At Motoring J Style earlier this year we were lucky enough to be pulled aside by a writer (Telly Sahara) and photographer (Akio Hirano) for Vintage Auto magazine published by Lightning.  They were very interested in shooting both the ZCG RB 240z and 510.  We were happy to oblige and a meeting time for the next day was set!

When we met the next morning they began to take shots of the entire shop along with some of the other vintage cars that we store for ourselves and customers.  We then set out on a mission to find a few suitable locations to shoot the two “Go Green” Datsuns.  They wanted to keep to the green theme and luckily I knew where we could find the most well manicured grass this side of a Montecito golf course.  The only thing stopping us from shooting there were three large concrete pylons made to prevent this exact thing.  Lucky for us, Datsuns are extremely skinny vehicles!  Picture SUCCESS!

Next we went to a nearby condominium complex that has a nice round-about.  We were able to jam up traffic for the next few hours while we positioned the cars in every position possible.  The photos that came out of this set look great and were well worth the effort.

After returning to the shop the photographer asked Rob if he could drive the 510.  Wow, he has more courage than I do.  Rob never lets anyone drive his 510 (usually only shop employees), but he felt in his huge Datsun heart that it was the right thing to do.  And it turns out that he owns a high horsepower N/A SR20 510 in Japan that he uses for drifting.  They came back about twenty minutes later with huge smiles on their faces.

Good times were had by all on this day, and it was well worth the trip from Japan.

Sorry but I couldn’t find any links for an offfical site for Vintage Auto.  Your best bet to find this issue is to go to your local Japanese book store.  Happy hunting.

Today’s post concerns another meaningful 280zx restoration that we are undertaking right now.  This car started it’s life as a normal ZX but was put under the knife to receive extensive modifications almost immediately.  It is now a collector’s item and a truly special car to the Z faithful.

This car runs a vintage “blow through” turbocharged and intercooled 3.1L engine that breathes through Mikuni 44mm carburetors.  It is truly a unique setup that allowed Jim Cook to make great power even with the limited technology available at the time.

This car is soon to be under attack from the ZCG assembly crew as we have just received a slew of parts from our powder and ceramic facilities.  Expect to see some posts on this project in the next few weeks as things come together.

There are more pictures and more background info on the 280zx Turbo after the “read more.”  The owner was also gracious enough to gather some information on the car and Jim Cook himself and send it in to us here at zcarblog.com

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Sorry for the late addition of this event but there are still a few of you out there who ask me what ever happened to this post.  Long story short the entire event write-up that I did got erased.  This will be the condensed version of the original.  Enjoy!

The show took place on Oct. 12 and the event was a huge success with all super high quality cars in attendance.  It’s always good to walk into an event that is a few hundred hundred miles from home and to instantly be recognized as the Z Car Garage crew even though we didn’t bring any cars this year!!  Next year we are talking about getting a booth to show off a few of our choice cars so look for some more info on that early next year.

There is a gallery inserted after the “read more” so make sure to check out the rest of the photos.  I tried to delete the copies but I apologize if a few slipped in, maybe just enjoy them twice.

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Everyone has been patiently waiting so here is your payoff!  These photos are here for our viewing pleasure from our good friends at PhotoShootMyCar.com (please visit their site on the right.)  They had two photographers at our 370z event and all of the pictures are top notch.  Thanks again friends.

I’m going to spread all of the photos over a couple of posts to keep everyone coming back for more.  As always, click on the photos to see it larger and there are tons more photos after the “jump.”

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We do quite a few restorations here at Z Car Garage but this one holds a special place in our heart and I would like to share it with all of you.  This 280zx has been a few years in the making and will be coming to a close soon once a couple of the nearly impossible to find parts are sourced.

Most of the parts that we are still searching for have been out of production for a decade, so you can see why this has taken some considerable effort to close out.  Almost all of the interior pieces needed to be repaired and redyed to match the new dash and the newly upholstered seats, but no expense has been spared to get the highest quality items available.  As these parts slowly trickle in from around the country (and world) the car is being re-assembled to better than original condition.

I have over a thousand pictures that have been taken over the course of this project so here are a few of the significant ones that show what lengths we have gone through to make it one of the cleanest restorations around.   It has truly been a labor of love to restore this car and it will be a sad day when it gets delivered to its owners once again.  I hope that they will enjoy it once completed as much as we have while building it for them.

Click on the pictures for the full-size and click the read more for more…

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