On Saturday, August 24 we attended the Tokyo Calling 4 event hosted by Breakfast Club Rally. Z Car Garage participated with a group of client cars and enjoyed a wonderful day of driving through the foothills of Northern California. The event also featured 200+ Japanese classics and 90’s-era wonders to appreciate during the morning social gathering and rest stops. Enjoy our report with mega-photo gallery and video!
Breakfast Club Rally
The Breakfast Club Rally (BCR) started 4 years ago as a small group enjoying weekend drives. It blossomed into a monthly event with one hour of hanging out drinking coffee, followed by two hours of driving on the second Saturday of the month. Registration is free and always open to all makes. I highly recommend it for anyone looking to enjoy the beautiful Northern California roads and scenery. You can see our previous BCR reports HERE!
The initial BCR Tokyo Calling event, Tokyo Calling 2 and Tokyo Calling 3 were all a blast. We did not want to miss their fourth all-Japanese, mostly-vintage rally so I assembled a group of Z Car Garage clients and friends to participate in TC4. We left the shop at 6:15am heading to Vallejo, here is a preview of our cars:
Beau’s 1976 Datsun 280Z
Beau’s Datsun 280Z is fresh from Z Car Garage full cosmetic and mechanical restoration featuring Recaro Specialist seats, our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels) and Z Car Garage CV Axles!
Vince’s 1973 Datsun 240Z
Vince’s 1973 Datsun 240z is Enjoying The Ride with our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels) and Z Car Garage CV Axles. He scored this Z from our friends at Bring a Trailer and regularly drives it on rally events.
Mrs. Butters
Our client Jim H was in Mrs. Butters, our Series 1 shop 240z. This Series 1 S30 features a 3.2L with triple-Mikuni induction, Z Car Garage Big-Brakes, Z Car Garage CV Axles, ZCG Heat Shield, 6-speed transmission and full KW suspension.
Yoni’s 1972 Datsun 240Z
It was great to see our client Yoni Enjoying the Ride in his 1972 Datsun 240Z. This Z recently got our Z Car Garage KW coil-overs in addition to the Z Car Garage Big-Brakes and Z Car Garage CV Axles.
Linda’s 2023 Nissan Z
Linda Williams drove her 2023 Nissan Z. This is the special,”Proto Spec” edition limited to just 240 units. We love her “1OF240Z” tribute license plate. Linda joined us on the last two Tokyo Calling events in her 1972 Datsun 240Z OMS Pace Car Duplicate. She loves driving it everywhere.
Kurt’s R32 Skyline GT-R
Our client Kurt drove his R32 Skyline GT-R. Full report coming to zcarblog.com on this beautiful example with Stoptech Big-Brakes, FHM wheels, a host of engine upgrades and sweet interior touches from Kurt himself.
The Z Car Garage Nissan Z
I drove our shop 2023 Nissan Z with Fast Intentions TDX cat-back exhaust system. Our morning caravan of 5 cars enjoyed cruising up I-680 through Benicia. Nothing beats driving with fellow Z car owners!
Tokyo is Calling before the Rally!
Our crew arrived at the rally start in Vallejo and it was already filled with fabulous J-Tin parked at Kindred Motorworks. BCR hosted a “social gathering” from 7:30-9am so we could take in all the glorious cars. The vibe was tremendous, and as usual it went by too quickly. Let’s go through some of the highlights, with more photos in the gallery below!
Over 20 S30 Z cars were present!
I am always on the lookout for Nissans and Datsuns, and roadsters get my attention. There were at least 10 in attendance including a genuine 1967 2000. One of the most sought after Datsuns, these “half-year” models were introduced mid-1967 offering a 5-speed transmission and 150hp twin-Mikuni carb’d 2L engine…hot stuff for the era.
Ian’s SRL is #601 (out of ~1000 cars) and it was fully restored years ago by Les Cannaday in San Diego. Ian is meticulous about maintaining this car, but it is no garage queen, attending monthly rally events. The (655) Off-white paint with red interior is one of my favorites. Yes, it even sports a factory Nissan hardtop with all the stainless trim!
John Baker’s immaculate 1969 Datsun 2000:
Mark’s right-hand drive ’69 2000:
High and low-windshield roadsters models were present:
We got all of the roadsters for a group shot before starting the rally:
There were eight Datsun 510s in wagon and sedan form. Our client Jay installed a set of our Z Car Garage CV Axles on his Green 510. Jay is a hardcore rally driver and also brought his mint wagon with family!
Back to Z cars, Pratibha and Andre recently finished preparing their ’73 240Z:
Our client Cameron’s Z32 Twin Turbo visited Z Car Garage for maintenance work, downpipes, inlet piping, larger intercoolers all from Specialty Z. Cameron has been bringing his 300 to us for many years and we we are really glad to see him driving again. More Z32s were on the rally!
There were a handful of S14 and S13 240SX:
Nissan Skyline
Our client Lehan in his R32 with Stopech Big-Brakes and an R33! (below)The lone S130, looking good in Black/Gold!!
Enjoy this walk-around and driving video from Tokyo Calling 4:
So many cool cars please check the gallery for more photos! Next, let’s check out some non-Nissan/Datsun action…
Kei Classics
TWO (!) Honda Beat sports cars, one owned by our R32 GT-R client Miles.
Honda
There were no less than 20 Honda S2000 sports cars on the rally!
Honda was well-represented including late model DC2 Integras, a few NSXs, CRXs and EF/EG hatches rounded out the display:
Mazda
Toyota
Some of our favorite Toyota’s including Supra (A60, A70, A80), first gen MR2s, and AE86s! The Lexus IS300 SportCross with A80 Supra wheels was sweet!
Trucks and Vans
Let’s not forget the Japanese classic trucks and vans! Hilux, Nissan and Land Cruiser:
The impossibly cool award goes to Todd Lapin’s Toyota Cera:
Rally On!
Photo by Ben Kim
The rally started at 9am and I was tasked with leading our group. There was no cell phone reception but I was armed with a turn-by-turn rally printout. I enjoyed hustling the ZCG Nissan Z through the backroads:
One of the perks of BCR events is their team of professional photographers at various stages capturing epic rolling and detail shots so people can focus on enjoying the drive. I encourage you to visit each of these SIX photographer’s photo albums to see shots of your rides:Sophia Thompson, Ben Kim, Alex Nibyt, Everett Lederer, Emma Lai and Chris Friske.
The rally concluded back at Barn 5400, where BCR arranged for lunch from Kinoko Japanese Home Cooking. Folks enjoyed Donburi surrounded by J-Tin everywhere. It was a superb venue to enjoy cool cars and great company.
Thanks BCR!
Many thanks to the Breakfast Club Rally organizers, we had a blast and I urge you to register for their next event, especially if you are in the South Bay area like me and want to see what driving bliss lies North.
Thank you to all of the Z Car Garage clients that made the journey with us. Huge thanks to BCR for extending their hospitality to our crew, everyone was thrilled. Here’s to the next rally and always, always #DoitInADatsun! More photos in the gallery below…
