Terry and Koji for the tremendous work they do throughout the year to make this event a success. I saw so many people from out of town and for good reason…it’s a must see.”
Rob was a guest of Nissan and enjoyed a “dawn patrol” viewing of the show before the general public . It was fun to see everyone setting up. We spotted two of Sung Kang’s Z car builds, FuguZ and DocZ. Last year Sung visited Z Car Garage, driving “Mrs. Butters”, our 1971 Series 1 240z shop demo car. After driving Butters, Sung wanted the exact same Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels), Z Car Garage CV Axles and KW suspension on his very own FuguZ!
Sung was so impressed with the Z Car Garage Big-Brakes that he also wanted a set on his latest 240Z build, the “DocZ”. We happily obliged, only this time we shipped the kit to the Erick of Erick’s Racing, the master builder behind DocZ. We love seeing our parts on client builds!
Rally Legend
We were happy to see Tom Knudsen’s 1970 Datsun 240Z WORKS Rally Z at JCCS. There was a crowd around it all day! We first saw this authentic time machine back in June at the ZONC 50th Anniversary Celebration.
This is chassis #2 of 4 that were built by Nissan for the 1971 Monte Carlo Rally. It is the project of Tom K and noted Datsun expert Steve Pettersen and their restoration website is a must-visit for history and feature documentation (as shown above). The Z remains largely intact with original parts like the Nissan competition exhaust manifold and roll bar. Period-correct parts like the Ikeda Bussan rally seat and reclining navigator seat were sourced. Check out the heater-port to defrost the headlight covers, Nissan-branded acrylic windows and more.
280ZX-R
This 1979 280ZX-R is rare, with only 1009 units produced. The owner, Victor wanted a Datsun and went down to the dealership, had his mom co-sign and purchased it brand new!
Z32
300ZX (Z32) models were present in stock and modified examples
JDM Gems
This R32 Skyline GT-R impressed us with a stunning wheels fitment sporting BBS E88s. We love non-Nissan cars and JCCS showcases such a great variety that we don’t get to see everyday. Mazda RX-2s, RX-3s, Honda s600, the list goes on! More photos in the gallery below
People
We love hearing vintage owner’s stories. See more of the Erin’s father/daughter project 280Z on Instagram.
Always good to catch up with friends, local and from out of town! Positive vibes all around.
project_240Z with his survior 280Z
Special shoutout to our clients Ben and Vince.They drove down from the Bay Area together in Ben’s 1974 Datsun 260Z for an epic roadtrip:
Ben was happy with the Z’s performance and he’s sending us photos from the roadtrip soon:
“Hello Rob,
I hope all is well. I am sending you this stellar pic of you with Tom’s Works Z!!! Vince and I had a great time at the JCCS and it was great seeing you. My Z drove so well with not one hiccup! In the heat too. Thanks for building an awesome car. I am really enjoying it. Have a great day, Ben.”
Thank JCCS!
As with past JCCS events the day went by too quickly. Thank you to Terry and Koji for hosting another great show. Enjoy our photo gallery below.If you missed last year’s JCCS check out our report from 2021 HERE .
