Happy 88th Birthday to our hero Peter Brock! You have been and continue to be inspirational to us Datsun fans worldwide. Here are a few pictures we enjoyed taking with you over the years:

Z Car Garage is excited to participate in the Velocity Invitational at Sonoma Raceway October 4-6. This is a must attend historic racing event for Nissan/Datsun fans with IMSA GTU Z cars, exotics and more to enjoy. Tickets are still available, to purchase simply on click HERE, and read below for a preview.

Z Car Garage Racers

Z Car Garage is excited to be racing and supporting 7 cars in Group 7 (1972 – 1981 IMSA GT Cars), Group 8 (LeMans, IMSA & GT Cars 1955-2016) and Group 9 (Historic Trans Am 1966-1972) . Here is a preview:

Rob Fuller will be driving the #49 Joel Anderson IMSA GTU Datsun 240Z in Group 7:

 

The Corky Bell Trans Am 510 (Group 9)

 

Famed engineer and race car driver Corky Bell ran this Datsun 510 in the early 70’s Trans Am series. Z Car Garage restored  it back to its former glory and Trans Am livery (to be documented in a dedicated blog post) and Corky will be driving it at the Velocity Invitational, for the first time in 52 years. Yes that’s Corky Bell at our shop, re-united with his race car at 84 years young!

 

Porsche 997 GT3 Cup (Group 8)

This very special Porsche is the 2006 FIA European GT3 Championship winning car that was driven by Sean Edwards. It is a 997 GT3 Cup S Prototype and our client Kenny Tse raced it in the Legends of Endurance group at the Rolex.

#9 Noah’s Bluebird Coupe (Group 9)

#72 Tom Dockery (Group 9)

We have helped Tom build and prepare his Ex-Norm Balzer/Koobation 510 for several years. Unfortunately the car was wrecked at Sonoma Raceway. Z Car Garage rebuilt the 510, making a triumphant return to this year’s Velocity event.

#64 Kelvin Tse (Group 9)

Kelvin is a steady ZCG trackside support client, running the Ex-Ted Gruner 510.

 

Alex’s Skyline

Alex McDowell returns to Sonoma in this C10 Skyline built by our friend Jim Froula of Racecraft. Z Car Garage has prepared and supported Alex’s race efforts with the Hako and it has been an awesome experience. Two very memorable racing events were the The Mitty and RMMR

Historic B & C Sedan

Photo by Kris Poulin

Historic B&C Sedan has partnered with Velocity Invitational to gather a collection of 30+ real historic B and C sedan cars this upcoming weekend! Thirteen cars among them have real Trans Am Under 2L and Two-Five Challenge history. This will be the largest gathering of real historic sedans since the 2010 Monterey Historics. Amongst the real Trans Am cars are the Alfas of Horst Kweck, Gaston Andrey, Jon Norman, Charlie Thieriot, Dave Burns; BMW 2002s of Carl Fredericks, Jeff Kline; Porsche 911 of Walt Maas; Datsun 510s of Corky Bell and Bob Finn.

The Historic B and C Sedan race is one of the most exciting run groups so don’t miss out! Race car driver and Datsun Historian Glenn Chiou will be racing his Ex-Bob Finn U2.5L Trans-Am Datsun 510! This car features our Z Car Garage CV Axles

We also provided dyno tuning services for the fresh Rebello L18 with Solex/Mikuni 44phh induction and BRE intake:

Listen to this 510 make sweet L-Series music on our dyno in the video below. There is also race/paddock action with Glenn behind the wheel:

See you at the Velocity Invitational!

Join us for the 2024 Vintage Racing Season!

Z Car Garage is amped for more racing this year. Please check the CSRG website and zcarblog.com for upcoming race events. Do not miss the next event: CSRG’s Charity Challenge at Sonoma September 13-15.

WE LOVE RACING! Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) hosted the 21st Charity Challenge at Sonoma Raceway on September 13-15. Z Car Garage raced and supported several client’s Datsun 510 race cars running in the B-Sedan Group (John Morton Cup). Everyone had a blast, enjoy our race report with in-car video and photos below.

 

Z Car Garage Supports Six Cars!

It is our pleasure to bring more enthusiasts into the world of vintage racing. Our services include full race support and car-preparation to help make client’s race days seamless and worry-free so they can focus on driving. One of our specialties is dyno tuning. Before a race weekend we confirm that your car is running well and make necessary adjustments while on the chassis dyno:

Roll-call for the 6 ZCG-supported cars racing at the Charity Challenge…

#64 Kenny Tse

 

#98 Kelly M

#6 and #30 Noah’s Bluebird and BMW 2002

#7 Rob Fuller

The Bay Area Datsun Dealers tribute car was driven by Tom Dockery!

Group 3 B-Sedan Races

Rob recaps the Charity Challenge races from Group 3: B-Sedan and John Morton Cup…

“Over the last 21 years, CSRG has raised money for children’s charities and every Fall Z Car Garage tries to attend their main event, the Charity Challenge. In the B-Sedan group we were happy to support Ross Lindell in the historic Randy Pobst Miata, Kelly M in his 510, Noah debuting the Bluebird, Kenny in the #64 Dragonetti 510, Tom Dockery achieved a Personal Best lap time in the BADD 510 and Danny ran the BMW 2002. Everyone had a great time.”

 

“Noah went right to work and really felt comfortable with the Bluebird. We had made some changes like tightening up the front end and final drive to work with our NorCal tracks here. The 2002 was flawless with the issues we sorted prior. Kelly M’s logged some good laps but unfortunately had an oiling issue and didn’t finish the weekend. The Miatas were also able to be in the mix in Group 3.”

Enjoy this in-car videos from the Group 3 Race with Tom Dockery in the BADD 510…watch out for the close-call at the end of the first lap…

TOM: How can anyone turn down an offer to drive the Bay Area Datsun 510 at another CSRG event? You simply can’t. And it’s even harder to refuse when the deal includes coaching from Rob and track support from Josh, Cooper, and Keith. My Friday and Saturday practice and qualifying sessions were both fun and a bit frustrating. I found myself blaming slower traffic for not being able to fully unlock the car’s potential. Sunday morning, Rob and I reviewed my video footage, and he pointed out two key things: first, being too polite on the track doesn’t win races, and second, the car thrives at 8,000 rpm—so push it there. Between races, I also sat in on a video chat between Rob and Kenny that was packed with helpful insights. The result? Sunday’s two races saw me shaving 3-4 seconds off my lap times and finishing several spots higher than where I started. All in all, it was an amazing experience with the ZCG crew—Rob, Meghan, and the rest of the ZCG racing team.

Z Car Garage was happy to have our 2023 Nissan Z as Official Pace Car at the Charity Challenge.

Enjoy the sights and sounds from the paddock at the CSRG event:

Vintage Spec Miata

The Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) is excited to welcome Vintage Spec Miata (1990-1997) to all of their events! This is a fun, affordable way to get into vintage racing. Rob Fuller raced Lora Baggott’s Spec Miata.

Photo by Dennis and Kevin Gray

It was cool to see Randy Pobst’s first National Championship-winning Miata (1992), currently owned by Ross Lindell. If you have any questions regarding prep and presentation, reach out to Rob Fuller: rob@zcargarage.com.

 

Thank You!

The Charity Challenge was fun with the usual group of folks, Oliver, Meghan, lots of snacks and good times. The ZCG crew kept all of us safe and on the track to enjoy the weekend, shoutout to Cooper and Josh! Another highlight was the dinner/auction at the Turn 11 clubhouse. Excited for next year’s event! Huge shoutout and thank you to our star photographer Meghan Fuller for capturing all of the paddock and track photos in the gallery below.

The racing continues! We are racing at Sonoma again for the Velocity Invitational October 4-6.

Join us for the 2024 Vintage Racing Season!

Z Car Garage is amped for more racing this year. Please check the CSRG website and zcarblog.com for upcoming race events. Do not miss the next event: CSRG’s Charity Challenge at Sonoma September 13-15.

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WE LOVE RACING! Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) is hosting the 21st Charity Challenge at Sonoma Raceway, September 13-15. Z Car Garage is participating and supporting several client’s Datsun 510 race cars running in B-Sedan Group. This vintage racing event is totally FREE to spectators so please join us! Bring the family, enjoy cool cars and charity rides around the track. Attention DRIVERS: there is still time to register to race! Sign up HERE.

See our 2023 Nissan Z as Pace Car!

 

Z Car Garage is happy to announce our 2023 Nissan Z will be on Pace Car duty at the Charity Challenge. Again, admission is FREE for this event and you will have access to all spectator areas on track, race cars and drivers. Parking is in Lot 2 overlooking the paddock. You can see our report from the 2023 Charity Challenge HERE

Z Car Garage Supports Five Datsun 510s!

It is our pleasure to bring more enthusiasts into the world of vintage racing. Our services do include full race support and car-preparation to help make client’s race days seamless and worry-free so they can focus on driving. One of our specialties is dyno tuning. Before a race weekend we confirm that your car is running well and make necessary adjustments while on the chassis dyno:

#88 Todd Rueppel

Todd enjoyed his Z Car Garage trackside support experience with us at the Laps For Laguna event!

#7 Kelvin Tse

Kelvin and his brother Kenny are regular ZCG trackside support clients…

 

#64 Kenny Tse

 

#98 Kelly M

#68 and #30 Noah’s 510 and BMW 2002

We will also be supporting Lora’s Spec Miata!

 

#7 Rob Fuller

ZCG owner Rob Fuller, Bay Area Datsun Dealers tribute car

    

Join us for the 2024 Vintage Racing Season!

Z Car Garage is amped for more racing this year. Please check the CSRG website and zcarblog.com for upcoming race events. Do not miss the next event: CSRG’s Charity Challenge at Sonoma September 13-15.

The 1988 Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo is back at Z Car Garage after being displayed at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion during Monterey Car Week. It was great to see this legend with fellow IMSA race cars at Laguna Seca. The media also took notice, with Hagerty writing an article about the ZX-T’s development, recognition and restoration at ZCG. View the article HERE

Bonus media exposure: Motor Trend’s top classic car picks from Car Week included the GTP ZX-Turbo and the Joel Anderson IMSA GTU Datsun 240Z!

Required Reading: The Nissan GTP Story

One of the highlights of the Rolex event was meeting Electramotive engineer Chris Willes! He wrote an incredible book chronicling the design and development of the Nissan GTP car that dominated the IMSA GT series during the late 1980’s. It’s a must-read for all Nissan/Datsun fans, and you can purchase the book HERE

The book contains:

The beginning of Electramotive’s racing history in 1975 with the Datsun B210 and 280ZX race cars.

• The design and development of one of the first Electronic Engine Control Processors.

• The full description of the 1/7th-scale moving ground plane wind tunnel.

• The design and build of the Nissan 300ZX V-6 race engine.

• All the IMSA race storylines from 1985 to 1989.

• Professional photos and never seen before in-shop photos compliment this 12-chapter, 400+ page, 9″ x 12″ coffee-table style book

 

More book info from Chris below:

Chris Willes  ·   · 

“Earlier this year, it was announced that Geoff Brabham and the 1988 Nissan GTP-ZX Turbo Chassis #8801 will be inducted into the IMSA Hall of Fame, Class of 2024. I was so proud to have been part of Electramotive Engineering and the development of this car, that I authored a book about it.

In my book, Developing a Champion: The Electramotive Nissan GTP Story, I describe how the GTP car was conceived, the build of the first car at Lola Cars in 1984, and the development performed at Electramotive during the following years. Included is the conversion of the stock 3.0-liter Nissan 300ZX V-6 engine into an aluminum block turbocharged race engine, and details of the Electronic Engine Control Processor (EECP) designed by Don Devendorf to control the spark, fuel, and boost of the engine. Also included are details of the Electramotive aluminum honeycomb monocoque designed by Trevor Harris which included new front suspension and increased stiffness, and the aerodynamics designed by Yoshi Suzuka using the Electramotive-built 1/7th scale moving ground plane wind tunnel. All of these developments led to two driver’s championships for Geoff Brabham in 1988 and 1989, and one manufacturer’s championship for Nissan in 1989, and more in later years.

The 9” x 12”, 444-page, coffee table-style book chronicles the design and development of the Nissan GTP car that dominated the IMSA GT series during the late 1980’s. Over 600 images, including professional photography, never-before seen in-shop photos, technical diagrams, and drawings compliment the text as it describes how the team converted an aerodynamically unstable, crash-ridden design into a multi-time championship winning machine. It is a great historical reference of the ultra-competitive IMSA GTP era during the 1980s and a great gift for a motorsports fan!”

For more info go to: www.chriswillesautoracingbooks.com