The 2020 Rally From Home South was held October 1 and we had a wonderful driving experience. Hosted by Driving While Awesome, the one-day event brought interesting cars and their drivers sharing a common passion for enjoying the best driving roads in Northern California. We participated with the Z Car Garage 1970 Datsun 240z and this is our report from the day filled with open roads, seemingly endless stretches of curvy mountain passes and good company.
The ZCG Datsun 240z
Rob handed me the keys to “Mrs. Butters”, our 1971 Series 1 240z that serves as the shop demo car and I happily obliged to drive. While this S30 deserves its own feature, here are a few details on the build:
Engine: 3.2L L-series with triple Mikuni 44 carbs and ZCG Heat Sheild
Suspension: Full KW coil-over suspension (ZCG-spec)
Brakes: Z Car Garage Big-Brakes
Drivetrain: Nissan CD009a 6-speed, Z Car Garage CV Axles, OS Giken 4.11 LSD
Wheels: 16×7 Panasport with 225/50/16 Toyo Proxes RA1
Interior: Recaro LXF seats
The Z performed admirably without a single problem over the 300+ mile event. This is a testament to thorough rally-prep (thanks ZCG crew) and the wonderfully upgraded suspension/chassis. These modifications offered a great balance of ride compliance and stiffness for the canyons with a seamless transition between rough to smooth surfaces. The ZCG Big-brakes also delivered great feel and zero fade…truly confidence-inspiring. Icing on the cake was the Nissan CD009a 6-speed transmission :
This gearbox completely transforms the driving experience in Butters. Gone are the long throws of the close-ratio ZX 5-speed and any feelings of fragility with high-speed shifting. The 6-speed simply clicks-off shifts with minimal effort and the gear spacing is truly a match made in heaven for the L-Series. More details with full testing (weights/dyno etc.) coming soon. Enjoy this video of Ms. Butters and hear that L-series sing!
Rally Start: San Juan to Coalinga
With the recent fires and COVID changing how we live, the typical 3-day format of previous DWA rallies (CRR Rewind 2019) was changed to a one-day event. I really enjoyed it and though a single day sounded appealing I did miss the extra driving and mingling of former events. This year the rally was dubbed Rally From Home South, as the start was very close to the South Bay Area. I joined fellow enthusiast Geoff W in his 1972 BMW 2002 Monday morning to blast down to the starting point in San Juan Bautista, CA.
The mini-cars and coffee of rally participants was full of wicked metal, both old and new. The DWA organizers encouraged us that this isn’t a race, and to enjoy the roads at our own pace. I can’t emphasize enough how great this group of folks is. A good portion are DWA-veteran rally drivers and the positivity was contagious. We were the only Datsun/Nissan represented!
Geoff and I grabbed our swag bags and rally maps and hopped into our cars heading South through HWY 25. A few brief stops along the way, at Condon Peak (Ron’s S2000) and oil fields in Coalinga:
King City to Fort Ord
The next stages leaving King City were a mix of long sweepers with a few technical sections. Despite the smoky sky and blistering heat we made it to the Green Bridge. Here, Geoff and I took a nice break under some trees. Soon we were joined by Naveed, Brendan, Marcelo and a few others!
Carmel Valley Road to Laguna Seca
This was my favorite stretch of road on the rally. We enjoyed it so much that we turned around and drove it again, while capturing some video of the cars in action. While Geoff and I were putting in work wrestling our vintage cars, Naveed was comfortably living the dream in the Porsche GT3RS from Abrahim of StealthLabs:
It is difficult to describe the driving experience through photos, so please enjoy this video I made!
Geoff and I switched cars for a bit. I was really impressed with the 2002’s handling, it’s a gem. The rare Camapagnolo wheels also look incredible with the sticky CR65 tires. We arrived at the entrance to Laguna Seca and it was another car show representing a great feature of DWA rallies: diversity. So many cool cars from all era’s and marques! This was a fun time chatting with fellow rally’ers
Our final stop was a relaxed gathering at Fort Ord under a filtered sunset. A great way to end a day of driving. More picture in the gallery!
Thank you DWA!
Rally From Home South was a surreal experience. I am still day dreaming about the incredible stretches of roads that we travelled all in one day. For what seems like a brief moment in time we were transported to another world with changing landscapes, smells, sights and sounds. Big thanks to the crew at Driving While Awesome and old/new friends met during the rally. We are definitely signing up for the next event! Enjoy the picture gallery below and LONG LIVE THE Z!
Randy Jaffe is an avid car guy and Datsun enthusiast. Beyond his fanatic attention to detail and love for Nissan racing he’s excessive–in the best way possible and we love him for it. Several years ago we teamed up with Randy to turn his BRE Datsun 240z show car into a competitive vintage road-race car.
He was impressed with our work on the BRE Z and told us about another Z project that he was working on but stalled out in Atlanta. We decided it was time to finish this ultimate track/street car with a healthy dose of his personality. The highlight of this Series 1 240z is a full Rocketbunny body kit with plenty of Z Car Garage touches. Let’s take a closer look at the build:
Origins
The creation of the Rocketbunny Z changed courses many times as the build evolved, as Randy recalls:
“I wanted to build a series 1 Radical fun Street car with a completely different look. We started off thinking we would do conventional flares and conventional displacement for a 240 Z. Then my painter Bryson was doing the bodywork and had just installed a Rocketbunny kit on a 350Z and asked me to take a look at that particular body kit. I knew of the first one completed by Sung Kang and I think it was the second or third kit to come to the country when we ordered it from Japan directly.”
“The paint color which originally was going to be Porsche’s lava orange evolved because of Michael Eberhardt to Porsche‘s late 60s color called Tangerine. Tangerine painted with a white sub-coat pops where Helen Keller could see the color! Since I am color blind, the brighter the color the better I can see it. Bryson welded an amazing full roll cage as I decided to create the car as a street and track beast.”
The body was amazingly painted and caged by Bryson of Classic Livery of Atlanta. They are known for many high-end commissions including several RWB Porsche’s for Akira Nakai. Randy’s transporter trekked from Atlanta to drop off this gorgeous chassis at ZCG and our work began.
Assembly Required: Race Chassis Prep
The chassis was temporarily mounted on rollers while we prepped suspension pieces. Following the “race-car for the street” theme, we re-created the entire front and rear BRE 240z suspension setup. Everything that the #46 race car has is on this street car from DP racing front/rear struts, koni shocks, identical spring rates, sway bar, adjustable end links, plated finish…all of it. More pictures in the gallery below!
Front and rear:
Z Car Garage Big-Brakes
There are two versions of our ZCG Big Brakes and the only three “racing” setups on are on the BRE car, Alex’s Hako and the Rocketbunny Z:
Stay tuned for our latest big-brake upgrade from the minds of ZCG and Stoptech!
Back to the chassis, the entire hydraulic system was installed starting with freshly plated lines.
DP remote reservoir and plated pedal box:
Z Car Garage CV Axles
Z Car Garage is proud to offer a CV axle conversion kit for Datsun S30 and 510 cars. We run these on our race cars and the Rocketbunny Z also got a set.
Helping put the power down effectively is an OS Giken limited-slip R180 diff properly set up in-house by Joshua Corwin.
Wheels Make The Car
The biggest hurdle on this car was wheel choice. Wheels can make or break the car and they had to befit the “KAMIKAZ” nickname. There was no way we would have a car with massive flares and not use every single square inch of real estate available to fill with wheel and tire.
We sourced some Panasport C8 centers and began a custom build with MemoryFab who was instrumental in helping us with fitment/barrel sizing. Up front are 17×10 with a 275/35/17 tire and 17×12 rear with 335/35/17 tire (NT-01R). At the time there were no other RB cars running a 335 in back! .
We spent many hours making the kit fit around these wheels/tires so there was no rubbing:
Everyone was pleased with wheel choice for KAMIKAZ, especially Randy:
“I had already ordered and received a set of Watanabe wheels from Japan however they would not work with the rocket bunny kit so when I sent the car to Rob Fuller at Z car garage he did his magic and created a set of custom wheels using a set of Panasport racing C8 NOS wheels. 10 inch wheels on the front 12 inch wheels on the back by 17s gives the car and unreal stance.”
Race Engine
We had Rebello build a nasty 3.2L for the Z running triple-Mikuni’s, 12:5:1 compression (110 leaded fuel) backed by a 280zx 5-speed. Randy gave us a blank canvas to assemble the entire car but ZCG touches really shine in the engine bay.
“I basically wanted my 46Z race car for the street and asked Rob Fuller to further tap into his magic box so we built a 3.2 race motor full race suspension and the whole 9 yards! Rob and his guys built an amazing car using special finishes on some of the metal work under the hood and the car is just insane to drive.”
Here are a few pictures of the assembly with many more in the gallery. Aluminum flywheel with twin-plate setup and comp oil pan just like BRE car:
Triple Mikuni induction:
Engine going in and detail work beginning. We re-created the cooling system from the BRE car and ran all of the chassis wiring.
The catch can, radiator and Datsun roadster overflow are all period parts that BRE used and duplicated for the Rocketbunny:
Interior
With drivetrain and chassis sorted we moved to the interior. Continuing the race car theme is a stripped (but pretty) body-color interior with that beautiful roll cage from Bryson.
The dash was covered in Alcantara. We installed and wired it up with period gauges. All switch gear similar to the BRE car:
A few more detail shots:
A Braille battery from our friend Gary Savage sits behind the passenger seat:
Sparco Pro 2000 seats:
Chassis wiring for Euro-spec lights:
ZCG door seal upgrade with sound deadening panels. The Z was nearing completion.
Enter the JGRBOMB
This was our quickest build to date so we could make a debut at the 2018 Japanese Classic Car Show in Long Beach, CA. The night before our roadtrip down to SoCal we applied a Jagermeister livery to the car. Randy’s inspiration came from his obsession with Porsche, and the Max Moritz Racing Porsche 934:
“I love race liveries and told the guys at the car garage I wanted to do the Jagermeister racing package on this car and they were not really hip to it but Bryson and I discussed it several times and we both thought it would take the car to the next level. However I stuck with my gut and flew out to San Jose with the livery kit a few days before JCCS and after the first hood decal Rob and his guys were scratching their head thinking hmmm – This may not be a bad idea LOL.”
Rob and I finished applying the decals late in the night before going to Long Beach and we received a lot of positive feedback at that show and then the car came back to ZCon in Atlanta and won a Gold Cup award. The car was also shown at SEMA in 2018 where again the car received an immense amount of positive feedback.”
Indeed, the livery on the Rocketbunny (KAMIKAZ) Z looked fantastic and Randy eventually affixed the JGRBOMB license plate to match. We are happy to report that while at JCCS Randy’s Z won 1st place, Best 240z in a class filled with incredible Z cars!
It was also well-received at Z Con and the SEMA show (thanks to Gary and Braille!). That’s BRE front-man Peter Brock and the designer of the Rocketbunny body kit, Kei Miura both signing the Z:
That BRE Exhaust
We wanted to do a BRE exhaust so we used the Fujitsubo headers and a straight twin-exit with megaphones exactly like the BRE original set up, Randy notes the white color:
“Of course BRE had theirs painted yellow from day one and still are but I wanted to do the rocket bunny exhaust megaphones in white to play off the livery. Many vintage race cars have white headers and exhaust so it made sense to me. So the audio level is the same as the 46Z and will wake up the dead.”
How does it sound? Check out this short video with a dyno run, enjoy!
Details
It would take multiple blog posts to cover all the special details throughout this build. Some highlights include fully polishing all trim pieces like quarters, drip rails, etc. Re-keying locks. Even the mirror was done to Randy’s liking.
Things like the differential temperature gauge behind the old gas fill door have a purpose and pay homage to the Datsun vintage race cars. Contrastingly, there are small modern updates like vintage H4 headlights retrofitted with HID units.
We asked Randy what’s it like to drive:
“To me there’s no difference in driving this and the 46Z it’s almost the same build except more rubber on this one!”
To us that is a great compliment because we set out to finish Randy’s vision of the ultimate street/track BRE-flavored Z.
“I find myself several nights a week just walking around the car in my shop and admiring the build that Rob, Josh and the crew at Z Car Garage created.”
We thank Randy for letting us be creative on this Z and it’s been rewarding to see his taste reflected in other builds. This was a fun project and we enjoyed every moment of it. Browse the extensive photo gallery and LONG LIVE THE Z!
Yesterday we attended the DrivingWhileAwesome (DWA) Cars & Coffee event in Santa Cruz, CA. The event impressed us again with a fun vibe and superb variety of cars. Before the 9am meeting our group of enthusiasts enjoyed a brisk driving session en route to Santa Cruz. I was lucky to drive the ZCG shop car, a 1970 Datsun 240z. We started at the junction of HWY 92 and Skyline with a nice gathering:
Leading the pack was Naveed in his Hot Rod Porsche 912. You can follow the build of this 911 6-cylinder powered rocket over on Speedhunters.
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 customer!
Jeremy’s BMW 5-series Touring with a GM LS3 E-rod crate engine:
Matt’s G-body 911 with 17″ Fuchs and center exit exhaust…my newest P-car crush?
Andrei’s E36 M3
One of the many perks of DWA Morning Motors is its location surrounded by the best driving roads. Leaving the 92/35 junction we headed towards Alice’s Restaurant and HWY 84. Down to Stage through Cloverdale and finally Gazos Creek carrying us to HWY1 along the coastline to our destination. We arrived at 9am on the dot, thanks Naveed!
Mandatory Nissan/Datsun
I was happy to see a few more Nissans and Datsuns at MorningMotors. 260z!
There were a three Datsun 510s! Mark’s has been at the shop so stay tuned for a full report:
Dustin Frisk’s KA24-powered 510 on Longchamp XR-4 wheels:
A nearly-stock appearing 4-door 510:
Another ZCG customer, Eric’s FX sporting suspension and R35 GT-R wheels. Full report soon!
Two 300zx (Z32) NAs and G37 Sedan:
R32 Skyline 4-door, 350z, R35 and Infiniti Q45:
In Search of J-Tin
Morning Motors did not disappoint if you are Japanese Classic fans. Looking splendid were these white, boosted 80’s Hero’s: a DSM Conquest and Isuzu Impulse with snazzy interiors!
NA Miatas!
Turbo B-series DC2 Integra and a pair of EM1 Civic Si’s!
Honda S600 with a Motocompo!
Mazda FC RX-7 Turbo sitting on rad Panasport G7 wheels:
RHD, turbo diesel Land Cruiser!
So much variety! Enjoy this short video:
Euro Classics
Gen’s 911 Turbo S2 (964)
Outlaw 356 and lots of BMW 2002s:
Retro Sporting’s Mk2 Escort with tons of fab work. They are hosting a vintage car-only track day April 10th, check it out HERE
British
American Muscle
From 60’s to 80’s
This G-body Monte Carlo SS was badass!
Vette’s:
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!
Filed under: 240z,Events
by Alvin G @ 6:51 pm on January 8, 2020
Last Sunday we attended the DrivingWhileAwesome (DWA) Cars & Coffee event in Santa Cruz, CA. Our group of friends left from San Jose and headed up HWY 17 on a chilly morning with myself, Rob and Meghan in our Datsun Roadsters, Geoff in his BMW 2002 and Ty in the 991 Porsche:
We were stoked to see Rob’s Datsun 2000 on the road with refreshed Mikuni-Solex carbs and it sounded wonderful. Full report soon!
In Search of J-Tin
The venue has moved since we last caught the DWA gathering in Davenport. Sunday’s event was held at the new location across from the Old Wrigley Building in Santa Cruz. By 9am the parking lot filled rapidly with a great diversity in marque and era.
Although attendance was mostly Euro/Italian, many Japanese gems showed up. Let’s start with the Nissan/Datsun showing. Ray’s Hakosuka Skyline was a pleasant surprise.
The last time we saw Ray was at the Golden Week Kyusha Festival where I learned that this Hako was from our friends at JDM Legends! We look forward to seeing Ray for some upgrades on this already stunning Skyline.
VQ-powered S30, R32 Skyline, S14 240sx and Infiniti Q45:
More J-tin goodness! Lloyd’s Corolla was a crowd favorite (mine as well) sporting a 4AGE fed by ITBs, Levin front end and perfect Volk TE37s. This AE86 coupe complements his F20C powered AE86 Hatch.
Making our Datsun Roadsters look big was this Honda TN7 “Kei” pickup:
Euro Classics
Yearning for Porsche’s? Or something a bit less “mainstream”? DWA CnC did not disappoint.
Two Panteras:
Geoff’s 2002 and an E28 M5:
Pretty Alfas:
VWs: Scirocco and a LSx-swapped Caddy!
Austin Healey:
Porsche Galore: 914s, 944s, swb 911s, 991s
American classics as well! Here is a Plymouth Belvedere and International Harvester Travelall:
DWA CnC was 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!
The fifth annual HSR Classic 24hr race at Daytona International Speedway was held November 13-17. Racing legend John Morton and co-driver Rob Fuller piloted the #46 BRE Datsun 240z owned by team manager Randy Jaffe.
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Enjoy our report from the event with pictures, video and commentary from Rob and Randy!
Hallowed Ground: #46 Debuts at Daytona Speedway
When the BRE 240z was not accepted into the 2019 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion team owner Randy Jaffe was anxious to find a Fall event. Thanks to Michael Eberhardt of Vintage Racing Co. we were able to run the Classic 24 and share a garage with him at Daytona. It was an amazing feeling sharing the same hallowed grounds where all the pros raced for years.
Rob:“This is a relatively new event and HSR’s efforts to make it larger were clear: the Classic 24 had people from all over the world (1/3 from Europe), and famous drivers and cars everywhere: Gunnar Jeannette, Derek/Justin bell, Jochen Maas, Daytona prototypes, LMP cars, vintage IMSA cars, 935s and big-boy hardware.”
Paddock pictures from top left to bottom right: AC/DC lead singer Brian Johnson with Rob Fuller, Gunnar Racing Team, VM columnist Jochen Maas and a 1955 300SL, 1985 Porsche 962 HR1 piloted by team of Derek Bell, Justin Bell, Rodrigo Sales, and Gunnar Jeannette.
Enjoy this video of the sights and sounds at Daytona:
Racing at Daytona
The Classic 24 race features six race groups with 4 (1hr) sessions and cumulative time deciding the winner. Each session has a 3-minute pitstop with mandatory driver exit during fueling. There were many challenges facing the ZCG team as we prepped the BRE 240Z for big banking of Daytona:
Rob:“Josh Corwin prepped gear ratios for the diff and we went there armed for any scenario. At 3.56 miles, Daytona is much longer than our West Coast tracks so we built a 3.54 and 3.36. After one practice session we realized the 3.36 was needed.”
It was an incredible sight to see the #46Z out on the high banking with serious race cars like the Smith Motorworks 1980 Porsche 935 K3:
To aid driving during night sessions the Z was fitted with LED lamps:
Despite heavy rain the team carried on, making changes to the car and improving with each session.
Rob: “There were 12 cars in our group with a bunch of 911s and 914s. The Z worked flawlessly. We made a last minute carb change, sent pics of the spark plugs to Dave Rebello, and we were pumped for it. The sheer size of the stands and banking was overwhelming but we welcomed the challenge!”
Randy:“As you drive into the infield at Daytona and look at that 31% banking it’s super intimidating and as Rob stated you cannot look straight out of the car as it’s always bending left and he has never experienced that before. Rob did an amazing job of adapting to not only the car but to the track within 2 to 3 laps as he had cut down six seconds plus. John Morton has not run Daytona in over 20 years and he got right in the car and turned a great time which is what professional race drivers do! At 77 years old it’s just amazing how he is so calm and so smooth around these tracks!”
Remember those those mandatory pitstops? Thanks to the ZCG team (Josh/Keith) all stops were nailed and we actually had to wait because we were under time. We also had help from Randy’s friend Barney to help with fueling, and Chris Karl from SCCA. A rally of people excited to see the Z at Daytona all pitched in.
The bad weather and lack of track experience didn’t hold John or Rob back. We started 10th in class in the 1st session and by the end of the 1st leg we were in 3rd place.
From 10th to 3rd in one session is impressive with John and Rob turning near-identical lap times. Rob was ecstatic not only about the Z’s performance, but also being able to co-drive with his hero:
Rob: “Ben from Retrosport with Alan Terpins’ 1979 Porsche 935 MOMO car kicked ass and won their class. They were clocked on the front straight under braking at 188mph. The BRE Z did 156mph top speed and our lap times (Morton and Fuller) were within a .1 of each other. I can’t describe the feeling of going from total fanboy to being a co-driver with John Morton. All of this comes from Randy Jaffe’s generosity, drive/passion to celebrate this car and era. These heroes that were making history and didn’t even know it 50years later. All while a new crop of people that love and appreciate this car. Watching people from all over the world come over to find John Morton to have him sign something, shake his hand, tell him a Datsun story. It’s surreal.”
Unfortunately our hopes of a first or second place finish in class were cut short at the second session. John Morton got an epic start and as they all went into turn 1 on the first lap (at night) a Lola T 70 lost its grip, then a Chevron panicked and cut hard right in front of John. There was nothing he could do and the car was so low that it flipped us up in the air and onto the roof:
John Morton was able to exit the Z safely, without any injuries. The Z was towed in, covered and our race ended. We all had hashbrowns and coffee late night at Waffle House. The next morning Josh and Rob set the tow on the front of the car, took plugs out and turned it over. We actually got to drive it around paddock Sunday morning, knowing we would be back again to take a run at the high banks of Daytona.
Randy: “Most historic race cars have been wrecked so many times and put back together and we will do the same after this Daytona accident. Just a slight bump in the road but we will come back stronger as we have learned and we will continue to write more current history with John at the wheel. We can’t wait until Daytona next year where Rob and John can finish the 24 hour that we started this year.”
Here is a video with in-car footage of both John Morton and Rob Fuller. Enjoy the triple-Mikuni carb’d music and wild banking of Daytona! At the end is multiple-angle footage of the crash:
The BRE 240Z will be rebuilt at Z Car Garage
We welcomed back the #46Z to ZCG for a rebuild after damages from the Daytona crash. Stay tuned for progress updates:
Randy: “The car is being shipped to Z car garage on December 13th for repairs and to prep the car for the Walter Mitty races in Atlanta in April. The most amazing part of the fun we’ve had with this car over the past three years is the excitement that Peter Brock and John Morton have shared with all of us to turn back the Hands of time! I think because of social media John Morton may actually be more famous now than he was back in the day and he often thanks me for the efforts to make his accomplishments recognized over and over which he certainly deserves! What 77-year-old race car driver do you know still flies airplanes and rides dirt bikes, jeeps and works out!! Of course none of this would happen without Rob Fuller and Josh Corwin they have been the glue behind us entire program and I would’ve never done any of this without them. Rob takes control of many situations that could be stressful and makes things easier for me!”
At 77 years of age John Morton is still formidable behind the wheel!
Randy was and continues to be supremely enthusiastic about the Z, John Morton and BRE. His words from Daytona:
“Per usual our pit area always had fans coming up and wanted to know where John was to talk to him and get an autograph as he had raced with many of these legends for the past five decades! I really love the story about Peter Brock and the BRE team and what John accomplished in a short period of time and still lives in high racing lore! Every piece of history from this time s fun for me to gather and collect as all of it is a part of the story!”
Randy and the BRE 240Z Build
While many have seen the BRE 240z at racing events and shows, there is a great story behind this car as told by owner Randy Jaffe:
“I met John somewhere around 2012 and told him I was going to build a tribute to his championship 240 Z car and I’m sure he’s heard that hundreds of times and he was kind of bored with the conversation. Then I started sending him and Peter Brock emails to build it correctly then after I spent several years at an attempt to do a tribute I was with both of them one night and asked about the real story on the remains of the original car. Both of them looked at each other and back at me and I was like – what was that look for? They went on to tell me that the story I had heard for years about the car being totally destroyed and no longer around was not true. Dan Parkinson who lived about a hour and a half north of Los Angeles had the remains of the car that he had re-bodied after a 1977 ball joint failure at phoenix motor Speedway. Casey Mollett – another Datsun racer back in the day was a few hundred yards behind Dan Parkinson when he hit that wall and he was part of the teardown and reassembly to the 1977 to 80 Z that Nissan gave Dan to rebuild a car. They were going to repair the original 46Z which now wore the number five livery of Dan Parkinson but the painter said it would take a month and a half to two months and they had to race in a few weeks so they use the 1977 280 Z that Nissan gave Dan.”
“The long and short of it is that they raced the 1977 shell for a few years and retired the car and racing in 1979 and all of those parts just sat there until 2016. Dan and I have had conversations for over a year and many many people were trying to buy these parts because they knew what they were but for some reason he felt comfortable and asked me one day do I really want all the stuff and of course I said yes. John Morton actually said since he owned the original chassis plate which he had taken off the car when he installed the remote Traco oil filter back in 1970 he kept that Vin plate in his toolbox until he gave it to me at the Petersen Museum in 2016. I had already completed my car as a tribute to the BRE team and John Morton when Dan sold me all of the surviving pieces. I then ripped the entire car apart and installing every little piece I could that had integrity and that’s when Rob Fuller stepped in to finish the car build like it was back in the day.”
Pictures from the race prep of Randy’s Z at Z Car Garage:
A sampling of the original parts is shown below including the exhaust header with megaphones, SW gauges, and BRE remote oil filter/cooler. Original BRE heat shield and fuel block pictured above. All assembled by the crew at ZCG prior to testing:
Randy’s fanatic attention to detail and our team’s prep culminated in John Morton enjoying the Z at several race events:
“So many of the remaining pieces along with the 1971 championship motor is on display at my shop. After going to a few shows with John Morton in the car I told him I wanted to race it and he kind of smirked and said it’s a show car not a race car and my reply was we’re gonna race it will you drive it and he Sylvia was nonchalant and said yeah maybe… when we signed up and got into the first Rolex reunion in 2017 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion.”
“John wasn’t really excited about racing the car Rob and I could see that even when he got belted in the car. When he came back after 6 to 8 laps a different man had returned he immediately walked over to Sylvia and said what are my times – He knew he was turning really fast laps and was getting really fired up! He told Brock down at the Carmel car show that the show car was truly a fast racecar! That weekend he terrorized all kinds of Porsches including 935s and was running up front in the top 10 out of a group of 40 to 50 cars. This became really fun so we’ve done it now at Road Atlanta Laguna Seca and now Daytona!”
Big thanks to Randy Jaffe, Sylvia and John Morton, the ZCG team Josh and Keith Corwin, Meghan Fuller, Michael Eberhardt and Vintage Racing Company and HSR this was a memorable event we can’t wait to come back to next year. More pictures in the gallery below:
