The Z Car Garage coverage continues at Speedhunters! This time photojournalist Mike Garrett features our friend Gary’s 1971 Nissan Skyline 2000GT. Enjoy the full story HERE!

 

Z Car Garage is both excited and honored to be featured on Speedhunters. Take a glimpse of the shop through the lens of photojournalist Mike Garrett by clicking HERE

Long Live The Z!

 

***Dear Customers and Friends we want to remind you that Z Car Garage will be closed from 12/24/15 through 1/4/16***

 

We want to say thanks to our customers, friends and the crew at ZCG for making 2015 a wonderful and productive year!

Read further to enjoy a few highlights from the year and Z you in 2016!

(Click on links to read the full blog post)

 

The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion

 

The Japanese Classic Car Show

 

Cars & Coffee at Blackhawk Museum

 

OS Giken TC24-B1Z in action

 

Reid’s DR30 Skyline

 

The SEMA Show

Canepa Cars & Coffee

 

The Solvang Datsun Roadster Show

Movie Screening of Adam Corolla’s “Winning” at Apple

 

 

The Nissan R35 GT-R like any high performance vehicle, requires regular maintenance to ensure the car is performing its best and is well protected. Here at Z Car Garage we are not only interested in carrying out performance conversions, but can take care of all your Nissan R35 GT-R routine servicing. Enrique G came to us for 36k services on his Solid Red 2012 GT-R. He loves driving and you might recognize his car from our last fun run to Canepa Cars & Coffee:

 

While servicing the Nissan GT-R we only use genuine Nissan parts and oil that is recommended or exceeds the manufacturers standards. For example, the GT-R’s VR38 engine with its plasma-sprayed bores has been developed to run on Mobil 1 (0W-40) fully synthetic high performance engine oil.  As such ZCG carries this oil specifically for GT-R servicing.

  

For those doing track days, we can tailor your service to include any extras you may need such as additional transmission fluid changes, alignment and dyno tuning. Give us a call to discuss your next pre or post track day service.

Enjoy The Ride, Enrique!

 

 

 

 

What Happens in SEMA . . .
Every year the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) takes over the 3,000,000 square feet of floor space at the Las Vegas Convention Center for a weeklong trade show that covers everything automotive. Exhibitors feature cars, trucks or SUVs in their displays to showcase their products or simply to attract attention. In a town where weird is normal, the masses of over-the-top and extremely modified cars seem at home inside the multi-building center.

 

Tens of thousands attend the SEMA Show each year, and while a trade show and not open to the public, it’s the one auto show every enthusiast wants to attend. Despite the propensity for depravity that comes with a no-last-call town, SEMA is never anything short of a legendary gathering and we had a blast during our 2-day visit.

 

SEMA 2015 marked a special milestone for the crew at Z Car Garage as we prepared a special 1971 Datsun 240z for display at the show.  Through an exclusive collaboration with OS Giken we unveiled the world’s first North American (LHD) S30 to be powered by the legendary TC24-B1Z engine. This mythical twincam cylinder head bolts onto an L-series block giving it crossflow breathing and high revving operation.

 

 

The Z was well received by show goers stopping by the OS Giken booth which featured video displays of the engine being assembled and tested at ZCG. Jaws dropped at the sight of the TC24 and we also heard admirable reviews from fellow Datsun/restorers for the build. Our friends at Japanese Nostalgic Car (JNC) and Speedhunters featured the car in their SEMA reviews:
JNC
Speedhunters

 

 

The lucky owner of this OS Giken-equipped Z is our friend and customer Gary Stephenson. In short, his build highlights our restorative powers and sports full suspension (allowing 255/40/17 tires under stock flairs), our ZCG Big Brake Kit, nos OEM glass, integrated roll cage,  KA24 transmission, Recaro Competition seats and more.

 

 

 

In current tune/configuration the TC24 produced 376hp/281tq to the wheels on 91 octane, proudly displayed by the car at SEMA. This Z will be driven on the street and track so stay tuned for videos!

 

 

Huge thanks to the crew at OS Giken for a killer booth and memorable experience. Look for an in-depth story about our collaboration with OS Giken and TC24-B1Z build on the blog soon.  Long Live the Z. Here comes the TC!

 

 

Datsuns Everywhere at SEMA!

Our favorite vintage cars were in great numbers this year. One of the most prominent of course
was Sung Kang’s 1973 Datsun 240z affectionately called “FuguZ”.

Sung ( “Han” of Fast and Furious movie fame) chronicled the build through social media, enlisting parts from around the world with final assembly by Kenji at Greddy. Sporting the latest Rocket Bunny body kit, Volk TE37s and an ITB’d RB26 drivetrain this was a crowd favorite and inspiration to all. Congrats to Sung and the Greddy team for an epic build!

 

For the first time in SEMA history a Datsun roadster was on display courtesy of Socal specialist Kevin Desirello.

 

This fully restored 1967 SPL311 was treated to a complete S15 SR20DET drivetrain swap but Kevin and his team didn’t stop there. By adding a VVL head and punching the displacement out to 2.2L, they essentially made an SR22VE-T with power levels of 450whp anticipated!

 

 

Garret wanted the car for its SEMA booth and it was placed alongside the famous Mad Mike Whiddett’s insane twin-turbo FOUR-rotor powered Formula-drift Miata. We are especially proud of Kevin and his roadster for making it to the Top 21 in The Battle of the Builders competition!

 

 

This Datsun 520 pickup was actually a contender in the Optima Batteries challenge with a Mazda Miata drivetrain and double A-arm suspension F/R!

 

Hakotora! Take one Sunny ute and graft a Hakosuka front end on for a mean little pickup. This build had some great details and a built SR20DET under the vented hood.

 

This BRE 510 was on display in the Tokico booth. A celebrity driver car, this is now owned by Datsun-freak Adam Carolla. Our hero Pete Brock was not too far from the dime!

 

Eric and Josh from JDM Legends made the trek from Utah and displayed their superbly restored Ken and Mary Skyline. The C110 had all the choice parts from the triple-carb’d L-series, Comp seats and Watanabe wheels.

 

There’s a New Boss in Town . . .

Not Datsun per se, but the following Nissan 240sx (S14) sports cars all have one thing in common: The “Boss” aero kit from RocketBunny/TRA Kyoto. The kit transforms the front end of an S14 into a B110/Challenger looking vehicle… it takes some time getting used to, but we dig it.

 
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