Our friends at SpeedSF are running another great track day at Thunderhill West October 12.  This is a great opportunity to enjoy the newly opened “West” section of the track. We love running our cars with these folks and they go above and beyond to make sure you get tons of track time! They are also offering a discount if you sign up for both Thunderhill 10/12 AND Laguna Seca 11/1. For more details please visit  SpeedSF.com.

 

Need some motivation to sign up? Watch Patrick in his Vortech supercharged Z33 from last weekend’s Speed SF event at Sonoma Racway:

 

 

 

We had a tremendous week racing at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion August 14-17.  More commonly known as the “historics” at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, this epic vintage race is part of several events occupying the week-long Monterey car festival leading up to the Pebble Beach Concours.  Our friends over at JNC were lucky to experience the Pebble Beach scene in all its opulence and excitement. From the multi-million dollar auctions and surprising Japanese classic entrants check out their coverage HERE.

If it’s the smell of 110 octane, straight-piped exhausts and wheel-to-wheel action you desire than look no further than the historics. Typically I would cover this event from a spectator’s point of view. This year, I was fortunate to be part of the Z Car Garage race crew and bring you, dear readers, a perspective from the pits as a first time participant.

 

Joel Anderson and Restoration of the #49 IMSA Z

Z Car Garage was thrilled to team up with original owner, builder and driver Joel Anderson to bring the IMSA Z back to life after being stored for 25 years.  Restored to late-70’s spec as it was raced, this IMSA GTU-prepped Z does not have new “trick” parts.  Parts from Joel’s collection were re-used and common wear items were refreshed. Below:  Original race seat and MOMO Prototipo steering wheel. Original suspension parts were plated.

 

Our man William applied Joel’s bespoke striping:

 

More detailed restoration photos and our full interview with Joel can be found HERE. We were very pleased with the engine bay…plenty of Joel’s engineering remains intact:

 

We applied the vinyl livery, took a step back and pinched ourselves…are we still dreaming?

 

With all of the vitals checked, #49 rests before heading to Laguna Seca on the original trailer Joel used decades ago at Road Atlanta:

 

Racing at Laguna Seca

For the Friday practice session we drove the ZCG Datsun 2000 to Laguna Seca and parked alongside some fellow roadsters owners in the paddock. Arriving at  ‘Seca early morning with the track enshrouded in fog is surreal.  Despite the moisture and most high-dollar machinery still under car covers, a few brave souls were on course for their practice sessions.
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Our friends at SpeedSF are running another great track day at Sonoma Raceway September 6-7. We love running our cars with these folks and they go above and beyond to make sure you get tons of track time!
Register now at SpeedSF.com!

On Sunday I attended the Saratoga Classic Car Show in beautiful downtown Saratoga, Ca. Now in its 5th year running, thousands of car lovers flock to this historic strip of Big Basin Way.  Two-hundred cars line the street with music, vendors, shopping and plenty of fun for families. Despite its huge following I had never heard of this show happening in my own backyard until a friend sent me the flyer. I thought it would be cool to represent Japanese classic cars with the Datsun Roadster so I signed up and enjoyed the day with family.

 

I’m a huge fan of muscle cars and Hot Rods so this show was a refreshing break from the J-tin that is close to my heart 🙂 Here are some of my favorites:

From Ford:  “Bullit-esque” Mustang and Pro-Touring Shelby fastback:

 

This Thunderbird had a wicked stance and Halibrand-style wheels:

 

From Chevrolet: Pro-Touring ’57, trackday Camaro, C1 ‘Vette, Yenko tribute and mean Chevelle:

 

The roadster was well-received and I spotted a very clean S30 down the street! Maybe next year we can bring more JDM flair to the show!

 

Speaking of roadsters, there was a large contingent of English droptops including this absolutely bonkers turbocharged Sunbeam Alpine:

 

Sporting some sweet vintage Enkei 92 meshies with sticky Re-11s this DE-prepped beast even had a “TIGR ETR” plate!  Below: very clean MGA, Tiger and E-type:

 

I thought I was out of place with the Datsun and then I saw this beautiful ’68 Audi 100…on bags!

Such pretty lines it reminded me of BMW’s famous E9 chassis. The Rotiform wheels were perfect:

 

I was in Torq-Thrust and vintage wheel heaven. Some of my favorites. I love flat caps on these:

Check out the gallery for more pictures!

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***!!!Attention all Datsun fans!!!***

 

Z Owners of Northern California (ZONC) will be hosting a Datsun/Nissan car corral at the Historic races August 14-17 at Laguna Seca. This is a very special event with several Datsuns competing and the legendary Joel Anderson will be driving his IMSA Z. The last time Anderson drove ‘Seca in this car was 25 years ago!
Don’t miss this event and bring your Datsun/Nissan to the corral to show some support!

 

 

We also hear that the wicked Steve Millen 300zx IMSA race car will also be running! See you at ‘Seca!