The 2018 Japanese Classic Car Show was held on September 15, in Long Beach, CA. This is the original vintage Japanese-car event in SoCal and in its 14th year, JCCS has grown incredibly–over 430 cars covered the lawn of 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 the Z Car Garage crew keeps coming back every year to soak up the sun, see old friends and drool over some spectacular vintage builds.
ZCG Displays Two Z Cars!
Z Car Garage displayed two customer cars at the show: Randy Jaffe’s 1970 Datsun 240z and James Stevens’ 1972 Datsun 240z. Randy’s Z was completed in time to be our booth car. This Series 1 S30 started as a project car 4-years ago with paint/bodywork performed by Bryson Richards of Classic Livery. The Z was shipped to us from Georgia for finishing Randy’s vision of a wild show/go race car:
Inspiration for the Jagermeister livery came from Randy’s obsession with Porsche, and the Max Moritz Racing Porsche 934.
We will take an in-depth look at this Z in separate post, but here are a few key details. Providing room for the 275/315-width tires is an authentic Pandem Rocketbunny aero kit. Randy channeled his passion for racing into this build and the chassis is virtually identical to his #46 BRE Datsun 240z, using zinc’d DP Racing suspension parts. The engine is a big displacement L-series running 13:5:1 compression, triple-Mikuni ph44s, a Fujitsubo header and glorious BRE-style exhaust. Running gear includes a close-ratio ZX transmission, OS Giken LSD for the 4.11 R180, our ZCG CV Axles and ZCG Big-Brake Kit (race version).
We are happy to report that Randy’s Z won 1st place, Best 240z in a class filled with incredible Z cars!
James’s 1972 S30 was displayed with fellow Z car owners in the show. At the heart of this beast is a turbocharged L-series managed by Haltech. Chassis upgrades include custom full-length subframe connectors, our ZCG CV Axles and Big-Brake Kit (328mm) behind Volk TE37V wheels.
A stack instrument cluster was integrated into the gauge pod, viewed from leather Recaro Pole Position seats. This Z has a very unique sound. We recently tuned it on E85, dyno results and videos coming soon!
We are very happy for James as he won the award for Best of JC Speed!
Stay tuned for in-depth reports on both of these Z cars coming to zcarblog.com.
Showtime!
Our friend and talented racer Troy Ermish transported both of our Z cars (and his 510) down to Long Beach Friday afternoon. Below is a video of the Z’s loading from the shop:
We unloaded early Saturday morning from the expansive parking lot near the new venue in Marina Green Park. Immediately we could tell this location was larger and more vendor-friendly than The Queen Mary of past shows. Our booth was situated in a great spot, at the mid-point of the show with our neighbors from OS Giken. …[read more]
There are vintage car races every month of the year, but few draw such amazing machines as the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. Each year the Reunion has a featured marque and this year it was Nissan, previously known as Datsun. This was the very first time a Japanese manufacturer was honored as the featured marque in 45 years of running the event! As you can imagine, excited Datsun racers and fans around the nation made plans to attend the Reunion held 8/23-26 at Laguna Seca Raceway.
We had a blast at the RMMR and I was once again fortunate to be on the Z Car Garage pit crew for several race cars. Read further for our report, illustrated by a 200+ shot gallery with videos. Enjoy! Here is a short introductory video highlighting the Nissan/Datsun group photo (50 cars!) and a taste of racing action to come:
An epic showing from Nissan Motorsports
Nissan really rose to the occasion, bringing historically significant race cars from Japan to offer a museum-like collection under its paddock tent. Our friends at Japanese Nostalgic Car (JNC) took an in-depth look at each of the cars displayed, catch their excellent coverage HERE. My favorites were the #46 BRE 510, Grand-Prix dominating R382, hyper-rare Nissan R390 GT1 Road Car, and of course the monstrous GTP ZX Turbo car. We wish they would have driven them on the track!
Datsun fans unite
When the announcement was made that Nissan would be the featured marque at the RMMR, we knew it had to be an unforgettable experience for all Datsun enthusiasts. An event “not to be missed”, and that is where The Z Owners of Northern California (ZONC) comes in. We reached out to club secretary Ann Devor, and her team coordinated a Nissan-only parking corral AND a parade lap around the world famous, 11-turn, 2.238-mile jewel of a road course called Weathertech Laguna Seca Raceway.
Car corral attendance was impressive, and it was absolute bliss for all participants. There were over 130 cars including Datsun 510s, Z cars and roadsters followed by Z32s, Z33s, Z34s and GT-Rs.
Staging for the parade lap was awesome with smiles everywhere! Living legend Pete Brock even rode shotgun in a Datsun Roadster as the lead car. We were fortunate to get almost two full laps in, at a surprisingly brisk pace. Please see our picture gallery and link (from Jason Green) for shots of your car!
Missed out on the fun? In the video below you can see my coverage of the car corral and parade lap. Also included is parade lap footage captured from the Corkscrew, one of the track’s infamous turns, thanks to Gary Savage:
Serious recognition for Japanese Classics
The Reunion is a highlight for race fans, but it is also part of Monterey Car Week which is filled with classy events like auctions and the famous Pebble Beach Concours d’ Elegance. Another first for Japanese cars was the Japanese Automotive Invitational hosted by Infiniti. This inaugural event displayed landmark Japanese vehicles. While I did not have a chance to visit the JAI, Speedhunters did. We are proud of three cars displayed: Tim Corcoran’s stunning ’64 Datsun 1500, a hakosuka Skyline GT-R from our friends at JDM Legends, and Brian Kippen’s Nissan Patrol:
Epic racing
With 50 Nissan/Datsuns racing this year the starting grid for Group 3B (B-sedan, roadsters), Group 5A (IMSA GTU) and even Group 7B (IMSA GTO) was a fan’s wish come true. Z Car Garage supported 5 race cars, and Rob Fuller would be driving one of them as well. Rob’s operational plan was to assign one technician per race car to ensure that all were ready for each session. It was an orchestral process to watch unfold, and we pulled it off as all 5 cars made it through the Pre-Reunion week and race!
Take a lap with John Morton in the BRE Datsun 240z
For this year’s Reunion, Z Car Garage prepared and supported the #46 BRE Datsun 240z piloted once again by our hero John Morton. Owner Randy Jaffe restored this Z over several years with fanatic attention to detail. The Z was shipped to ZCG from Georgia, needing refreshing from racing earlier this year at The Mitty (Nissan was also the featured marque).
At 76 years of age John Morton is still formidable behind the wheel!
Enjoy this extended video with in-car footage of John dicing it up with Porsche RSRs and BMW CSLs…Long Live The Z!
John finished the race as the fastest Z car in the field! 8th overall out of 52 cars with a best lap time of 1:41.8. The BRE 240z also enjoyed the Monterey scene off the track, taking a trip to the lush greens of the Quail and shop-lined streets of the Carmel Concours. The video below shows the drive to these events and features a bonus interview from Motor Trend with Rob at Z Car Garage:
Brian K is an avid Datsun fan and talented machinist. He is also the man behind our Z Car Garage CV Axles. When he’s not enjoying Datsuns, Brian owns/operates KaD Models machine shop in Berkeley, CA. In addition to the fully restored yellow S30 shown above, here are a few cars in his stable:
We are proud of Brian as his 1967 Nissan Patrol was displayed last weekend at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance! Brian visited Z Car Garage for a few things on his Z including our Big-Brakes for small wheels, door seals and dyno tuning.
Finding the ’72
Let’s start with a brief history of Brian’s 240z. It’s an early ’72 built in 11/71, early enough to still have vertical defrosters and elastic strapped seats. Brian bought the car with the intention of doing a period correct restoration with some current tech modification.
In June of 2016 I found a very good candidate for this build. A factory 112 colored 240z. The car was purchased in Los Altos and driven home. For 5 months I drove the car and made notes of trouble areas. In December I stripped it, sent the body to the body shop and engine to Rebello.
Meanwhile I had my 1967 Datsun 2000 to build so I was happy knowing I had storage. The body work took a solid 14 months and the engine was ready in about the same time. The engine is a numbers matching “purists” build making 302hp on the engine dyno. The transmission is a zx 5 speed…a rebuilt Craigslist find:
The clean aesthetic and details in the engine bay showcase Brian’s restoration skills:
Z Car Garage CV Axles
With significantly more power than stock, upgrading the stock half shafts adds piece of mind as well as smoother operation. Power is sent to an open 3.54 R200 courtesy of Junkyard Jenn, and transferred to the rear wheels via Z Car Garage CV Axles. Brian installed the CV axles himself (with our blessing) 🙂 Note the Z story exhaust, more on this later:
Brian visits Z Car Garage
Upon completion of my ’67 Datsun 2000 I had the opportunity to meet Rob at ZCG for a dyno tune that Alvin set up. This was my first face to face with their shop. What I found was a lot of Datsun/Nissan passion and a shop that is well presented. I found many similarities in speaking with Rob. When researching brakes for Z cars I found many types…and because of the web I found all sorts of confusing and conflicting arguments. I knew ZCG made a big brake kit but my temporary Konig Rewinds were to be replaced with my still in process 15″ Volk Racing centerlocks.
ZCG Big Brakes for Brian’s 240z
A couple months later there was a write up on Glenn Chiou’s Fairlady 240Z-L…this was about big brakes for small wheels and that’s all I needed to hear. From what I know of Rob and ZCG, they don’t sell things until they are sure to perform better than other options with little chance of failure. My car wasn’t yet running but I made an appointment for the install.
Brian came in to ZCG and we installed the ZCG Big Brakes, replacing the factory disc/drum setup:
Front:
Rear, including the fully-functioning parking brake:
A few more detail shots of the 4-wheel discs:
Brian also had a few things on his mind and we took care of them:
When I arrived at Zcar Rob asked if there was anything else he should be aware of or I was concerned about. Mind you I had had the car together for all of 8 days and 78 now 134 miles. I gave him a list: Speedo drive is not engaging, precision rubber door seals are making me cry, one stripped rear stud and exhaust hitting things issue.
The Z story exhaust system was hitting the chassis so we re-aligned it eliminate rubbing:
ZCG Door Seals
Brian was having trouble with door fitment so we put the ZCG door seals on it:
All doors were aligned to make it open/close nicely. Before/after:
Brian was happy with the results and he doesn’t let just anyone work on his cars. Actually, he’s always done it himself:
I was a Honda then Chrysler ASE mechanic prior to becoming machinist. This was the first time I was leaving my car in the hands of another shop aside from Factory maintenance on my late model cars. Was I worried…. slightly. I left though in a loaner. I received pictures throughout the day on status and was invited to pick the car up and run a dyno tune. There were some issues that I was sent away as homework so the dyno tune although showing a healthy 235 whp was full of scatter.
You can watch the dyno run and hear the Z story exhaust in this video below:
Getting Brian back on the road
Brian was heading back to our shop for a quick dyno tune on his way to the Mt. Shasta Datsun Roadster Meet when a last minute setback occurred:
I was invited to return the following Wednesday before the annual Mt Shasta Datsun roadster meet. I’d opted to bring the 112 z and my 67.5 2000. The previous weekend I I had driven many miles, had done a Fun Run had put an additional 600 miles on the car. While running down 880 I was zipping along in 5th gear and just before exiting to ZCG I was in neutral. I knew right away…. someone forgot to stake the nut. It was 730AM and the day was not going well. I arrived at Z car and Rob greeted me and said let’s do this… I said I have bigger problems. 5th isn’t with us anymore but I think the nut backed off and I am pretty sure it’s okay but no dyno. Rob said “ do you want me to yank it and put it back together today?”
Brian indeed had an early Z 5-speed and they are known to have the mainshaft nut back off resulting in 5th gear loss:
We removed and replaced the transmission, got on the dyno at 3pm and put him back on the road to Shasta where the Z won 2nd in its class! Thanks for trusting us to work on your freshly restored beauty. More pictures in the gallery below and you can follow Brian on Instagram. Enjoy The Ride Brian!
For reports on other customer cars running Z Car Garage Big Brakes and CV Axles, please visit the links below:
Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion here we come! Nissan is the featured marque and we are amped! Z Car Garage is running 5 race cars:
#46 BRE Datsun 240z makes its return with John Morton behind the wheel:
#9 Hakosuka and #52 Bluebird and #38 280zx all piloted by Alex Mcdowell:
#49 Joel Anderson IMSA GTU 240z returns to RMMR since 2015 with Rob Fuller at the wheel!
Lots of fun events to enjoy during the week, big thanks to Ann from ZONC for making a great schedule so you don’t miss a thing!
Z Car Garage is proud to be a sponsor of the 2018 Japanese Classic Car Show 9/15 in Long Beach, CA. We look forward to displaying a shop car at our booth, to be highlighted in a separate post. With JCCS only a month away let’s take a look back at our favorites from last year’s event at the Queen Mary; this year the show will be held across the water in downtown!
We apologize for the late coverage, enjoy the pictures and video!
The 2017 Japanese Classic Car Show was held on September 23, in Long Beach, CA. This is the original vintage Japanese-car event in SoCal and in its thirteenth year, JCCS has grown incredibly–some 320+ cars covered the lawn next to the Queen Mary. The vehicles themselves remained a fantastic blend of stock and modified, as well as original and restored. This is the most important show for Japanese cars, and the Z Car Garage crew keeps coming back every year to soak up the sun, see old friends and drool over some spectacular vintage builds.
This year, Z Car Garage was invited to display the OS Giken TC24B1Z powered Datsun 240z, in our own booth!
The OS Giken Datsun 240z Goes to JCCS
Before road-tripping down to Socal the fun started with a shop visit from our Oregon pals Diamond Dave, Eric Straw and Michael Spreadbury. They were also heading down to JCCS to show Eric’s freshly restored 1984 “Tekkamen” DR30 Skyline and Diamond’s SR20-powered Miata. Eric kindly donated his enclosed trailer to transport the S30 while he drove the DR30 all the way down to JCCS from San Jose. Before leaving, we dyno’d the Miata and Rob found 30whp+ from the Autech SR20. Diamond was stoked.
TC24B1Z Development
You may have seen the TC24B1Z-powered Datsun 240z (The Behemoth) from its debut at SEMA 2015, and Speedhunters coverage:
The TC24 in action:
Since 2015 we have been updating the drivetrain and fitment of the TC in Gary’s LHD S30. Several key upgrades included a 6-speed transmission, revised exhaust header, Jenvey ITB with EFI and a OS Giken aluminum oil pan.
Using a custom adapter from Hoke Performance we installed a new CD009a 6-speed transmission from the 2003 -2008 Z33:
On the Rebello engine dyno this setup made 476hp. Final dyno numbers will be posted shortly as we are still in the tuning phase. Meanwhile, enjoy the sounds from the new Jenvey induction:
Showtime!
We arrived Friday evening to unload the Behemoth and set up our booth, a first-time experience for ZCG at JCCS:
The ZCG booth was a success. We met many great Datsun fans and enjoyed talking cars. Big thanks to our buddy Herbert Pang!
The TC24 of course was the star, garnering positive feedback and some nice media exposure:
We had free ZCG swag for show goers and on display was our new ZCG Big-Brakes for small wheels. Here’s Glenn Chiou checking them out; after a test drive they would be installed on Glenn’s Fairlady 240Z-L.
Our friends from JDM Legends approached us with a film crew to discuss the TC24:
Little did we know that this informal chat would be part of a segment on the wildly successful JDM Legends TV show! We are so happy for Eric, Josh, Mauricio and the JDML crew. You can see their JCCS visit in Season 1 Episode 5 HERE.
Highlights from JCCS
Enjoy this video I made highlighting the sights and sounds of JCCS 2017:
Nissan’s return to JCCS
The OEMs participated in record numbers this year. That’s right, in addition to Mazda, Toyota and Honda our beloved Nissan participated again since debuting in 2016 with a great showing of rare and unique vehicles from their vault.
Skylines
Here are few of my favorite Nissans and Datsuns, starting with that not-so forbidden fruit commonly known as the hakosuka Skyline. There was no shortage of C10 chassis Skylines this year and my favorite was Rick Ishitani’s restored 1971 2000 GT-X. A mint interior, correct spec badging, spot-on stance with re-barreled gunmetal Watanabe wheels stuffed under flares set this one off from the rest.
In the JDM Legends display, Ginash(from JDM Chicago) showed his RB-swapped 2000 GT-X. We dig the retro-treatment on the valve cover:
More C10s:
Kenmeri Skylines too! This ’73 KGC110 owned by Patrick Soliman has an RB26DETT engine with a Precision 6262 turbocharger. This year he was running rare Riverside Super River wheels:
DR30 Skylines!
Eric’s 1984 “Tekkamen” or “Iron Mask” Skyline is a rotisserrie-restored, RB26DETT- powered, Brembo-braked masterpiece. Eric met up with the Speedhunters crew and SuperStreet for a photoshoot in Long Beach, you can see both articles below:
Z cars from all generations were in full force with cars spanning the tarmac near the Queen Mary to the bayside lawn. I’m a big fan of subtle modified Z’s but I can also appreciate pristine, bone-stock examples and the occasional shakotan build.
Stock is good: Series 1 S30 and a fully restored RHD FairladyZ:
My favorite modified Z car was from JDM Legends:
Matt Kochaon’s 240Z on classic SSR meshies and Rick Ishitani’s Hakosuka Skyline GT-X
Saul Valencia’s 1972 Datsun 240Z was loud and brash with its boosted LS1!
Z31s were plentiful too! In both stock and modified examples:
The Wild Cards Classic Car Show (WCCCS)
The Wild Cards crew had the coolest rides at the show. You can see them all burning rubber at the Hoonigans shop HERE
The Nissan S12 chassis has been growing in popularity. Known as the “200sx” stateside there were some cool examples of both hatchback/coupe bodystyles. S130s were also represented:
Datsun Fairlady Roadsters
The Datsun Roadsters were down in numbers from previous years but the selection still wowed the public.
Kevin Desirello of KRD Roadsters built this SR20DE powered ’69:
Bart Desirello’s SR20DET-powered beast:
Ray Lim’s ’70 SPL was fully restored to stock spec, with perfectly fitted SSR meshies:
Datsun 510s
Matt and Maryanne G drove all the way down from San Mateo, CA in their Turbo 510. Looking awesome now sporting 16″ Panasports! Matt won 1st place best 510, Congrats!
I’ve drooled over of Wild Cards member John Ross Huckins’ 1972 Datsun 510 wagon since we first saw it at JCCS many years ago. It has a 4-link rear end, built SR20DET and tons of neat touches. You can see more on Speedhunters HERE
EQUIP 40 wheels and Tartan fabric Recaro seats:
This year felt like an incredible number of Dimes were displayed!
And finally, Todd Kaneko’s 13B turbo powered Dime with Brembos and VOLK RE30s:
More Dime goodness, JDM-L’s Bluebird Coupe:
Not a Dime
But extremely rare, cool and placed next to the 510s was this Nissan Laurel. Only at JCCS, people!
Dogs Love Trucks!
Datsun trucks were kind of scattered about the park area. Jose Tarin’s 521 sported a Toyota BEAMS engine while Jason Taylor’s had an S14 SR20DE:
Mazda
Mazda commemorated the 50th anniversary of the rotary-engine vehicles. Racing Beat of Signal Hill, California joined in by several of their memorable rotary powered vehicles.
Toyota
Toyota always has a huge corporate involvement and brought an assortment of race cars. This year felt like the AE86s and Celicas were not as numerous but Celica-Supras and Cressidas were sweet!
Great showing of RA29 (Liftback) Celicas! The red car had perfect, meaty fitment on Epsilons meshies. Actually, all 3/4 of these Liftbacks sported some variation of mesh wheel…I dig it:
My favorite Celica though was his Pro-Street’d beast:
This AE86 Corolla had an OEM+ feel:
Honda
The Neo Classics Hondas were my favorite:
Wheels For Fantasy
I personally love going to JCCS because I get to see very rare Japanese/tuner wheels and parts. Preservation of authentic wheels and appreciation of the time and effort spent to find certain specimens that most folks have never heard of in this generation is what I admire most. My favorite wheel at JCCS: SSR Casablanca 8 on Tommy D’s Starlet:
Variations on the mesh wheel from BBS, Epsilon, SSR, Volk, Bahn and more. You can’t go wrong! SSR EX-C below:
More Mesh goodness:
Many more pictures from JCCS in the gallery!
I was lucky to ride in Eric’s DR30 from Long Beach to San Jose with Michael Spreadbury at the wheel. It was a blast!
Thank You JCCS!
It is difficult to run a car show and keep up the quality and interest levels but the folks at JCCS have managed to do exactly that for 13 years! No other show gives you the chance to see obscure, pristine, modified Japanese classics…and we look forward to next year’s entrants. We hope you have enjoyed our coverage and please visit our mega-gallery for more pictures. Special thanks to the ZCG crew, Diamond Dave, Eric Straw and Michael Spreadbury for an amazing weekend. See you September 15 for the 14th Annual JCCS!
