We had a blast at the 34th Annual Z Car Convention (ZCON) hosted by ZCCA in Colorado Springs. This is the largest Z-car event in the US and we were stoked to be a sponsor. Coming from the 8/17 New 2023 Z Reveal in New York, Rob and Meghan attended the the 8/21 People’s Choice Show at ZCON. Enjoy photos these from the event!

 

Congratulations to our client Bob Russell on his 1st place award for Stock 240Z! We will have a full report on Bill’s S30 on zcarblog.com soon

Both of our clients Jack and Linda made it to ZCON with their recently finished Z’s and had a great time:

Jack won 3rd place for Ultra-Modified Z32 with his LS3-swapped, Primadonna Z:

The largest Z show!

ZCON was a Z car lover’s fantasy… with every generation represented. There were even non-Z cars welcomed!

S30

S130

 

Mike Rogers 12-mile 1980 ZX. Here is a great video and walk through on this time capsule!

Z31

Z32

350z

370z

Nissan/Datsun Gems

ZCON welcomed all members of the family and there were some great cars on display:

Roadster, 620 and S13

Best of the 90’s!

Midnight Purple R33, Z32 and R32 all at gas station just outside of ZCON!

People

The legendary Pete Brock, Hiroshi Tamura and Larry Chen were just a few of the big names at ZCON:

Christopher Karl and Mark Lambert both received Lifetime Achievement Awards, congrats gentlemen!

Thank You!

ZCON was a success. Big thanks to Christopher Karl of ZCCA for an incredible week of friends and Z cars. Z you next year!

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We met Gordon in 2013 when he came to Z Car Garage for Stillen Gen 3 intakes on his 2010 V1 Nismo Z34. He had 13k miles on the clock and that same summer we also installed a Fast Intentions exhaust system.

Here is the Fast Intentions TDX cat-back exhaust system and Stillen intakes:

The exhaust looks great from the rear:

Stock single muffler vs the TDX dual muffler setup:

The Z is Gordon’s fun car so very little daily driving…in 2015 he came in for minor paint work and an inspection with only 27k miles.

   

With 33k miles no won the odometer we performed a full 30k service. The diff bushings were replaced with Whiteline units and CV axles lubed.

Dyno Tuning

 

We specialize in UPREV and EcuTek Tuning to maximize power gains from individual modifications like intake and exhaust upgrades. It had been 6-7 years since Gordon’s last UPREV tune. On the dyno, Rob re-tuned the Z with gains throughout the rev range. Peak gains of 22hp/15tq for a total of 309hp/254tq at the wheels:

 

Gordon is thrilled with the power gains:

“The final piece was an Up-Rev tune. So Rob worked his magic with the tune and the results were amazing on the dyno. The car was just awesome. Rob and the team have done some regular maintenance work on the car over the years, including a recent replacement of the factory clutch with a higher performance clutch w/ a lighter flywheel. We also added a new set of Continental Xtreme Sports. It feels like a new car. I can’t say enough about Rob and his team. They truly are Z best…”

 

Thanks for your support Gordon, Long Live The Z!

Contact us for tuning!

Z Car Garage offers the ARC (Advanced Racing Controls) license. This add-on service to the existing UPREV Flash allows you to have adjustable launch control, burnout mode, and flat-foot shifting. This is for cars with manual transmission, VDC/cruise control. Call Rob for more details and to schedule your Z/G tuning appointment.

On Sunday 6/13 we attended the Morning Motors Cars & Coffee event hosted by DrivingWhileAwesome (DWA) in Santa Cruz, CA. The event impressed us again with a fun vibe and superb variety of cars. One of the many perks of DWA Morning Motors is its location surrounded by the best driving roads. This morning however, I ran solo in my Datsun Roadster straight to the venue in front of the Old Wrigley Building.

It’s smart to arrive before 8:30am to grab a shaded parking spot and coffee/donuts (thanks DWA!) before they run out. The event is so close to downtown Santa Cruz and HWY 1 I invited my family to enjoy the cars and visit our favorite beach afterwards.

Mandatory Nissan/Datsun

I was happy to see so many Nissans and Datsuns at Morning Motors.

There were a three Datsun 510 wagons and one 510 2-door! This is Mark G’s 510, a client we’ve been lucky to work with, you can see more details about his Dime HERE

Our very own Nick F. in his 1972 510 wagon on SSR wheels:

Ray’s Hakosuka Skyline, now sporting  our Z Car Garage CV Axles! We look forward to seeing Ray for more upgrades on this already stunning Skyline that gets driven everywhere:

Pall’s R32 Skyline in (AH3) Pearl Red. Pall K acquired this Pearl Red (AH3) R32 from our friend Sean and his team at Toprank International Vehicle Importers. We love the gorgeous paint color and Volk TE37SLs. He is also a ZCG client!

Todd’s R32 Skyline GTS-T. I just saw him on the Breakfast Club Rally yesterday!

Another ZCG client, Eric’s Infiniti FX35 sporting upgraded suspension and R35 GT-R wheels.

350Z and G37 sedan on Z34 wheels:

I counted five (!) Nissan 240SX in both S13 and S14 trim. This S13 was my favorite:

S14 with “Silvia” badging:

Lone Z32 (NA), Q45 and a bagged Q60:

 

In Search of J-Tin

Morning Motors did not disappoint if you are Japanese Classic fans. Honda S800:

 

NA Miatas!

 

EG Civic, EM1 Civic Si and S2000 CR:

 

90’s icons…Supra and NSX and FD RX-7 (on FIKSE wheels)!

 

So much variety! Enjoy this short video:

Euro Classics

Yearning for Porsche’s? Or something a bit less “mainstream”? DWA CnC did not disappoint. Rosso Dino 246:

308, 4C and Chris’ “Rat Alfa” GTV:

Spotted my first, local Porsche 911 by Singer. It was impressive with so many details to enjoy:

Sweet 993 C2S with sexy multi-piece Turbo Twists:

Naveed’s new 964 911 GT3 RS (991)

 

A trio of cool BMW 2002s, one powered by an M20 6-cylinder!:

 

American Muscle

From 60’s to 80’s. Mike Garret’s familiar purple Mopar with late-model drivetrain and really wild Plymouth Fury race car tribute:

Eclectic

DWA CnC is definitely my kind of cars and coffee. It’s a great venue with amazing driving roads nearby and the cars were so diverse. We highly recommend checking it out! Thanks to the DWA crew for hosting. If you haven’t already, listen to their podcast and make sure you give them a follow on Instagram.
More pictures in the gallery below!

Our customer Randy Jaffe’s incredible Nissan/Datsun collection is featured on the latest episode of Hoonigan Autofocus with Larry Chen. Join Randy and Larry as they walk through his collection and discuss street and racing cars from the past. This is a diverse collection you won’t want to miss, enjoy!