The Safari tribute 240Z is owned by our client Randy Jaffe and Z Car Garage helped prepare this car a few years ago for a Nissan commercial. We installed new 3.0 Rebello street race motor, 1982 280ZX 5 speed transmission and OS Giken 4.11 LSD. Small details were re-created including functional Works-style side jacking points, rear bumper steps and twin-exit exhaust system. View our full report on this build HERE.
Photos by Larry Chen
Talented photographer and car culture ambassador Larry Chen captured these amazing photos and video of Randy’s Safari tribute and the New Z Safari tribute in action. You can see more photos in the official Nissan Nissan Press Release, and view behind-the-scenes footage on Larry’s Instagram.
Enjoy this video highlighting Larry Chen’s work:
Follow or Facebook and Instagram accounts for more Z car content from the SEMA show!
SEMA was a blur this year—but that’s really no different than any other year for the most intense sensory overload of all things automotive on the planet. This trade-only event features the latest and greatest builds, technology, and creativity in our industry. While the show has historically been populated by American marques and their aftermarket support, in recent years the influx of Japanese metal (Nissan included) is undeniable.
Nissan’s Return to SEMA
Nissan announced its SEMA return with a display of six vehicles:
The new Nissan Project Overland Pathfinder and Project Overland Frontier – special upfit versions of Nissan’s SUV and midsize pickup.
Famed Actor and Car Enthusiast Sung Kang’s “DocZ,” a safari-rally-inspired 1971 Datsun 240Z.
The 2021 Nissan Frontier featuring NISMO Off Road parts, recently campaigned at the Rebelle Rally by Team Wild Grace.
Formula Drift Champion Chris Forsberg’s “Altimaniac,” a four-seat, 2000-horsepower drift sedan.
The all-new 2023 Nissan Z Proto Spec.
Although we did not plan on attending the SEMA show, Sung Kang and Nissan extended an invitation to Z Car Garage, so we happily obliged! Rob and I attended the show on Tuesday 11/2 and we were super impressed with the Nissan booth, staged in the new 1.4 million square foot West wing of the Las Vegas Convention Center. At the very center of the booth was the New Z, in “Proto Spec” trim:
I had to be reminded that this was not the “Z Proto” we saw at Nissan Headquarters in Tennessee back in May. Indeed this was the limited edition “Z Proto Spec” model with glossy bronze RAYS wheels and yellow-accented interior. Thank you Jonathan for letting us sit inside! We still can’t wait to get one at the shop.
Doc Z
The world was introduced to Sung Kang’s latest build at last week’s Japanese Classic Car Show. The “DocZ” was built as a tribute to the Datsun 240Z that dominated the 1971 East-African Safari. The car has parts from all over the world and Sung even had his own multi-piece wheels made as an homage to that history-making Z.
Earlier this year Sung Kang visited Z Car Garage, driving “Mrs. Butters”, our 1971 Series 1 240z shop demo car. After driving Butters, Sung wanted the exact same Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels), Z Car Garage CV Axles and KW suspension on his very own FuguZ! He also wanted a set on the “DocZ”. We shipped the kit to the Erick of Erick’s Racing, the master builder behind DocZ. Erick was very pleased with the kit and ease of installation:
The ZCG Big-Brakes can be seen through those iconic slots:
Sung is very passionate about the DocZ and loved sharing it with fans that visited the Nissan booth.
The Altimaniac
Chris Forsberg’s 2,000hp drift “taxi” was built to perform while carrying 4-people on board!
Around back were Nissan’s off-road parts and vehicles including a Pathfinder, Frontier and Rebelle Rally truck in race livery.
It was a wonderful display and the vibe here was energetic…at one point it felt like a well-choreographed show but it was truly organic. At 3pm a media event was held at the booth and a Nissan rep introduced the New Z. Hiroshi Tamura then gave the audience a passionate talk about how the New Z moves him…then the mic was passed on to Sung Kang to show off the DocZ, ending with Chris Forsberg with the Altimaniac. Kudos to Jonathan Buhler (Sr. Specialist Corporate Communications at Nissan) and Dan Passe (Director, Corporate Communications), the display was a hit!
See the video below to get the vibe of Nissan’s booth:
Another Good Year For Nissans and Datsuns!
Our Datsun-hunting at SEMA started with an epic showing of the Nissan Skyline Nismo 400R in the Central Hall. Our friend Sean and his team at Toprank International Vehicle Importers managed to be the first JDM car ever to displayed in this vaunted area of SEMA. This R33 is very rare, but it was truly surreal to see it there…great press for Nissan, and Japanese cars in general!
SEMA’s Battle of the Builders program had TWO Datsun 240Z cars and an R32 Skyline. We are very proud of Bay Area local Samantha Frazier and her V8-powered 1973 Z making it to the Top 3 of the competition!
Brandon Henness and his LS-powered 1972 S30:
Cole Marten’s R32 with the world’s first Toyota 2JZ engine with AWD and a LHD conversion!
Z31 Perfection
Over in the Toyo Tires Treadpass we found several Nissans and Datsuns.
Brandon Miller’s 1986 Nissan 300ZX was a serious showstopper. So much attention to detail in the engine bay housing that gnarly, high-revving RB engine. From the paint to the wheel choice this Z31 was just stunning.
Kouki front end with original Zenki rear…sitting on perfectly-sized Watanabe wheels! Look for a Hoonigan Autofocus episode with Larry Chen soon!
Next to the Z31 was the Garage Active full carbon-bodied R32 Skyline:
Also nearby was Jimmy’s SR20-powered Datsun 510
Capping the row was Ricko’s 1972 Datsun 240Z, a wild tribute to the IMSA-GTU racers of the past. Dreamt up by Ricko and built by Marcus Fry Racing:
Leen Custom’s showed off their short-nose 4-door Hakosuka Skyline with an SR20DET and Bride Histrix seats!
We finally met Carlos in person and see his 2JZ-powered Z32. Carlos has been building it for any years and we loved his passion:
Our friends at UPREV showed their VR30DDT-powered 370Z:
Throughout the show’s jam-packed halls we spotted more J-Tin gems like Daniel Song’s 240Z built by JDM Legends:
Sitting low and packing a KA24E powerplant, this 1963 Datsun NL320 pickup had a very American Hot-Rod vibe:
Outside of the Central Hall was Oscar’s (of Zociety fame) Libertywalk 240z with an L28ET:
We end our Datsun-spotting with this wild “2000 Roadster that was running the Optima Batteries Challenge. It is a C6 Corvette with Datsun Roadster body parts:
Silvia/240SX
Plenty of S14 and even S15 versions:
FD RX-7s
At least 4 FD RX-7s were spotted. My favorite was the R Magic in FortuneAuto’s booth:
Our Favorite American Cars
While we are Nissan-focused we do love American Muscle cars. SEMA is a feast for Pro-touring, street machine, custom and even stock style Detroit steel. Tri-5s, Pony cars, lead sleds…even Chip Foose had an entire hall dedicated some of his most iconic creations:
Crazy Lifted Trucks
Yup. Every year these huge trucks swarm the outside displays of the convention center. This year was no exception:
We hope you enjoyed our coverage of the 2021 SEMA Show. There are many more cars to see and you can view them in our mega-picture galley below. Thanks to Nissan and Sung Kang for hosting us and to everyone that took the time to say hello. We enjoyed chatting with you. This was a great event for Nissan fans!
Randy Jaffe is an avid car guy and Datsun enthusiast. Beyond his fanatic attention to detail and love for Nissan racing he’s excessive–in the best way possible and we love him for it. Several years ago we teamed up with Randy to turn his BRE Datsun 240z show car into a competitive vintage road-race car.
He was impressed with our work on the BRE Z and told us about another Z project that he was working on but stalled out in Atlanta. We decided it was time to finish this ultimate track/street car with a healthy dose of his personality. The highlight of this Series 1 240z is a full Rocketbunny body kit with plenty of Z Car Garage touches. Let’s take a closer look at the build:
Origins
The creation of the Rocketbunny Z changed courses many times as the build evolved, as Randy recalls:
“I wanted to build a series 1 Radical fun Street car with a completely different look. We started off thinking we would do conventional flares and conventional displacement for a 240 Z. Then my painter Bryson was doing the bodywork and had just installed a Rocketbunny kit on a 350Z and asked me to take a look at that particular body kit. I knew of the first one completed by Sung Kang and I think it was the second or third kit to come to the country when we ordered it from Japan directly.”
“The paint color which originally was going to be Porsche’s lava orange evolved because of Michael Eberhardt to Porsche‘s late 60s color called Tangerine. Tangerine painted with a white sub-coat pops where Helen Keller could see the color! Since I am color blind, the brighter the color the better I can see it. Bryson welded an amazing full roll cage as I decided to create the car as a street and track beast.”
The body was amazingly painted and caged by Bryson of Classic Livery of Atlanta. They are known for many high-end commissions including several RWB Porsche’s for Akira Nakai. Randy’s transporter trekked from Atlanta to drop off this gorgeous chassis at ZCG and our work began.
Assembly Required: Race Chassis Prep
The chassis was temporarily mounted on rollers while we prepped suspension pieces. Following the “race-car for the street” theme, we re-created the entire front and rear BRE 240z suspension setup. Everything that the #46 race car has is on this street car from DP racing front/rear struts, koni shocks, identical spring rates, sway bar, adjustable end links, plated finish…all of it. More pictures in the gallery below!
Front and rear:
Z Car Garage Big-Brakes
There are two versions of our ZCG Big Brakes and the only three “racing” setups on are on the BRE car, Alex’s Hako and the Rocketbunny Z:
Stay tuned for our latest big-brake upgrade from the minds of ZCG and Stoptech!
Back to the chassis, the entire hydraulic system was installed starting with freshly plated lines.
DP remote reservoir and plated pedal box:
Z Car Garage CV Axles
Z Car Garage is proud to offer a CV axle conversion kit for Datsun S30 and 510 cars. We run these on our race cars and the Rocketbunny Z also got a set.
Helping put the power down effectively is an OS Giken limited-slip R180 diff properly set up in-house by Joshua Corwin.
Wheels Make The Car
The biggest hurdle on this car was wheel choice. Wheels can make or break the car and they had to befit the “KAMIKAZ” nickname. There was no way we would have a car with massive flares and not use every single square inch of real estate available to fill with wheel and tire.
We sourced some Panasport C8 centers and began a custom build with MemoryFab who was instrumental in helping us with fitment/barrel sizing. Up front are 17×10 with a 275/35/17 tire and 17×12 rear with 335/35/17 tire (NT-01R). At the time there were no other RB cars running a 335 in back! .
We spent many hours making the kit fit around these wheels/tires so there was no rubbing:
Everyone was pleased with wheel choice for KAMIKAZ, especially Randy:
“I had already ordered and received a set of Watanabe wheels from Japan however they would not work with the rocket bunny kit so when I sent the car to Rob Fuller at Z car garage he did his magic and created a set of custom wheels using a set of Panasport racing C8 NOS wheels. 10 inch wheels on the front 12 inch wheels on the back by 17s gives the car and unreal stance.”
Race Engine
We had Rebello build a nasty 3.2L for the Z running triple-Mikuni’s, 12:5:1 compression (110 leaded fuel) backed by a 280zx 5-speed. Randy gave us a blank canvas to assemble the entire car but ZCG touches really shine in the engine bay.
“I basically wanted my 46Z race car for the street and asked Rob Fuller to further tap into his magic box so we built a 3.2 race motor full race suspension and the whole 9 yards! Rob and his guys built an amazing car using special finishes on some of the metal work under the hood and the car is just insane to drive.”
Here are a few pictures of the assembly with many more in the gallery. Aluminum flywheel with twin-plate setup and comp oil pan just like BRE car:
Triple Mikuni induction:
Engine going in and detail work beginning. We re-created the cooling system from the BRE car and ran all of the chassis wiring.
The catch can, radiator and Datsun roadster overflow are all period parts that BRE used and duplicated for the Rocketbunny:
Interior
With drivetrain and chassis sorted we moved to the interior. Continuing the race car theme is a stripped (but pretty) body-color interior with that beautiful roll cage from Bryson.
The dash was covered in Alcantara. We installed and wired it up with period gauges. All switch gear similar to the BRE car:
A few more detail shots:
A Braille battery from our friend Gary Savage sits behind the passenger seat:
Sparco Pro 2000 seats:
Chassis wiring for Euro-spec lights:
ZCG door seal upgrade with sound deadening panels. The Z was nearing completion.
Enter the JGRBOMB
This was our quickest build to date so we could make a debut at the 2018 Japanese Classic Car Show in Long Beach, CA. The night before our roadtrip down to SoCal we applied a Jagermeister livery to the car. Randy’s inspiration came from his obsession with Porsche, and the Max Moritz Racing Porsche 934:
“I love race liveries and told the guys at the car garage I wanted to do the Jagermeister racing package on this car and they were not really hip to it but Bryson and I discussed it several times and we both thought it would take the car to the next level. However I stuck with my gut and flew out to San Jose with the livery kit a few days before JCCS and after the first hood decal Rob and his guys were scratching their head thinking hmmm – This may not be a bad idea LOL.”
Rob and I finished applying the decals late in the night before going to Long Beach and we received a lot of positive feedback at that show and then the car came back to ZCon in Atlanta and won a Gold Cup award. The car was also shown at SEMA in 2018 where again the car received an immense amount of positive feedback.”
Indeed, the livery on the Rocketbunny (KAMIKAZ) Z looked fantastic and Randy eventually affixed the JGRBOMB license plate to match. We are happy to report that while at JCCS Randy’s Z won 1st place, Best 240z in a class filled with incredible Z cars!
It was also well-received at Z Con and the SEMA show (thanks to Gary and Braille!). That’s BRE front-man Peter Brock and the designer of the Rocketbunny body kit, Kei Miura both signing the Z:
That BRE Exhaust
We wanted to do a BRE exhaust so we used the Fujitsubo headers and a straight twin-exit with megaphones exactly like the BRE original set up, Randy notes the white color:
“Of course BRE had theirs painted yellow from day one and still are but I wanted to do the rocket bunny exhaust megaphones in white to play off the livery. Many vintage race cars have white headers and exhaust so it made sense to me. So the audio level is the same as the 46Z and will wake up the dead.”
How does it sound? Check out this short video with a dyno run, enjoy!
Details
It would take multiple blog posts to cover all the special details throughout this build. Some highlights include fully polishing all trim pieces like quarters, drip rails, etc. Re-keying locks. Even the mirror was done to Randy’s liking.
Things like the differential temperature gauge behind the old gas fill door have a purpose and pay homage to the Datsun vintage race cars. Contrastingly, there are small modern updates like vintage H4 headlights retrofitted with HID units.
We asked Randy what’s it like to drive:
“To me there’s no difference in driving this and the 46Z it’s almost the same build except more rubber on this one!”
To us that is a great compliment because we set out to finish Randy’s vision of the ultimate street/track BRE-flavored Z.
“I find myself several nights a week just walking around the car in my shop and admiring the build that Rob, Josh and the crew at Z Car Garage created.”
We thank Randy for letting us be creative on this Z and it’s been rewarding to see his taste reflected in other builds. This was a fun project and we enjoyed every moment of it. Browse the extensive photo gallery and LONG LIVE THE Z!
SEMA was a blur this year—but that’s really no different than any other year for the most intense sensory overload in car show form on the planet. This trade-only show features all of the latest and greatest builds, technology, and creativity in our industry. While the show has historically been populated by American marques and their aftermarket support, in recent years the influx of Japanese metal (Nissan included) is undeniable.
We only attended the show for one day and while the crowds were as appalling as ever in the Las Vegas Convention Center, the quality of cars made it all worth it. It wasn’t just “cars” that got us excited, it was the astonishing number of vintage Datsuns/Nissans! The variety was astounding. We counted 16 cars from a 1972 Datsun 510 to 1983 Skyline and everything in between.
Year of the Datsun!
Our Datsun-hunting at SEMA started with Datsun 510s. Pro-drifter Chris Forsberg built this hot-rod 510 wagon for his wife. The Mazworx-built SR20DET is backed by an automatic transmission and even sports air-conditioning. Deep-lipped SSR MKIII wheels fill out the box-flares that are part of the “Hakobird” kit from Carbonsignal. This might be the closest thing to Hakosuka Skyline wagon!
Our friend and fellow 510 racer Troy Ermish built this ultra-clean 510 2-door for actor Daniel Wu. We dig the bronze Watanabe wheels and subtle paint color. A built L-series breathing through dual-Mikuni’s and stock-ish interior also makes us happy. You can learn more about the build from our friends over at JNC.
Our final 510 sighting was the legendary Pete Brock’s personal car in Braille battery booth. Affectionately known as “Datzilla”, we remember first seeing this 450hp small-block V8 beast back in 2008 at the MotoringJ Style show.
Z Car Fever
A total of NINE S30 Z cars were at SEMA this year. That may not seem like many, but consider just 3 years ago only two Z cars were present. It was hard to pick a favorite but we were impressed with the Gas Monkey Garage 280z and the ChasingJs 240z built by Big Mike and Dominic Le, respectively.
The Gas Monkey Garage 280z
Big Mike was commissioned to design/build this 280Z 2+2 for the TV show Gas Monkey Garage. We loved how he took a often un-loved chassis and created a unique car that Datsun fans and American-iron alike can appreciate. Some quick details that caught our eye: the huge void found in front of the 4-cylinder SR20DET was filled with an OEM-like air filer box. The stock interior features vintage buckets with matching rears. The body color choice was perfect against bronze Volk TE37V wheels. Watch for two episodes covering the build airing on Fast n Loud TV on the Discovery channel! …[read more]
2016 marks the 50th Anniversary of the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show. Every year, people from around the world arrive in Las Vegas to look at the astonishing display of automotive tuning and customization.
Within the 1 million+ square foot, 4-building Las Vegas Convention center there are hundreds of lowered imports, resto-modded muscle cars and those crazy lifted trucks. There’s far more to the show than that including celebrities, extreme demos, parties and general excess. Unfortunately, SEMA isn’t open to the public, but that doesn’t mean you can’t experience what it’s like to attend the craziest show on the automotive calendar. Enjoy the following highlights from our visit to SEMA in Novemeber. We will start with our display car, the OEMs, Datsuns and move on to the wild stuff!
The OS Giken TC24B1Z Skyline
Last year at SEMA we debuted the legendary OS Giken TC24B1Z engine inside our ZCG-restored Datsun 240z:
The Z was well-received but very subtle (by SEMA standards) so this year we stepped out of our comfort zone and helped build a “flashier” vehicle for display…a 1971 Nissan “Hakosuka” Skyline!
This time the TC24 was treated to different induction: Jenvey individual throttle bodies and EFI. Aesthetics were livened up with a red valve cover and white coated exhaust headers. The entire car was wrapped in a metallic red replete with sponsor graphics and 17″ Volk TE37V wheels on Nitto tires. Our “show hood” mod was utilized again to highlight the glorious TC24.
We were flattered by all of the fan pictures and even received a miniature scale replica of the Hako from Shingo!
Huge thanks to the crew from OS Giken and Alex M. Stay tuned we will have a full feature on the build soon!
The Big Manufacturers at SEMA
As always, there’s a big presence from US manufacturers, but this year Honda and Toyota (among others) made an impact on the show floors. Here’s our round up of the big displays.
Ford
Ford had the largest display in the main hall with an extensive showing of their hottest cars and trucks. My favorite was the new GT supercar complete with battle-scars from a LeMans race. It even sat across from an original Ford GT40. Ken Block’s “Gymkhana 9” Focus and other tricked-out Foci below:
Honda
Honda announced its return to the Pirelli World Challenge series in 2017 with this NSX GT3…being towed by Acura MDX! Below, the new NSX looks great in white, the new Civic showed as body-in-white tuning platform and the new (for the US) Civic Type R:
Toyota
Toyota had a neat throwback-style displaying paying tribute to its heritage vehicles. They even brought out the entire generation of Corollas in celebration of its 50th anniversary! Below: 1951 Land Cruiser, 80’s Van and the “World’s Fastest SUV”: a 2,000hp twin-turbo’d v8 Sequoia
Datsun Domination at SEMA!
We begin our coverage of all the Datsuns/Nissans at SEMA, and there were plenty! Let’s start with our OS Giken booth neighbor, ENEOS. Their display car was none other than Ginash George’s C10 Skyline. Ginash is the founder of the successful JDM Chicago and also owns a beautiful NSX.
Ginash enlisted the expertise of JDM Legends to build this stunning Hako. All the right choices on this one! And he’s a wheel aficionado to boot as well. Super Street gave it a SEMA award!
FOUR S30 Z cars were at SEMA. If we had to pick a favorite it was the ChasingJs 280z built by Dominic Le. You might be familiar with his last SEMA creation, the Hakotora that was featured on Jay Leno’s Garage.
The build was based on a rendering from talented artist Jon Sibal…and built in Dom’s garage!
The clever John Player Special striping was hand-applied by Dom himself. Note the rare G-Nose headlamp covers. Power comes from a single-turbo 2JZ-GTE with 1,000hp as the goal. We love it!
The Liberty Walk Fairlady Z turned heads with its unmistakenable bosozoku style. Sporting their fender flare kit, “notchback” rear hatch, smoothed rear panel and small-ish 15″ wheels it seemed a bit out of place in the DUB nation booth, but still cool.
Chris Forsberg’s 280z underwent a total makeover for SEMA. The single turbo RB26 revieved a custom billet valve cover and the body showed off a new kit from Carbon Signal. The kit really flows well with the G-nose and front spolier. The interior was also finished by Amir and his team in the UAE.
The legendary Pete Brock displayed his personal BRE Tribute 240z in the Braille booth:
A lone Datsun 510 slammed via AirLift suspension and 13B rotary power. The BBS wheels were mint!
This Datsun Bluebird L320 pickup was a pleasant sight amongs the wild bodykits. You see those chunky rear tires on widened steelies? They’re probably necessary to reign in all the instant torque from the electric motor conversion!
Late Model Nissans
Steve Pham’s unorthodox turbocharged BMW N54 turbo. This Rocketbunny “Boss” kitted Nissan 240sx (S14) had new BRE-inspired livery for the show. Below, a JDM model S15 Silvia with a widebody kit:
