When we learned that a Nissan Silvia was in our area Z Car Garage got excited. This is not the 90’s Silvia (Nissan 240sx here) we know and love, it is the ultra-rare 1965 Silvia CSP311. Only 554 examples were made from ’67 -’67 and never imported to the US.

 

Fortunately for owner Rick K, he was able to acquire this Silvia from our friends at JDM Legends:

“My son (Matt) and I were searching for a nice 240Z. Throughout our search, Matt kept telling me about the Silvia (CSP311).  One became available through JDM Legends. I just wasn’t sure about it until we saw Myron Vernis’ beautiful Silvia featured in a recent JDM exhibit at the Peterson. When we saw the car in person, we were hooked. We purchased the Silvia from JDM-L. It is built on the Nissan/Datsun Roadster chassis and drive train, so it is fun to drive and reliable.”

The Luxurious Datsun 1600 Coupe

 

The Silvia is special for many reasons. As Rick mentioned above, this car was built on the Datsun Roadster chassis, meaning it is a body-on-frame platform sharing the same R16 drivetrain as the Datsun 1600 (SP311). All were hand built and right hand drive with a gorgeous interior. Fairlady owners will notice familiar gauges and switchgear–all borrowed from the contemporary Datsun Roadster. The body was designed by Kazuo Kimura with influence from Albrecht Goertz (of 240z/2000GT fame):

 

Although it was a beautiful, robust little coupe it was not a sales success for Nissan. It did however pave the way for the larger S30:

“Nissan shipped one to the fledgling Datsun distributor in the US. They did not think it would sell in the US (re-naming it a Datsun 1600 Coupe) and that was the end of CSP311. It never made it to full production. We believe ours is one of 5 currently in the US.  Most are in Japan with a large group in Australia as well.  We guesstimate that there may be 150 still in existence world wide.”

 

The Silvia at Z Car Garage

 

Rick brought the Silvia in to us for an inspection and to ensure it was road-worthy. We thank owner Eric Bizek of JDM Legends for referring Rick to us!

“Eric at JDM told us about Z Car Garage and Rob.  Knowing that one of the best shops in the country was 10 minutes from our house gave us the confidence we needed to buy the car.  We knew we had a great shop to work on it in the Bay Area.”

We developed a plan to address some deferred maintenance and sort out the tired suspension. A surprisingly clean underbody (remember this came from Japan!) revealed some corrosion:

 

To satisfy our curiosity we placed the Silvia on the scales and it checked in at a scant 2210lbs:

 

We even put it on the dyno to make sure the engine was healthy. Could this be the only Silvia in the US to be dyno tuned? 😀

 

The Silvia put down a stout 67hp/81tq to the wheels, enjoy the video:

 

 

Rick and son Mat have been enjoying the Silvia and sharing it with other enthusiasts.

 “Matt and I enjoy driving it often. We also have taken it to Cars and Coffee events in the Bay Area and most notably were welcomed with position A at the Wrigley building in Santa Cruz. The Driving While Awesome Cars and Coffee was one of the best we had been to.”

We also spotted it at the 2019 Saratoga Classic Car Show:

 

While Rick and Matt were at the shop we let them drive Butters, our  1970 Series 1 shop demo Z. They were hooked:

“Hi Rob,  It was great to meet you and your team.  Matthew could barely sleep last night after driving Butters.  Thanks so much for letting us take it out.  Truly amazing. We want a Z just like that.”

 

Big thanks to Rick for letting us work on the Silvia. We suggested that a car this rare and significant should be as close as possible to a factory correct restoration which we agree with. For now they are just Enjoying The Ride!

The Vintage Auto Salon was held today at the San Leandro Marina and it was yet another successful show from the minds of Ivan and James of HJCG. They even arranged for special guest visits from Diane Krey-Wesley (“Mary” of the Ken and Mary Nissan commercials) and the famous Yoshiya Watanabe, founder of the Rocky Auto shop in Japan. Mr. Watanabe also hand-picked the award winners for the day!

What I love about the HJCG shows is the variety of cars from totally restored to works-in-progress and everything between. At each of their past shows I have been stunned by at least one rare, collectible JDM car. This year I was completely taken back by this incredibly gorgeous, impossibly-rare, jaw dropping Silvia:

This classy beauty exudes cool. Check out the split rear bumpers, jewel-like tailights, impressive front grille and a contrasting cream-colored interior:

The lowered stance and staggered Watanabe wheels against the pale green paint made this car almost too yummy for me to bear!

The Silvias were built on the Datsun Roadster’s frame employing the very same R16/4-speed drivetrain. Even the gauges and toggle switches were carry-overs. I had a hunch that this wasn’t a bone-stock Silvia though so I peered under the chassis and found a NISMO competition aluminum oil pan! I tracked down the owner and begged him to pop open the hood so I could quell my curiosity and behold…it had the mighty U20/5-speed with Solexes from a Datsun 2000. This elegant lady also packs a punch!

Z-car fans unite! Plenty of S30 action with some S130 love as well.  RHD S30 alert! This car now sports beautiful Watanabe wheels(left). Eric drove his TurboZX-powered S30 from Modesto:

You don’t have to be a Datsun/Nissan fan to appreciate the Skyline. Heads turned as three early, GC10 “Hakosukas” and even a 80’s DR30 Skyline came to the show…both coupes were shades of silver and sported flares, triple-carbed L-series motors, cherry interiors and spoilers:

Everyone’s favorite 4-door “Skyrine” also lives with this DR30 Skyline…hello 80’s!

Engine swaps are always entertaining to see and this show had transplants that ranged from “expected” to almost “bizzarre”…
Rotary die-hards this has got to be the ultimate “pissed-on” swap:  A Honda S2000 (F20C) drivetrain into a 1st gen RX-7. Complete with that requisite must-have for any F20-swapped car: the S2K gauge cluster. Yup:

Also rotary-related but nothing shockingly new are rotary swaps into Datsun 510s and Toyota Corollas. The green car is immaculate and won Mr. Watanabe’s heart. The orange 510 sports a roots-style supercharged (!) rotary!

Speaking of Datsun 510s, there were lots of clean SR/KA swapped cars and some amazingly stock examples as well:

 Cool trucks too!  Our roadster-friend Mark completed a KA24E engine swap into his 521 pickup (right)…

Gotta love those vintage wagons. Notice the almost “Chopped” look of the 610? Slim windows make for a cool profile…stock! The red Honda Civic had a boosted B-series. Several Toyota Coronas were present:

It was refreshing to see more Hondas at the show. The white EF Civic was super clean with an OCD-level of detail in the engine bay. We like it:

Have you ever seen a Toyota Sports 800 in person? Super tiny. Super rare!

More sweet Toyotas…I love the 1st gen Celica’s. I always thought the exterior and interior(dash) were ahead of their time:

 Wheels! Wheels! Wheels! Another way to get your JDM-wheel fix is to attend these shows!

We will end with my favorite car, the Datsun Roadster. There was a good showing with 6 roadsters at one point including Mike A’s ’68 SPL/SR20 (He drove up from Pomona!), my ‘67.5 SPL/SR20, Dave P’s ’67 SRL, Will C’s ’69 SRL and a red SPL:

 Our very own Dave P won the award for “Best Restored”…Mr. Watanabe and Rocky Auto approved! Congratulations Dave!

We want to give a big Thank You to James and Ivan for hosting another fun event. HJCG rules!

Lots of pictures in the gallery below so don’t forget to click after the jump!
…[read more]

The Concours event was an amazing experience. Big thanks to David Swig for the invitation and giving Japanese classic cars a presence at the show and in people’s hearts!

We left ZCarGarage at 7am with three 240z cars, a ‘67.5 roadster and one sinister-looking s/c’d 350z.

This was my first time at a Concours event, and I was really impressed with how the venue was organized. As we drove  past the registration and onto the lawn area each car received a bottle of wine!  Flag wavers at every turn directed us to our staging area, where I immediately saw a sea of Ferrari’s and other exotics. I kept wondering, “A bunch of Datsuns get their own display in this show? ” Yes indeed. Not only Datsuns, but Hondas and Toyotas deserve their moment in the spotlight as well 🙂

The Japanese classic car display included a Toyota ’67 2000GT,  Toyota Sports 800, ’68 Honda S800, ’71 Skyline GT-R.   3 Datsun 240zs,  Datsun roadster, and a 1973 Toyota Corolla.   9 lovely Japanese cars in between gangster-era Cadillac’s and bright red Ferrari’s.
 
 

 

 
People were smitten with the display. I could hear memories being conjured, stories being swapped. It was great exposure for our cars, and quite endearing to see this happen amongst all of the high dollar iron surrounding us 🙂

                    
Rob told me that the Skyline was real, with the S20 drivetrain. My jaw dropped and I got very giddy as I have never seen a real Skyline GT-R in person. When the owner opened the hood the mighty S20 gleamed in all its twin-cam glory. Check out the pictures below for more detailed shots…from the underbody to the interior, it was a treat.
                  

The arrival of summer came late to the Bay Area but it was definitely felt with 95 degree + temps. Multiple tents and water stations were available to the attendees. Our invitation included snacks, drinks and lunch in a pavillion with a perfect view of the car display ramp. We were fortunate to have a chat with David Swig about seeing more folks getting into vintage racing and increasing Japanese car representation.
    

Here is a sight that was new to me: Concours judges scrutinizing cars. Maybe one day these gentlemen will be judging your Nissan/Datsun at a Concours event! Why not?

After lunch it was time to check out more of the cars, and I can’t describe or include all of the wonderful machines so I will  list a few favorites. Make sure to click after the “read more” to see all of the pictures!

Mercedes Benz 300SLs, and Gullwings galore! The new SLS was there too.

This Alfa Romeo Guiletta Sprint had just the right proportions:

Chrome everywhere, huge grilles, hood ornaments, and interiors that are so huge and luxurious that they belong on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

           

The event was truly an incredible experience and hopefully we can have an even greater display of Japanese cars for the collector car world to appreciate. Enjoy the pictures!

Click on the “continue reading” link below for the full picture album (315 pics)
…[read more]