WE LOVE RACING!  Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) is hosting the 20th Charity Challenge at Sonoma Raceway, this weekend September 8-10. Z Car Garage is participating and supporting several client’s Datsun 510 race cars running in B-Sedan Group (John Morton Cup). This vintage racing event is totally FREE to spectators so please join us! Bring the family, enjoy cool cars and charity rides around the track.

 

See our 2023 Nissan Z as Pace Car!

 

Z Car Garage is happy to announce our 2023 Nissan Z will be on Pace Car duty at the Charity Challenge. Again, admission is FREE for this event and you will have access to all spectator areas on track, race cars and drivers. Parking is in Lot 2 overlooking the paddock. You can see our report from the 2022 Charity Challenge HERE

Z Car Garage Supports Five Datsun 510s!

 

It is our pleasure to bring more enthusiasts into the world of vintage racing. Our services do include full race support and car-preparation to help make client’s race days seamless and worry-free so they can focus on driving. One of our specialties is dyno tuning. Before a race weekend we confirm that your car is running well and make necessary adjustments while on the chassis dyno:

 

#88 Todd Rueppel

Todd enjoyed his Z Car Garage trackside support experience with us at the Laps For Laguna event!

#7 Kelvin Tse

Kelvin and his brother Kenny are regular ZCG trackside support clients…

  

Gabe’s B-Sedan and his Dad’s B-Sedan:

 

#7 Rob Fuller

ZCG owner Rob Fuller, Bay Area Datsun Dealers tribute car

     

Rob will also be racing the #49 Joel Anderson IMSA GTU Datsun 240Z at Sonoma Raceway.

 

We look forward to seeing you at the races. Check out the race schedule below and a full report coming to zcarblog.com. Do It In A Datsun!

 

 

Join us for the 2023 Vintage Racing Season!

Z Car Garage is amped for more racing this year. Here is list of events we will be attending in 2023, including CSRG and SVRA . Please join us!

March

March  3^rd to the 5^th    SVRA  Thunderhill

March 24 to 26^th          CRSG   Sonoma

April

April 27^th to 30^th           SVRA   Sonoma

May

May 4^th   to 7^th               SVRA   Laguna Seca

June

June  23rd to 25^th           CSRG   Laguna Seca

August

August 12-13                    Monterey Pre-Reunion
August 16-19                    Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion

September

Sept 8^th  to 10^th              CSRG   Sonoma

October

October 13-15                  CSRG Laps For Laguna

November

Nov  3^rd to 5^th                 CSRG   Thunder hill

Nov 10^th to 12^th              Velocity Invitational

 

We are selling our 1971 Datsun 510 Wagon. It features a 2.4-liter KA24DE engine with five-speed manual transmission sourced from a Nissan 240SX. The car is a wonderful driver and recently completed the 300-mile Tokyo Calling Rally in Napa, Ca.

 

It was repainted in its original shade of green with a black vinyl interior and re-chromed bumpers by the previous owner. The interior features BMW E30 front seats, Nardi steering and rare Bluebird center console. New carpet, headliner, door cards were installed and all rubber seals were replaced.

 The KA24DE uses a Megasquirt engine management system. We dyno tuned it, making 148hp/161tq at the wheels.

 

You can see this Datsun 510 Wagon in action with dyno runs, in-car and freeway driving in this video below:

 

For pricing and additional phots/details please visit our FOR SALE page

   

 

We have great news for clients that have purchased our Z Car Garage Big Brakes. Happy to report that the product is now in-house and we will begin fulfilling all backorders in the next coming weeks. We sincerely apologize for the delay in what is quite possibly the world’s longest back order. Thank you all for your patience, believing in us and supporting ZCG.

 

The Last Stop in Braking for your Z

 

Z Car Garage Big Brakes are one of the best systems available for your S30 Z Car with over 200 kits sold worldwide and unanimous positive feedback. See our ZCG Big-Brakes on client cars HERE and enjoy the photos below:

    

The JDM Legends Safari Gold Datsun 240Z features our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes:

 

CJ’s 1971 Datsun 240Z features our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes:

 

Jay’s 1972 Datsun 240Z features our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes:

 

We love to see our clients Enjoying The Ride and there were several at last Sunday’s pre-Monterey Car Week gathering with Built By Legends. The event was held at Range Energy in Mountain View, Ca. Above is Erich’s 1973 Datsun 240Z featuring our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes and dyno tuned Rebello 3L.

 

Kurt’s 1973 Nissan Kenmeri Skyline is fresh from restoration and we will have a full feature on zcarblog.com. It was great to see Rick in his 1965 Nissan Silvia among the Skylines. Thanks to Matt Brown and NorCal Skylines for the photos!

 

Rick’s Nissan Silvia returned to Z Car Garage for a suspension upgrade and sorting. This is not the 90’s Silvia (US-Market Nissan 240sx) we know and love, it is the ultra-rare 1965 Silvia CSP311. Only 554 examples were made from ’65 -’67 and never imported to the US.

 

The Silvia is special for many reasons. This car was built on the Datsun Sports Roadster chassis, meaning it is a body-on-frame platform sharing the same R16 drivetrain as the Datsun 1600 (SP311). All were hand built and right hand drive with a gorgeous interior. Fairlady owners will notice familiar gauges and switchgear–all borrowed from the contemporary Datsun Roadster.

 

A rare specimen indeed, fortunately owner Rick K was able to acquire this Silvia from our friends at JDM Legends and have Z Car Garage maintain it. See our report from Rick’s initial visit (inspection, dyno tune etc,) all on zcarblog.com.

 

Bilstein Suspension

 

Rick visited us earlier this year for installation of upgraded Bilstein shocks on the Silvia. We have had a great experience running these units on my personal SR20-powered roadster and the ZCG 1967 Datsun 2000 Roadster:

 

The Bilsteins are available Datsun Restoration Products. Theses are high-quality, fully rebuildable and most importantly custom-valved for the Datsun Roadster for touring to race applications. Rick’s custom-valved set both front and rear for his Silvia:

 

Installation was a breeze. You’ll notice the supplied lower spring mount. Once installed, these shocks can be removed and replaced through the lower A-arm, no need to disassemble the front suspension to change shocks:

  

The car was fully aligned following the new shocks:

 

We also sorted some minor things for Rick. Our electronics master Joshua Corwin fixed the wiring to enable all exterior lighting to function, and we fixed his license plate bracket:

 

Driving is Believing

 

The Bilstein shocks transformed the ride quality of the Silvia. Much like our experience with these on our personal Datsun Roadsters, the dampening ability of the Bilsteins is superior to off-the-shelf shock absorbers for this chassis. No more “po-going” or high-frequency jarring on the freeway. I had a blast driving this RHD gem on the Tokyo Calling Tokyo Calling Event with Breakfast Club Rally back in March and the difference was night/day. The Bilsteins are that good.

 

Rick was kind enough to let me experience the Silvia with the new shocks on one of my favorite roads here the local foothills. It was so much fun. Now Rick needs some nice sticky, vintage rubber to take full advantage, enjoy!

 

We are so happy to see Rick still Enjoying the Ride. It was a real pleasure to see Rick’s Silvia driven by his son Matthew at the local Morning Motors hosted by DrivingWhileAwesome:

 

The Silvia is in good company with Rick’s family C1 Corvette. He’s enamored with the Silvia and even found a way to get the unobtanium OEM hubcaps reproduced. For now, the Watanabe’s will be used for spirited-drives!

 

Huge thanks to our client Rick K for giving us the opportunity to enjoy this gorgeous (and rare) slice of JDM forbidden fruit. We look forward to seeing you on the road! More photos in the gallery below.

 

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