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Z Car Garage will be at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion this weekend with John Morton behind the wheel of the #46 BRE 240z. Come out to Laguna Seca and watch the BRE 240z run in Race 4A on Saturday at the times listed below:

You can find the full race week schedule HERE

Don’t miss the vintage racing action and please stop by to see us in Row D of the paddock. We had a successful Pre-Reunion race last weekend where John finished 6th and 8th place in a sea of high-powered Porsche RSRs and 935s!

 





EVENTS: ZCG at the Pre-Reunion 8/11-8/13

Filed under: Events,Featured Cars and Projects,Performance
by Alvin G @ 11:34 pm on August 11, 2017

 

John Morton and the BRE Z return to track for the Monterey Pre-Reunion races at Laguna Seca! Z Car Garage will be there this weekend in Row D, Group 6 so please stop by and say hello.

 z
 

LONG LIVE THE Z




EVENTS: Datsun Roadster Fun Run 7/30/17

Filed under: Events,Great Drives
by Alvin G @ 12:47 pm on July 31, 2017

 

Our local Datsun Roadster owners enjoyed a great Sunday drive yesterday. I’ve been organizing these “Fun Runs” for several years and it always makes me smile to see fellow Datsun owners Enjoying The Ride on our backroads here in the Bay Area. We began in downtown Saratoga with a meeting point just before Big Basin Way. By coincidence we spotted ZCG customer James S in his 240z coming down the mountain!

 
 

The first stretch of HWY 9 down to Boulder Creek was exhilarating. We picked up another roadster on the way to our next meeting point in Felton:

 
 

 

The cars and participants

The six cars represented an assortment of colors, years and trim level. Everything from SU and Solex-equipped U20s to R16s and SR20 drivetrains. Shown above are 1970, 1969 and 1968 with their distinct rear end treatments.

John B’s 1969 SRL

John B recently moved from SoCal to the Bay Area and has yet to explore the fantastic backroads here so I was excited to have him join us. His ’69 2000 is a prime example of how a Datsun 2000 would have looked back in the day. Sporting period-correct parts and even vintage tires John’s SRL was featured in Automobile Magazine driven by John Morton!

 

 

I drove my 1967.5 1600 with SR20:

 

Joe and Lisa’s 1968 SPL

Joe is an avid rally driver participating in this year’s Faultline and Snowball events with the roadster.  He purchased it recently and it has a 5-speed from a U20. Lisa got some seat time in today’s run too!

 

 

Stacey’s 1970 SRL

Stacey joined us in Boulder Creek with his recently refreshed ’70 SRL. This car got engine/chassis overhaul and a host of upgrades. It was great to see stacey enjoying his new mods.

 

Aidan’s 1969 SRL

Aidan is the youngest roadster owner I know being a high school student.  He is restoring his ’69 SRL by himself and recently completed the 600 mile journey to the Mt. Shasta Datsun Roadster meet. We are proud of him.

 

Eddie Wu’s E9 BMW

Ed is no stranger to Datsun Roadsters. He owns the famous “SAKE RKT”, an SR20 swapped ’66 SPL. He didn’t drive his roadster, but instead graced us with another silver beauty, this E9!

 

Mike B’s 1967.5 SPL

Mike B has been my go-to roadster driving buddy for a long time. His ‘67.5 SPL is built with period looks and modern conveniences. He was our fearless leader/hot shoe.

 

After we met Aidan in Felton we headed back up 9 to Skylinetowards Alice’s restaurant. Then we took 84 down to Pescadero. It was fairly warm even at the coast.

 

After a quick lunch break at Arcangeli’s Bakery we took Alpine Rd to Skyline and ended at the vista point.

 

Here’s a short video of us Enjoying The Ride:

Our route:

You can see past fun run event reports here:
HERE

Thanks to all that came out it was a blast! More pictures in the gallery, enjoy!

 

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The latest episode of Motor Trend’s Ignition series takes a look at the Nissan GT-R lineage. The segment features glorious engine sounds from the R35, R32 and Hakosuka Skyline GT-R. All cars were driven hard by host Jason Cammisa on the curvy roads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. I am especially excited about this short film because the R32 shown was built at Z Car Garage and currently owned by customer and friend Alex M. If you have not seen the video yet click on the YouTube link below, and continue reading for a behind-the-scenes look:

https://youtu.be/1DkGNPz89FA?list=PLEFAC5D656286E89B

 

When Motor Trend reached out to us for a GT-R feature we happily obliged by providing the R32 GT-R. I had the wonderful opportunity of delivering the R32 to the set and spending a day with the filming crew. So what was it like to be on the set of production? It started in the morning on a weekday in May when I picked up a freshly detailed R32 from the shop. After a splash of 100 octane I proceeded to drive the Skyline on (what else?) Skyline Blvd:

 

It was a thrill driving the R32 GT-R up HWY 9 and 35, and I finally arrived at my destination. I met up with Jason and director Anthony Esposito at Alice’s Restaurant, a popular hub for gearheads enjoying the surrounding twisty roads. We had breakfast with the crew and I couldn’t believe I was eating blueberry pancakes next to Jason Cammisa! My hero from Head2Head, which I recommend as the chemistry between him and Jonny Lieberman is highly entertaining!

 

We hopped in the GT-Rs and headed out to the first shooting location to acquire “beauty” shots before the action footage. This, dear zcarblog readers, was an epic moment as I was treated to the simply orgasmic sounds emanating from the S20-powered Hakosuka GT-R.  The 3 GT-Rs:

 

The 1971 Hakosuka Skyline GT-R

 
 

The authentic, KPGC10 Skyline is owned by enthusiast Tom Knudsen. Learn more about Tom’s passion for vintage J-Tin from our friends at Japanese Nostalgic Car.  It’s hard not to shoot endless pictures of this rare, iconic beauty:

 

The 2017 R35 GT-R:

 

The 1992 R32 Skyline GT-R

 

Jason and I took the R32 out for test drive before filming. Again I was a little star struck sitting shotgun. When I drove it up Skyline Blvd earlier that morning I had not given it the full throttle but Jason on the other hand didn’t hold back. We were both pretty giddy driving it on boost. He’s a carnut like the rest of us and enjoys his track days and building/working on cars. He’s seriously funny too, follow him on Instagram

 

 
 

While the crew was setting up, I had an enlightening chat with Tom about vintage Japanese cars and historic racing. He raced back to his garage to bring a vanity plate for the Hako and returned in his 1973 Porsche 911E. Then a random yellow NSX showed up.  All of this combined with sweeping views of the Bay Area would make any gearhead happy:

 

 
 

In addition to the NSX and numerous hikers/cyclists that stopped by, traffic on Skyline was getting heavier throughout the day. This would clearly impede filming, but I learned an interesting (apparently common) solution: hiring off-duty CHP officers to shut down the road for 15 minutes at a time:

 

That 15 minute window was frantic to me but the entire team was calm and collected with each cycle, accomplishing all desired footage.  I was thoroughly impressed.  On the other hand, after traffic was released by the CHP the passing drivers were either visibly frustrated or genuinely in awe of the triple Skylines that were holding them up!

 
 

Weather conditions were not favorable for recording sound. It was extremely windy and cold and though I wasn’t dressed for the chill I managed to find warmth and solace in the heated seats of the R35. Kudos to Dennis the sound guy and camera crew for making the best of the conditions. I even witnessed Anthony do some wild acrobatic filming hanging out the back of a Tahoe while driving in reverse!

 
 

Simon, Wiley and Anthony adorn the R32 with a myriad of camera/sound recording devices:

 

By 6pm the session was called and with the fog rolling in, our R32’s role was completed. The team would continue filming the KPGC10 and R35 the rest of the week.

 

All good things must come to an end and I drove the Skyline back to the shop and relinquished the keys:

  
 

Thank you MotorTrend crew for the hospitality! It was a memorable experience and the video turned out great. We are sad to report that Jason left Motor Trend after this episode but I was fortunate to watch him and Anthony work their magic in person. I wish them the best!  More pictures in the gallery below
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EVENTS: ZONC Annual Car Show THIS SATURDAY!

Filed under: Events
by Alvin G @ 1:24 pm on July 19, 2017

 

The ZONC Annual Car Show will be held this Saturday July 22 in Brisbane, CA.  This a fun event in a great location so bring out your Z, G, Datsun or GT-R! Pictures from past show’s can be seen HERE with more details below. Z you at the show!

 





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