“Great Drives” is a Zcarblog series highlighting scenic routes and destinations we have enjoyed from the past and present. Whether it is a nice cruise or thrilling adventure, we hope to inspire Bay Area vintage car owners to Enjoy The Ride! Have a great drive of your own that you want to share? Feel free to contact us on Facebook, Instagram or by e-mail.
Mt. Umunhum to Alice’s Restaurant, October 2018
There are several fun routes reaching Alice’s from San Jose. This drive was organized by Lotus 7 owner Geoff W and we all met in Almaden to begin:
The 11-car group was diverse with both vintage and modern sports cars with great Nissan/Datsun representation!
The cars:
Daniel’s Nissan 240s (S13) with an RB25DET swap. He is the man behind the lens of BayRoadsAP. Naveed Yousufzai’s R32 Skyline GT-R:
Lane Skelton of DrivingWhileAwesome in his Porsche 944. Eric in the 911 Targa
TWO Z cars! Michael’s Series 1 240z (with patina) and Andrew’s Series 1 Fairlady Z (RHD!)
Geoff (organizer) in his Lotus 7, featured on Petrolicious! Mike in his 993 Porsche:
Matt in his Subaru BRZ Performance Pack, Brendan and Drew in their Chevy SS sedans, and myself in the Datsun Roadster.
The route:
Driving through Almaden to Mt. Umunhum:
The climb up to the peak is filled with freshly paved road and switchbacks. At the top:
In the lower lot we had a few minutes to chat and check out the cars
I really dig Michael’s S30, it has a warmed-over triple-carb’d L-series:
We left Mt. Umunhum towards 17 and exited on Bear Creek Rd. for lunch in Boulder Creek. This was a fun stretch I haven’t been on.
Heading up 9 to 35. It was fun chasing Michael in the Z:
We had a little scare when his oil pressure gauge started reading low….it checked it ok and we were off again:
The route changed a bit and we took Alpine Rd. (lots of loose gravel) to Pescadero Creek Rd, then Stage Rd. After re-grouping we hopped on HWY 1N:
From 1 we turned right onto 84. This stretch was amazing. SO much fun connecting the turns and chasing Geoff in the Lotus. This is a road that made me love my roadster even more. Thanks Geoff for an exhilarating drive!
All of the Roadsters at Alice’s Restaurant. An “Aero Cycle” joined:
We also got a closer look at Geoff’s go-kart. One look at the driver’s seat tells all: this is a wild ride!
After drinks we departed. Alice’s never disappoints.
Here’s video I snapped showing the action, enjoy!
After drinks we split up for home, and i took 35 back down 9. I was treated to some great coastal and bay arae views:
Big thanks to Geoff for organizing the drive. It was a fantastic run with great company! More pictures in the gallery below.
“Great Drives” is a new Zcarblog series highlighting scenic routes and destinations we have enjoyed from the past and present. Whether it is a nice cruise or thrilling adventure, we hope to inspire Bay Area vintage car owners to Enjoy The Ride! Have a great drive of your own that you want to share? Feel free to contact us on Facebook, Instagram or by e-mail.
Pescadero Beach, 7/8/18
Starting from San Jose, there are several fun routes reaching Pescadero State Beach. Sunday’s Fun Run was organized by fellow Datsun owners, beginning in Downtown Saratoga heading up to Skyline via HWY9.
We had 11 cars in the group and joining us as Guest of Honor was Josh Martin, star of the successful Utah-based JDM Legends TV show.
Three Datsun Roadsters: my 67.5, Aidan’s ’69 SRL and Stacey’s 1970 SRL:
Three S30s: Dirk’s silver ’73, Andrew’s ’77 280z and Brian’s ’72:
Representing the finest from Nissan in the 90’s was Josh in the ZCG 300zx Twin Turbo and Naveed in his splendid 1991 Nissan R32 Skyline GT-R:
Our friend Matt drove his F2oC-powered Datsun 510 and we also had this STi(Tim) and 911 (JR) come along:
The blast up HWy 9 to the 35 junction was fun. After a brief photo-op at Sempervirens lookout we headed to Alice’s Restaurant at the 84/35 junction.
Alice’s was quite busy and the car show there was impressive.
BMWCCA was holding an event/rallye so parking was a challenge. I spotted this clean, Kouki S14:
From Alice’s I led the group down 84 towards the coast. This was my favorite part of the drive. We were blessed with zero traffic and an opportunity to open up the throttle and enjoy the turns. Linking each apex one after another was addicting, like the esses at Buttonwillow. Brake dust was wafting in the air from running hard!
Instead of taking 1 South we turned left onto Stage Rd (a route I learned from Glenn Chiou). Stage was bumpy but the reward was a nice, eucalyptus-lined stretch in farmland. Another photo-op session and my first time seeing Naveeds’s R32 in person to study the details. It’s the perfect amount of JDM style with the re-barreled Nismo wheels and subtly aero from Top Secret:
Sensing the mass of cars from the BMWCCA rallye headed our way we promptly headed into town and reached our destination at Pescadero Beach:
Here’s a short video of the Fun Run, turn up those speakers!
Weather at the coast was perfect and we departed via 1 and back up 84 for lunch at Alice’s. Again, 84 was clear and we Enjoyed The Ride:
Thanks to the organizers everyone had a blast! It was also nice to give Josh a sample of our beautiful driving roads here in the Bay Area. Stay tuned for the next Great Drives feature and enjoy more pictures in the gallery below! …[read more]
We are proud to be a sponsor of the 13th Annual 2017 Japanese Classic Car Show September 23! The JCCS is a J-Tin lover’s paradise and it keeps getting better every year. Take a look at the poster above and you might notice a familiar black Z car. This year our OS Giken TC24 powered 1971 Datsun 240z will be displayed as one of the featured show cars, from the press release:
“America’s Most Exotic 240z” does have a nice ring to it! You can see the original article by Mike Garrett over at Speedhunters HERE.
Z Car Garage will have its own booth at the show, so please stop by, check out the Z and say hello!
In case you missed it, our coverage of last year’s JCCS show is HERE and you can see a brief history of the TC24B1Z powered 240z below:
Over 30 years ago OS Giken created the first dual overhead cam (DOHC) 24-valve cylinder head for the Nissan L-series engine: The TC24-B1Z.
Z Car Garage in partnership with OS Giken debuted the first North American (LHD) Datsun 240z to run the TC24-B1Z at the SEMA show in Las Vegas, CA: ZCG at SEMA 2015
We want to share how this mythical cylinder head sounds, looks and drives.
Turn up your speakers and enjoy!
Filed under: Events
by Alvin G @ 11:51 pm on April 12, 2016
The Touge California 2016 was held April 2 on the backroads of Southern California, starting in Escondido and ending in Irvine. The 2nd annual rally covered roughly 200 miles of scenic and challenging roads through San Diego and Orange counties, including several spirited “Touge” stages through mountain passes.
Founded in 2015 by enthusiast and JNC editor-in-chief Ben Hsu, the Touge (pronounced “toe-geh”, Japanese for Mountain pass) California is the only all-Japanese vintage road rally in the US. For 2016 Ben teamed up with rally master Patrick Strong to coordinate the route on this relaxed(or so I thought!), non-competitive event.
The entry list for the 2016 Touge California would make any J-tin fan proud, with a banner selection of 28 Japanese classics from the ’60s through the ’80s. Mazda stepped up as the title sponsor for the event, rolling out classics like the 1975 Rotary-Engine Pickup (REPU), 1985 RX-7 GSL-SE and a 1978 GLC compact hatchback from its Heritage Collection–all to be driven not just for display!
We participated in this year’s rally behind the wheel of my 1967.5 Datsun Roadster. I made the 460 mile journey down to San Diego from San Jose with no hiccups, big thanks to ZCG for the suspension refresh, quieter exhaust and rally prep. Requisite navigation duties were handled by my brother-in-law Jun K. who resides in La Jolla. On Saturday morning Jun and I drove to the meeting spot and rally start at Lake Wolford, Escondido. I don’t think either of us were prepared for the ensuing adventure! Upon arrival we were greeted by just over 2 dozen rad Japanese classics:
The lot was a paradise of vintage Datsuns, Mazdas, Toyotas, Hondas, and a lone Mitsubishi and Subaru. I was immediately drawn to a fellow Datsun Roadster painted in a shade similar to Sora Blue. Owned by John S from Nissan Design America, the 1965 SPL310 was very stock right down to its charming, original hubcaps. The 4-speed shifter did however hide a full 5-speed transmission from a later 2000 model roadster! Bonus points for sporting matching shoes:
After checking out the cars, rallymaster Patrick Strong briefed drivers and handed us our Route Book, door magnet and “white envelope”(more on this later). At 11am the rally was underway!
Our first checkpoint would occur 35.9 miles later in the town of Julian, where event coordinators provided us with warm apple pie, of course!
While enjoying the pie I also enjoyed this tasty specimen, a very rare 1970 Mitsubishi Colt Galant GTO owned and restored by Matt De Mangos:
A fairly brisk pace with changing scenery led us to a lunch stop at near Lake Henshaw, but not without some casualties. Danny M’s sweet flared S30 lost its rear brakes. The 1977 Honda Civic had to be towed and the REPU truck had exhaust issues. The ultra-rare hubcap from John S’ Fairlady roadster jettisoned somewhere, but we hear he later found it!
Danny M. bailed out of the Touge safely and caught some of us on video leaving The Round Up Grill, enjoy!
Media coverage of the event was also impressive with photographers seen staged at various spots ahead of the rally drivers. Larry Chen, editor of Speedhunters, Andrew Golseth of Petrolicious, Mark Vaughn from Autoweek and even the Petersen Automotive Museum attended. Even JNC’s Ben Hsu was hard at work:
We were given ample time to enjoy breathtaking views near Mt. Palomar and attack more challenging roads ahead:
Any notions of this event being “relaxed” and “easy” were thrown out the door as we tried to chase down Smith M’s red SA22 RX-7 on the Touge stages. The “Couser Canyon Touge” was particularly thrilling with endless high radius turns and a sheer drop-off with no guard rails present. Outside of a track day at Laguna Seca, this 6 miles stretch was enjoyably intense! As we caught up to Smith at the stop sign he said with a smile “I don’t think anyone is behind us anymore”. Smith’s RX-7 was shakotan low sitting on NOS vintage Enkei barrels–10″ wide with stretched tires. He drove it passionately 🙂
What if you didn’t want to drive spiritedly? Afraid of overheating? Remember that “white envelope” we received at the rally start? Inside were alternate routes to ensure that cars/drivers could make it to the next checkpoint safely. The consequence of breaking the seal on said envelope? If opened, participants would not receive the coveted “I survived the Touge California” sticker. One car we were totally impressed by was Mark N’s 1972 Subaru GL coupe. This FWD , 80hp green machine survived indeed…even if it had to be floored in 1st gear to make it up the steepest grade!
The event coordinators thoughtfully included fuel stops between checkpoints (likely to quench the large rotary contingencies’ thirst!). Speaking of rotary-powered cars these two Mazda RX-2s were ultra-clean and made all the right noises. Loved the different flares and exhaust treatments:
With over 150 miles under our belts the journey continued on, taking us to Lake Elsinore, over the Ortega HWY to the PCH and our last leg to Corona Del Mar in Newport Beach. The sun was starting to set and it was fun to watch our fellow participants roll in triumphantly.
This was also our last chance to survey some of the cars before dark, and there were a few surprises under hoods! We suspected this rather butch-looking Honda Civic to be sporting something special in the power department as it seemed to pull quickly in the canyons…sure enough it had a B18B engine swap:
I love the first generation Toyota Celicas. We followed this TA22 for miles and noticed a un-4cylinder like exhaust note that could only come from a…
…NA 2Jz swap! The transplant was done to an OEM-level of fit and finish with power steering and A/C.
I think the most significant car to participate was this yellow Datsun 240z. Its owner was none other than Mr.K. We think he would be proud to see that his Z was being enjoyed and it was one of the highlights of the day to be carving through the hills with it.
Mandatory Datsun content: more Z’s and a couple of 510s in attendance:
Andrew G’s Toyota Century, complete with backlit plates was a hit with the crowds…he piloted the large luxury cruiser in opulence while on the Touge!
Lastly, we could not forget the actual vehicle featured on the Touge California poster, Armando’s 1974 RX-4 coupe:
With the sunset long past I noticed it was 9pm. Jun gave me final directions to arrive at Mazda headquarters in Irvine. We were just a few miles from our ultimate destination and final checkpoint where Ben and Patrick mentioned that we were in for a treat!
The courtyard of the Mazda Headquarters building was lined with classic cars from their Heritage Collection up to the new MX-5, all on display while we enjoyed a catered BBQ dinner. Ben and Patrick got on stage to hand out awards: whomever completed the event without opening the white envelope received a “I survived the Touge California 2016” sticker. We were advised not to place it on our minivans.
After dinner and dessert, it got better. Mazda PR Director Jeremy Barnes climbed into the RX- 792P race car and revved it up for us to hear the glorious tune of 4-rotors screaming:
To top it off, Jeremy gave us a tour of Mazda’s underground collection. This garage beneath the main building did not house “museum” pieces and Jeremy emphasized that each car was driven or in the process of restoration. It was a special treat to see cars ranging from the original Miatas that were introduced to the public for the first time in 1989, all the way to the LeMans winning and weathered rotary-powered race cars.
After the tour, Mazda sent us off with goodie bags and Jun and I headed back down to San Diego from an 11-hour day of intense driving fun. Kudos to Ben and Patrick for a seamless event that showcased passion for our cars and driving them. From the epic routes, Touge stages, efficient checkpoints and stellar staff, this was truly one for the J-Tin books. I highly recommend it for all Japanese classic car owners.
We hope you have enjoyed our coverage of the Touge California 2016 and don’t forget to see our extensive gallery below for more pictures of the rally and Mazda’s collection. Stay tuned for another report as my trip to SoCal was not over yet! The following day I visited Nissan Design America and the Japanese Car Meet at the Petersen Museum all on the way back home to San Jose.
Last Saturday I attended the SpoCom Norcal Edition car show held at Club Auto Sport in San Jose, CA. If you do a quick Google search of the word “spocom” you’ll find more images of scantily clad women than actual cars–this may explain why legions of adolescent males paid the relatively high $25 spectator fee, but more on that later. Look harder though and you can find some sweet J-Tin at this show claiming to be aimed at “automotive & pop culture tastemakers alike.”
The Venue
I don’t claim to be a tastemaster of any kind, but here is my review of the show from a Datsun owner’s point of view. Let’s start with the venue: Club Auto Sport is a large, retail/commercial complex and home to exotic-car rental agency Club Sportiva and Borelli Motorsports:
Inside the main building there were several aisles for show cars to be parked and a main stage for a DJ and wait for it…bikini contest! Club Auto sport offers private garages so naturally I peeked at various man caves…found a Porsche 959 in hiding!
The Cars
Those tall orange “Swords” above are actually the coveted SpoCom Awards. I learned that this was a highly competitive show with “teams” vying for these 4-ft tall trophies. Here is a taste of the cars placed near the main stage area:
There were about 25 cars lining the aisles inside the building…scattered about in random fashion with one aisle having only 3 cars vs 18 in another:
The car scene inside the building was quite different from the cars placed outside, and this is where I found some pretty neat machinery. Let’s begin with my roadster which was staged near this S30 sporting an old-school body kit:
