The Z Owners of Northern California (ZONC) is one of the oldest Z car clubs in the nation. In its prime they had over 600 members with close ties to Yutaka Katayama (“Mr. K”) and Nissan USA. We had a wonderful time attending their Meet and Greet event at the Blackhawk Museum in Danville, Ca on June 11, 2023.

 

We left Z Car Garage in our 2023 Nissan Z, 1971 Datsun 510 Wagon and  Randy’s 1972 Datsun 240Z (For Sale). Joining the caravan were Alex in his 1968 Datsun 510 Wagon and our friend Geoff in his BMW 2002. Despite some morning fog the turnout was impressive for a relaxed gathering. No judged car show or awards, just Z-Car fans catching up with old friends and meeting new enthusiasts.

Highlights from the show

Still to this day, 240Zs are the most represented model in the club. Expansion over time currently includes all recent Z models and the GT-R, but also reaches back in time to include the Datsun Roadsters and 510s. Both upper and lower parking areas were packed with cars and people having a great time.

  

The New Nissan Z!

 

Linda Williams’  proudly displayed her 1 of 240Z special edition Nissan Z “Proto Spec” in the upper Museum area. Our RZ34 was in the lower lot and we will have a full report on the recently installed Fast Intentions exhaust system!

 

Z’s, 510s, Roadsters and More!

 

Here are a few of my favorite S30 Z cars from the gathering, starting with this flared beauty on custom 17″ early S30 hubcap-inspired wheels. This is the creation of Hoover Chan from Turbohoses R&D and it sports an L28ET. Rob and Hoover go way back many years!

  

We were pleasantly surprised to see many Z Car Garage clients so let’s take a look at what they drove. Garrett drove his 1972 Datsun 240Z featuring our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes, Z Car Garage CV Axles combined with a suspension rebuild improved the chassis. Power comes from a Rebello 3L with our Z Car Garage Heat Shield  and in-house dyno tuning to make it sing. His latest addition are new Recaro leather seats!

 

Ken’s 1970 Datsun 240Z also has our Z Car Garage CV Axles:

  

Stoked to see Hazel’s 1970 Datsun 240Z featuring our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes, Z Car Garage CV Axles. Looks like Hazel just added a mint set of Watanabe R-Type wheels to her Z!

 

 

It was great to see Steve and Kevin’s Nismo Z33s. Full reports on both coming to zcarblog.com!

 

Here is a video from the event, enjoy!

 

Blow-thru Fantasy

 

We met Francisco and his S30 had a really neat HKS blow-through turbo system. Rob was impressed with his enthusiasm and love for the Z!

Twice the Beauty

  

Joey Bautista drove two of his immaculate Z cars.  The engine bay on this blue car looks factory right? A closer inspection reveals a bespoke factory-style triple carb  air cleaner, complete with OEM-style emissions stickers! The B-speed “LY” vintage valve cover was a nice touch as well. Really love d the aesthetic.

 

 

The silver S30 also sported triple carbs with a vintage SK air box and “triple” emissions stickers:

 

Z32

 The Z32 300ZX was out in full force with both NA and TT examples. We enjoyed seeing familiar faces like Kevin Neely’s TT with fresh TE37 wheels and Joe’s show-winning red Z32:

 

Z33 and Z34

Strong showing of Z34s including V1 and V2 Nismo models:

     

510s

 We love to see Datsun 510s and there were many examples of both stock and modified. Andy’s SR20DET-powered 510 was my favorite with Gotti wheels and rear-mounted A/C system. This was another creation from Hoover at Turbohoses!

 

SSS Bluebird was the only RHD 510 model at the show:

 

 

Jay’s 510 Wagon on Longchamp XR-4 wheels. Jay also has a 510 2-door featuring our Z Car Garage CV Axles.

  

Matt’s 510 with turbocharged KA24DE:

   

Alex’s 1968 Datsun 510 Wagon is a total sleeper with an LS3 V8 drivetrain!

 

Roadsters

The lone Datsun Roadster was John Baker’s ’69 2000. This is a Concours-level restoration with lots of rare, NOS Nissan Competition parts like passenger foot rest and oil cooler.

 
Rare Everwing fog lights and day/night mirror:

R32 Row

 

R32 Skyline GT-Rs in a variety of colors! Race car driver, restorer and Datsun Historian Glenn Chiou displayed his recently acquired Crystal White R32 on BBS LeMans wheels:

 

A familiar R34 GT-R also showed up!

 

 

R35

A handful of R35 GT-Rs

 

People

It’s why we keep coming back to ZONC events. Thank you to everyone that took the time to say hello!

 

Thank You ZONC!

We had a great time spending the day at the ZONC Meet and Greet. It reminded us to (in the words of the late Mr.K), ” Love cars. Love people. Love Life.”  This is a club that keep the Z community together year-round and we are excited for their next events. Don’t forget to check out our picture gallery below!

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Join us this Sunday, June 11 for the Z Owners of Northern California (ZONC) gathering at the Blackhawk Museum! See flyer below for more details:

 

Z Car Garage will be attending with our new 2023 Nissan Z, 1972 Datsun 240Z (for sale) and 1971 KA24-powered Datsun 510 Wagon:

 

We had a blast at last year’s ZONC event (their 50th anniversary) with a fantastic turnout:

 

You can see our report from the 2022 event HERE, and Z you this Sunday at Blackhawk!

We had a great time at the 2019 Norcal Skyline Matsuri held on Saturday in San Francisco. Over 25 Nissan Skylines gathered for a fun drive through Lombard St., Japantown and capped it off with scenic Fort Baker. I am not a Skyline owner but I was lucky to attend this meet behind the wheel of Z Car Garage customer Alex McDowell’s 1992 R32 GT-R. If this Skyline looks (and sounds) familiar, it was the same car driven by Jason Cammisa in the this episode of Motor Trend’s “Ignition” TV series. Alex has continued to enjoy this Skyline at many track days.

   

On Saturday morning I joined our friend Glenn in his Nismo R32 GT-R to meet with the other Norcal Skylines near the first photo op: Lombard St.

 

GT-Rs after GT-Rs from R32 to R34 came pouring in to the crowded neighborhood. Amazingly, the SFPD was on site to help guide traffic so we could all drive down Lombard together.

   

The goal was to have all of the Skylines driving down the famous curvy street. For such a chaotic task it was accomplished so well. Thanks to drone photographer Eddie this epic moment was captured beautifully. Stay tuned for video and high-res pics!

  

From Lombard we met in Japantown for lunch. The underground parking garage turned into a Skyline car show:

 

I was happy to see and meet several R32 owners that have visited Z Car Garage!

 

We had plenty of time to admire each others cars and chat. After lunch we drove to our final photo spot, Fort Baker. It was a gorgeous day with the SF Skyline clearly visible and the Golden Gate making the perfect backdrop. Each car got it’s own photo professionally taken!

 

So. Many. Skylines.

Matt’s TH1 R32!

  

Chad’s R33 and an R32 on Blitz 03 wheels:

 

Congratulations to Todd Lappin and the organizers from Norcal Skylines on a successful Matsuri. Enjoy this video from the day and many more pictures in the gallery below.

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It is #WaybackWednesday how about a nice little stroll down memory lane with us? In 2004 we were lucky to own a 1999 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-spec. We sold the R34 in 2006 and never heard about it until 11 years later and a few days ago Sean from Import a Vehicle.com informed us that the very same R34 had resurfaced. And it was for sale. Yes, after all these years it still looks fantastic!

 

At the time we purchased it in 2004, the R34 was 1 of 11 Motorex Skylines that were fully legal to own/drive in California. The R34 is currently not legal to import into CA until it meets the 25yr rule (like the R32) in 2024, making this specific car rare fruit indeed. Sean even sent us a picture of the original 5/2006 sales receipt from Rob, found inside the car. This started the reminiscing…and the fact that I didn’t give our Skyline a proper send-off blog post!

 

From 2004 to 2006 we had an absolute blast with this car. You couldn’t go anywhere without drawing a crowd. It made all the right noises with fireballs coming from the APEXi exhaust and distinct BOV. It was Bayside Blue. Here she is, Bayside in front of (conveniently) the Bay Bridge at the Treasure Island Meet in 2005:

 

We attended many shows, always driving there and never trailered.  Hot Import Daze 2006:

 

In October 2015 we drove down to Los Angeles for the car casting of Fast and the Furious 3. No,  the R34 didn’t make it into the movie, but our friend Chad’s LHD G35 did! (Right) The R34 bookends the Z Car Garage display at the 2006 Silicon Valley Auto Show. I always find a way to squeeze my roadster into the shot, I mean c’mon…it’s an R34 Skyline GT-R!!!

  

Make no mistake the Skyline was not a garage queen either in our hands. At Sacramento Raceway in 2004 it ran an 11.2 second 1/4 mile! This ranks pretty high on my all-time favorite car memories:

  

Putting Skyline’s vicious ATTESA to the test on the track at Thunderhill Raceway in both wet and dry conditions in 2004/2005:

 

A short video compilation of the R34 in action. Don’t expect any HD quality, it was 12 years ago!

 

I asked Rob what his fondest memory of the R34 was:
 “Just after buying it I was driving to William’s to get some paint correction done on the R34. On the freeway people were circling around the car and taking pictures. They had no idea what was going on with the driver inside though. Here I was in a car that I grew up pining after and now my feet were connected to its pedals and my hands were on the steering wheel of it. It was surreal”

I remember washing the R34 before it left for transport. I also remember driving it for the last time and ogling all its crazy features. What a masterpiece of Nissan engineering. It may have been supremely heavy and undesirable amongst hardcore Skyline enthusiasts but it was magical for us.

To this day, the R34 has remained on our (update coming soon) website!

Thank you Sean for thinking of us and for making people’s dreams of owning rare Japanese vehicles come true. Good luck and we hope the new owner enjoys the Skyline as we did!

 

More pics in the gallery
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