On Sunday we attended a private screening of the new movie “Winning” about actor/driver Paul Newman. The venue for this event was held at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, CA.  Our crew of eight cars met at the shop but before we departed a friend offered us a ride in a new Tesla Model S “P85D”.  This is the one with two electric motors, 690hp and the fabled “insane mode”.

 

The Tesla lived up to its hype. With 4 adults on board Rob launched the car and our heads abruptly hit their headrests. We couldn’t resist weighing this marvel and it tipped the scales at 4,920lbs.  With that experience checked off the bucket list, we proceeded to Apple:

 

 

When we arrived the parking lot scene was surprisingly like a Cars & Coffee meet with high-dollar/exotic machinery everywhere, like this $1.6 million Mclaren P1:

 

An entire section was taped off just for our Nissans/Datsuns! It was great to see enthusiasts appreciating the mix of cars, both vintage and modern. Here a few Datsuns that caught my eye, starting with Dave Stone’s 610 on Watanabe wheels:

 

This Datsun 240z (S30) also sported Watanabe wheels and a striking red interior. Loved the fender mirrors too!

 

 

Before watching the movie we admired some amazing cars from all marques.  There was a large turnout of Ferrari’s, more new than classic like the 458, FF and F12:

 

This Dino and familiar Lusso of course will always be the pinnacle of Ferrari’s design:

 

I really dig the interior on the new Mercedes Benz AMG GT S:

 

Cool muscle cars too like these Mopars and Shelby GT350:

 

We enjoyed the movie and it gave us Datsun geeks a chance to shine as Paul Newman piloted everything from 510s to 900hp Nissans on famous road racing tracks throughout his career. “Winning” is a must see documentary for every automotive enthusiast. You can catch it in theaters May 22 and on demand through iTunes.  Cheers to Adam Carolla! Please check the picture gallery for even more wonderful cars from the Apple parking lot.

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This 1973 Datsun 240z is now for sale after 5 years of ownership and maintenance by Z Car Garage. Please visit our For Sale page for more details on this beautiful S30.

 

Enjoy The Ride!

 

The Blackhawk Museum in Danville, CA has been hosting Cars & Coffee every first Sunday of the month. From what we have seen in the media turnout has been phenomenal with some really impressive cars.

 

We would like to gather a group of Datsuns/Nissans to show their cars at the event on Sunday, June 7. If we can get a firm number of attendees in advance the nice folks at the show will tape off an area for us to park! Interested in parking with your fellow owners? Please contact alvin AT gmailDotCom or simply reply to our Facebook page or Instagram (#zcargarage) posts. All Nissan/Datsun/Infiniti cars welcome, see you at the show!

 

 

 

We hope everyone had a chance to enjoy 5/10 yesterday in their Datsuns! To celebrate the occasion we drove our Dimes up to Uvas Reservoir. Our good friend Anthony drove down from Oregon to drop off his Datsun 510 Wagon for tuning. You might remember this flared, Supra-powered beast from being featured in America’s Coolest Wagons in 2011:

 

The car has gone through some serious development including including a full 2JZ-GTE engine, rear-mounted radiator setup and massive fender flares–all fabricated by Anthony himself! We will have full details on the blog soon.

Joining us was Rob in his SR20DET 510 and Lou with his new 2014 GTR Track pack. Kane, the ZCG shop dog Enjoyed the Ride too! Before heading out we stopped by the scales on De La Cruz to satisfy our curiosity. All three cars surprised us…
Anthony’s 2JZ Datsun 510 Wagon: 2888lbs

 

 

Lou’s 2014 R35: 3880lbs

Rob’s SR20DET Datsun 510: 2240lbs

 

From the scales we cruised up to Uvas Reservoir.  Watching Anthony’s Dime in motion is impressive. The incredibly huge ToyoR888s (285s!) at all four corners look absolutely menacing from every angle:

 

The weather was great and we had a blast on 510 day. Check the gallery for more pictures!

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No, dear readers your eyes aren’t deceiving you! That is a 1972 Chevelle coming out of Turn 9 at Laguna Seca and here is the story behind this icon from the 70’s.  Owner Dave T was scouring the internet for dyno shops when he found Z Car Garage. With an endorsement from his co-worker an e-mail was sent and we happily obliged to dyno the Chevelle. We love muscle cars!

 

Dave had assembled this engine entirely by himself and wanted to see the difference a new exhaust system made. The stock exhaust consisted of OEM cast-iron manifolds, dual pipes w/o crossover and generic turbo mufflers. Baseline numbers were 277hp/326tq to the wheels. The new exhaust system included Hooker SBC headers, Pypes X-pipe and Race Pro mufflers. This helped produce 330hp/356tq to the wheels!

 

Here is a video of the dyno run:

 

 

What we love most about the car is that it was meant to be a ‘grandma’s sleeper’ that could work at the road-track, the drag-strip and as a daily driver.  It still has its original bench seat and column shifter. Dave has logged over 11,000 miles on the motor and recently completed a track day at Laguna Seca!

 

 

A few details on the engine build:

383CI
Intake Manifold-RPM Air Gap
GMPP Hot Camshaft
COMP Cams Valve Springs
GM Bow-Tie Vortec cylinder heads
Compression ratio 9.543
TH-350 (TCI)
3000 rpm flash stall converter (TCI)
3.08 rear, Eaton posi

 

Dave actually built the engine before he found the car. After the successful engine run on the stand, his dad encouraged him to find a car for it:

“He said, why don’t you get a Chevelle like you had in high-school- that was the best car we ever had. I had received a 1972 Chevelle Mailbu from my parents at the age of 16. It was blue with a white vinyl top. I had an accident in it and some time after that the cam/timing gear let go and although I tried to replace it the engine never ran right and we ended up donating it to the high-school auto shop class.”

 

 

He then found a ’72 on Craigslist in un-modified condition, shown above in the original owner’s driveway. The car has been repainted it’s original shade of green, and that’s it. In went the new motor and he’s been driving like mad.

 

Here is Dave putting the Chevelle through its paces at the Sear’s Point Drags (Sonoma Raceway). His first time out he ran low 13’s!

 

 

Thanks for bringing your Chevelle to us we enjoyed working with you Dave!