On Saturday, June 12 I attended the Breakfast Club Rally. This was my second time at the monthly event and I highly recommend it for anyone looking to enjoy the beautiful Northern California roads and scenery. I took my Datsun Roadster and left San Jose Saturday morning, driving 80 miles North to the starting point in Mill Valley. I spotted this MGA buzzing along the freeway, and many more vintage cars were on their way. Enjoy this report from the event.
Cars & Coffee? Yes Please!
The Breakfast Club Rally (BCR) started almost 1 year ago, now running its 15th rally event. What started out as a small group enjoying weekend drives blossomed into a full-on Cars and Coffee (still unofficial) meet just before rally participants head out according to run group (rally map available to pre-registrants only).
I arrived at 8:30am to an already packed parking lot. BCR is mostly vintage, “brand agnostic & 100% anti-snob”…and the scene was just as advertised. Cool cars everywhere. Of course, yours truly is always on the lookout for Nissans and Datsuns:
First up, this 1967 Datsun 2000, owned by Ian S. One of the most sought after Datsuns, these “half-year” models were introduced mid-1967 offering a 5-speed transmission and 150hp twin-Mikuni carb’d 2L engine…hot stuff for the era. This is SRL #601 (out of ~1000 cars) and it was fully restored years ago by Les Cannaday in San Diego. Ian is meticulous about maintaining this car, but it is no garage queen. The (655) Off-white paint with red interior is one of my favorites.
Met a fresh Datsun Roadster owner! This is Michael’s ’70 2000. He purchased and drove it from SoCal to San Francisco.
Two vintage Datsun Z cars. (top) is BCR founder Graham’s personal 280Z:
Two Datsun 510 wagons and Nissan 720 truck!
This was a total surprise…our client Mike’s R32 Skyline GT-R! Fresh from our shop with turbo, fueling and exhaust upgrades he is out Enjoying the Boost! Watch the video below for the sounds this beast makes…full report soon.
So many cool cars please check the gallery for more photos!
Rally On!
The rally started at 9am and somehow all of the cars gracefully exited the lot, heading towards the coast to Point Reyes Station. Weather and terrain changes abound and even a few route changes kept things interesting. Crazy machinery was always fun to see!
Arriving at Point Reyes Station was another opportunity to see cars I missed at the starting point. Folks took a snack/coffee break here in the quaint town. I sat down near the sidewalk, just admiring each vintage ride cruise by…like this Ferrari 250GT!
This is a grand, picaresque part of Northern California with rolling hills, pastures and Eucalyptus-lined blacktop. Coastal fog could be seen creeping into valleys and gentle rivers meandering through hillsides had me fighting to keep my eyes on the road!
One of BCR’s clever mottos is #DoneByNoon, and we eventually found our way to downtown Petaluma for lunch. I joined fellow roadster owner Ian (with his son) and Graham at Brewster’s Beer Garden in the historic district. Good food on the patio with great company.
Another perk of the BCR is the many talented photographers they have enlisted to capture rally goers in action. Your ride may have been immortalized so check out their work HERE! As we parted our ways, I snapped some rolling shots of Ian’s ’67 Datsun 2000 on the freeway. It’s hard not to take many photos of this roadster, it’s that pretty.
I headed back home to San Jose to complete the almost 270-mile trip. Driving across the Golden Gate Bridge and through San Francisco is always a treat.
A short video capturing the day:
Thanks BCR!
Many thanks to the organizers, I had a blast with Breakfast Club Rally. I urge you to register for their next event, especially if you are in the South Bay area like me and want to see what driving bliss lies North. #DoItInADatsun
Our customer Randy Jaffe’s 1970 Datsun 240Z Safari Tribute is featured on the latest episode of Hoonigan Autofocus with Larry Chen. This Z is based on the original car that won the East African Safari Rallies in 1971 and 1973. Watch Randy and Larry discuss the foundation for the build and little details that remain faithful to the original. There are many other Nissans and Datsuns in Randy’s collection with more features on the way. Enjoy!
Stay tuned for a full zcarblog.com feature where we will take a closer look at our work on this cool Z.
Filed under: Events,Racing
by Alvin G @ 6:37 pm on June 1, 2021
Twenty years in the waiting, but the Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) is returning to Laguna Seca this weekend, June 5-6! They are hosting a (FREE) car corral in the paddock of Laguna Seca with a limited number (30) of parking spots available for your vintage car. This event is not open to the general public, only parking corral participants! To get your car corral parking spot please contact Geoff at CSRG: race.director@csrgweb.org
Get ready for some B-Sedan Racing action!
Here is a map of the paddock with car corral parking area and race schedule. You will need to fill out the following form HERE
This info will be provided to Laguna Seca for use on the gate list. NOTE: One driver and one passenger per car, masks on, and no pets please. This is all part of Laguna’s COVID-19 protocols.
Z Car Garage will be racing and supporting our clients. Rob Fuller, Kelvin and Tom will be racing their Datsun 510s in Group 9:
Rob will also be racing the #49 Mazda Miata in Group 8:
Everything we know. Everything we love. Everything we live for. In one letter.
The New Z Car. By now many of you have seen Nissan’s Z Proto in the media or even in person as it tours the car show circuit. On May 2, Nissan invited us to their headquarters in Tennessee to get up close and personal with the Z Proto, still very much in pre-production form. After seeing, hearing and feeling this car in person we are thoroughly stoked for the new Nissan Z. Enjoy this report from our trip, complete with photos and video.
Nissan is Back
Z car enthusiasts worldwide have been awaiting a successor to the current Z and many were satisfied when Nissan officially unveiled the Z Proto on September 16, 2020. The live-streamed event featured Alfonso Albaisa (senior vice president of global design) and Hiroshi Tamura (chief product specialist of the Z Proto) both very enthusiastic and assuring that while the Z Proto is only a development model, we will get a new Nissan Z.
Fast forward almost six months after the unveiling…Nissan debuted this commercial that gave me chills. I immediately texted Rob that Nissan is back. This brilliantly-executed advertisement was exactly what we needed and shows a direction that we are totally on board with:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kdVkUta8TI
With our New Z car anticipation growing stronger we just had to see it for ourselves, in the metal. You can imagine how happy we were when Nissan Corporate reached out to Z Car Garage and invited us to their headquarters in Franklin to spend some quality time with the Z Proto. Rob and I hopped on a plane to Tennessee…
Arriving at Nissan HQ, our hosts were Jonathan Buhler (Sr. Specialist Corporate Communications at Nissan) and industry veteran Dan Passe (Director, Corporate Communications). Both gentlemen are hardcore automotive enthusiasts (see Jonathan’s personal Datsun 240Z) that proudly wave the flag for Nissan. The kind of minds you want at a car company, and very gracious. Rob and I were in for a treat, and and we were blown away. First order of business: see the Z Proto inside Nissan HQ…
The Nissan Z Proto:
We were given the opportunity to get up close and personal with the Z Proto. To be concise, this car has a presence that simply isn’t captured in photos. A small disclaimer: the details we admired and discovered on this car may not transfer to the production car, but based on leaked photos, and as mentioned in the unveiling by Alfonso the Z Proto’s design is extremely close to what consumers will be offered. After sitting in the car and taking in its design, both Rob and I were enthralled and eager for the new Nissan Z. Let’s take a closer look…
Exterior
The familiar silhouette of the Z Proto instantly caught our eyes when we first saw it inside Nissan’s light-box room. By design, nearly every element seems to have been inspired by previous generation Z cars. Front features help take you back to Japan-only models like the 240ZG of the 1970s with “sugar-scoop” style headlights. The LED lights cast a “Z” halo:
That front grille/bumper treatment everyone seems to be split on? The square-shaped grille comes off looking awkward in pictures, but it looks totally appropriate to the car in person. Eagle eyes will note that the grille’s rectangular details carry to the interior and rear end. It works really well.
While the front end is both familiar and striking, the rear end is even more intriguing. We can’t get over the fact that Nissan put their contemporary twist on the 300ZX (Z32) taillights! Their sharp, rectangular LED elements are perfectly executed.
Nissan incredibly managed to retain the iconic Z profile while updating the body surfaces to give a much needed styling refresh. Gone are the bulbous, over-flared and over-designed features of previous generation Z cars. No chunky door handles. No weirdly-shaped headlight/taillight treatments. The Z Proto manages to be understated, with elements familiar and welcomed by Z enthusiasts. Look at that mid-body character line that evokes the S30…only here it follows an almost Coke-bottle shape with strong shoulders over the rear wheel wells. We snapped a few outdoor shots to capture the surface details. It was hard to detect the hood lines, another S30-styling throwback!
We doubt the Fairlady Z badge on the hatch will see production (it never did for US-Market Z Cars!), but we sure hope the pillar Z emblems stay, along with the “Katana” silver rails. It will be interesting to see what the aftermarket holds styling-wise with front/rear fascia’s, side skirts and general aero. We give Nissan a huge Bravo! for the design of the Z Proto. More pictures in the gallery below!
Performance
Yes, that is Rob Fuller taking a peek under the Z Proto. No, we can’t tell you what the chassis looks like or what is even under the hood. Nissan has confirmed that the new Z will use a twin-turbocharged V6 engine. That alone makes us sing Hallelujah, for boost is always better! Internet sleuths hint that the VR30DDTT engine found in the Infiniti Q50 and Q60 would be the simple choice for Nissan. Rated at 300 or 400hp in those cars, we have dyno-tuned many with simple bolt-ons yielding 100hp+ over stock quite easily.
Rob and I were given permission to row through the gears. Yes the Z Proto has a real 6-speed manual transmission and the New Z will also offer one. No word on those sexy brakes and tire letters, but with Twin-turbos and a manual transmission sign us up!
Interior
Both Rob and I were impressed and satisfied with the exterior of the Z Proto, and the interior also did not disappoint. Remember, this is a no-frills sportscar, and it shows in the material choices, switchgear and overall design theme.
That being said, there is a great mix of digital and analog elements on the dash. We loved the large digital instrument cluster, central touchscreen and nostalgic triple gauge pods. Thanks to Jonathan for powering up the car so we could see all the digital features, a real treat not given to most journalists! He was eager to point out a few Nissan-placed Easter Eggs too…
Easter Eggs
Jonathan drew our attention to a few not-so-easy to catch details like the “Z” logo on headlights and “since 1969” text on hatch window. Dan Passe chimed in with the “Z” cut lines at the union of the A pillar, hood and leading edge of door (more of an intentional design detail). Then there’s the fairly gratuitous nods to the 370z, and 1969 240z on the dash display and center stack. Note radio station with song title and time 🙂
The Z Proto is a home run. This is a sports car Nissan should be proud of. Well done! We can’t wait to get the New Z at the shop. For an automaker to build something this special is risky but also speaks volumes as to how they value our input. Enthusiast’s input! It’s a bold move especially in this climate where sport cars are relying on electric powerplants and automatic transmissions. “The Z Proto represents a commitment to our fans, to our heritage, and staying true to Nissan’s DNA.” We couldn’t agree more after seeing it in person. Long Live The Z!
We couldn’t leave you with just pictures so here is an extended video of our personal visit to Nissan HQ to see the Z Proto. We were fortunate to not only see it, but take it for a spin around the campus and really absorb all of the design details…enjoy!
Our visit with Nissan only begun with the Z Proto. Before heading to our next destination we stopped by legendary Z shop Crawford Z Car Service in downtown Nashville. Owner Doug Stewart is an accomplished Z-car racer and you night remember the creator of the Crawford intake plenum for Nissan’s 350z VQ engine.
Nissan Heritage Collection
A visit to the Nissan Heritage collection was next on our tour. Nissan’s production plants in Smyrna and Dechard and HQ in Franklin, TN are pretty well-known but the Heritage Collection is hidden inside the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville. The museum itself is open to the general public and it’s a must see:
Undeground and beyond closed doors, we entered paradise. Both Jonathan and Dan have dedicated their time-on a volunteer basis to preserve, maintain and promote this vintage Nissan/Datsun collection. Without them it wouldn’t survive, and in part they rely on enthusiasts (like Randy Jaffe) to help carry the torch. These are cars that would have been scrapped by Nissan or left outside to rust. Rob and I were literally in heaven. So much history in one place with wicked metal at every turn. (Below) The actual Black Gold TV commercial 280ZX and 2021 TV commercial Z31 that actress Brie Larson was in:
Everywhere we looked there were”JOB #1″ vehicles, race cars, movie/commercial cars and even concept cars…we could have spent the night with the collection. What sets this collection apart from others is that all cars are accessible and drivable (or meant to be driven). No roped-off cars or locked doors. I even got to sit in the race car!
Forgotten concept cars. Some were old. Some were shockingly recent(See that Q50 Eau Rouge?!)
This 1200 truck needed some attention and this was recently shipped from the Heritage Collection to ZCG for some love!
There were way too many cool cars to mention so please check out the photo gallery and video below!
Here is a video of our visit to the Nissan Heritage Collection, enjoy!
Datsun Roadsters
The Datsun Sports (310/311) or affectionately known as “Datsun Roadsters” are some of our favorite models. We were both surprised and happy to find that Jonathan and Dan had recently rescued a few from a barn. All of the cars they recovered were interestingly “2000” models from 1968 to 1980. Thanks to their efforts these gems will be restored and driven!
Thank You
We thank Nissan, Dan Passe and Jonathan Buhler for the opportunity to visit. The Z Proto is a winner and we were throughly impressed with the Heritage Collection and your efforts to keep it alive. Looking forward to working with you in the future, LONG LIVE THE Z!
Z Car Garage wishes you a Happy 5/10 Day and Happy Mother’s Day! We enjoyed driving our 1971 Datsun 510s on a beautiful day in San Jose. Turbo6, our 80’s revival, is back on the road and running great with its turbocharged 6-cylinder L-series. Look for a full report soon:
Rob was in the SR20DET-powered 510:
Enjoy The Boost in this video of the 510s in action. You can also see more on our Instagram story. We hope you can Do It In A Datsun today too!
