On Saturday, March 19 we attended the Tokyo Calling 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 Sonoma, Ca. 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 almost 2 years ago, now running its 27th rally event. What started out as a small group enjoying weekend drives blossomed into a full-on Cars and Coffee (still unofficial) meet just before rally participants head out according to run group (rally map available to pre-registrants only). The monthly BCR is always free/open to all makes and I highly recommend it for anyone looking to enjoy the beautiful Northern California roads and scenery. You can see my previous BCR reports HERE!
The BCR: Tokyo Calling event was a little different: this was an all-Japanese, mostly-vintage rally and we did not want to miss it. I assembled a group of Z Car Garage clients to participate and we left the shop at 5:45am to make the 7am starting point in Sonoma. Our cars:
Rob and Nick drove 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 (releasing soon).
Dirk’s 1973 Datsun 240z is back on the road with a fresh engine, Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels) and Z Car Garage CV Axles and Silvia 6-speed transmission. Full report coming to zcarblog.com
Linda’s 1972 Official OMS Pace Car Duplicate. Fifty were originally produced by Nissan Motors to commemorate the DATSUN 240Z being selected by the Ontario Motor Speedway to Pace the 1972 “U.S.A.C. California 500 Championship”. ZCG made it a runner, full report soon!
Felix’s 1996 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo representing Z32s!
We had 4 Nissan R32 Skyline GT-Rs! Above, from L to R with more photos in the gallery below: Mike’s R32 (TE37 wheels), Lee’s R32 (BBS wheels), Pall’s AH3 R32 and Miles’ R32 on Ray’s wheels. Andreas’ R30 Skyline was also present!
The Bring a Trailer Datsun 240Z was driven by Robert of BaT!
Our guest Jonathan Buhler (Sr. Specialist Corporate Communications at Nissan) piloted “Mr. C”, our stock, one-owner Series 1 Z.
Photo by Vijay Sankar
Leading the caravan to Sonoma was yours truly in this 1965 Nissan Silvia. Huge thanks to our client Rick K for giving us the opportunity to enjoy this gorgeous (and rare) specimen. Full update on this Datsun Roadster-based gem soon!
Tokyo is Calling before the Rally!
Our crew arrived at the rally start in Sonoma and it was already filled with fabulous J-Tin. BCR hosted a “social gathering” from 7-9am (usually 1 hr) so we could take in all the glorious cars. The vibe was tremendous, despite a 5-minute drizzle and cloudy sky.
I am always on the lookout for Nissans and Datsuns:
First up, this 1967 Datsun 2000, owned by Ian S. 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. This is SRL #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. 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!
I counted 6 roadsters. Pat S. owns this 1970 Datsun 2000. He had it dyno tuned at Z Car Garage, full report soon!
Alex’s Datsun 510 Wagon (LS-powered!), 520 and 620 trucks:
So many cool cars please check the gallery for more photos! Next, let’s check out some non-Nissan/Datsun action…
Honda
Honda was well-represented from Kei cars to late model DC2 Integras and S2000s. A few NSXs, CRXs and EF hatches rounded out the display:
Will’s clean EF hatch:
Toyota
Supra (A60 and A80) and even first gen MR2s, a lone Celica and AE86s!
Trucks and Vans
Mitsubishi and Toyota 4×4 vans galore! Let’s not forget everyone’s favorite little red firetruck: Todd Lapin’s Daihatsu Hijet
This was the wildest truck….2JZ-powered and S550 IRS:
Rally On!
Photo by Alex Nibyt
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 rallye printout. I managed to hustle the little Silvia through the vineyards and foothills to our half way point of Calistoga…RHD and rarity aside this thing was a blast to drive.
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 photographer’s photo albums to see shots of your rides :Alex Nibyt, Gregory Veizades, Blaine Olguin, and Vijay Sankar.
Arriving at Calistoga was another opportunity to see cars I missed at the starting point. The sky cleared and it was sunny. Folks took a snack/coffee break here in the quaint town. I was just admiring each vintage ride cruise by…like this FD RX-7 with Greddy AeroHatch!
Caught up with our friend and fellow racer Glenn Chiou who chose to drive his FD RX-7 with co-pilot Ricky Silverio of Japanese Nostalgic Car magazine. Spotted our client Mark in his Z32TT as well:
It was JDM overload at this halfway resting point…Ricky helped me spot a Lancer EVO 2!
After chatting with folks we resumed the rallye. This final stage was mostly forested ending with a cruise through vineyards. Jonathan managed to drive a “D” hubcap off the Mr. C 240z…he heroically recovered it mountain side…a picture captured the proud moment!
The rally concluded at renown Sonoma Raceway. Total mileage for our San Jose crew thus far was 220miles. BCR arranged parking for participants in the paddock right next to the cafe for lunch, as their clever motto is #DoneByNoon. Even better: we were treated to live drifting and road-course action. It was a superb venue to enjoy cool cars and great company.
I could not resist to get a Z Car Garage client group photo:
Here is a video we captured from the day, enjoy!
Thanks BCR!
Many thanks to the 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. Here are a few thoughts from Rob re-capping the Tokyo Calling event:
“With the shop so busy it good to be out to enjoy Bay Area car events like DrivingWhileAwesome (DWA) Cars & Coffee and now BCR. I had a blast. Great organization of the event and some of friendliest people. Exceeded my expectations. Jonathan Buhler from Nissan came out to enjoy the rallye with us. We put him behind the wheel of Mr. C, our one-owner Series 1 Z. It was fun to have both Safari Gold cars together. I loved the vibe at all of the rally stops and seeing the non-Nissans….super cool. MR2s, Subarus, CRXs, just so much good stuff, Happy I went and will make it out to another BCR event.”
The Drive Home
Our adventure was not over as we had to travel another 90 miles South to the shop. We caravanned back, traveling through the iconic Golden Gate Bridge and through San Francisco. I’m sure traffic had a field day with our group of Datsuns/Nissans:
At the shop, Jonathan took Mrs. Butters for a test drive and he had a great time before catching his flight back to Nashville. Below (right) is the GO Green RB25DET-powered 240Z that inspired Jonathan to build one of his own…we had to grab a shot with the model I made 🙂
Rick’s Silvia is safe and sound after completing the 300+ mile road trip. 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 pics in the gallery!
