The third annual Laps for Laguna vintage racing event was held on May 31-June 2. This event is created by the Laguna Seca Raceway Foundation and Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) to raise money for charity. Z Car Garage had a blast racing and supporting Datsun 510 race cars running in B-Sedan Group 3. It was a great weekend filled with competition, camaraderie and plenty of Alfas, BMWs and Datsuns sharing the track. Enjoy our report!

 

Z Car Garage Racers

We raced and provided trackside support for 9 cars including B-Sedan Datsun 510s and Kenny’s 997 GT3 Cup car:

#7 Kelvin Tse

 

#64 Kenny Tse

 

Kenny’s Ex-Ted Gruner B-Sedan Datsun 510 featuring our Z Car Garage CV Axles :

  

#25 Jeff Rothman

Gabe’s father Jeff is racing his B-Sedan Datsun 510:

 

#98 Kelly M

 

#68 and #30 Noah’s 510 and BMW 2002

 

#7 Rob Fuller

ZCG owner Rob Fuller, Bay Area Datsun Dealers tribute car (driven by Tom Dockery, see below)

 

Tom shares his experience racing in Rob’s Datsun 510:

“Rob’s generous offer to run his Bay Area Datsun 510 at Laps for Laguna was incredible. It gave me a chance to get back on track after over a year of downtime, with people I know and trust. It also allowed me to experience racing a highly developed B-Sedan. From the first lap in Rob’s car, I fell in love with how it handled the course. With each session, I reduced my lap times until I was consistently running laps in race traffic that were better than my previous personal record. Despite some missed shifts with the Dog Box, I managed to qualify and finish in the top half of the field. I’m looking forward to this fall and the Velocity Invitational, where I’ll be back in the Balzer 510, hopefully set up as well as Rob’s Bay Area Datsun 510.”

Enjoy this in-car video of Tom in Group 3 with paddock footage as well:

The Z Car Garage Nissan Z as Pace Car

Z Car Garage was happy to have our 2023 Nissan Z as Official Pace Car at Laps For Laguna. You might notice the new Z’s livery, it’s a nod to our #49 Joel Anderson IMSA GTU Datsun 240Z, and we will dedicate a separate blog post to it:

 

Glenn’s FAR Performance Datsun 240Z

Race car driver, restorer and Datsun Historian Glenn Chiou raced his FAR Performance 240Z. This Z has a very rich racing history, driven in the 70’s by Loren St. Lawrence in VIPS Restaurant livery. It was fun to watch him race this beautifully-restored 240Z, going as fast as he’s ever been too, earning a class win!

 

Enjoy this in-car video of Glenn in the BADD Z:

Paddock Highlights

Big thanks to Meghan and Ning for taking photos and video around the paddock. Enjoy this VIDEO highlighting paddock and race action

 

A weekend of great racing and good times

 

There was such a great vibe in our pit and it was an absolute pleasure seeing our clients all from different walks of life enjoying the company. Amazing weekend. Special shoutout to ZCG crew for keeping all of the cars running so we can race! More photos in the gallery below.

 

Join us for the 2024 Vintage Racing Season!

 

Z Car Garage is amped for more racing this year. Please check the CSRG website and zcarblog.com for upcoming race events. Do not miss the next event: CSRG’s Charity Challenge at Sonoma September 13-15. We had a blast at last year’s Laps for Laguna, see our race report HERE.

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Last Saturday Z Car Garage gathered a group of vintage cars to attend Cars and Coffee at SIM Racers Group in San Jose. We had a great time and thank everyone for hanging out with us. Thanks to Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) for hosting! Enjoy the photos below.

 

We caravanned from Z Car Garage around 8:15am with close to 25 cars!

   

Arriving at Sim Racers Group with 40 cars and good times. We enjoyed chatting with everyone and testing our skills on the simulators.

 

Here are a few Z Car Garage clients in attendance:

Larry Chen’s SR20DET-powered 1970 Datsun 240Z is back at Z Car Garage. He dropped it off from SoCal for a few more wishlist items. Stay tuned for updates on this Series 1 S30 featuring Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (Stoptech), ZCG CV Axles, KW suspension and dyno-tuned SR20DET.

 

Matt’s KA24DE-T Datsun 510

Lora B’s R35 GT-R

 

Kurt’s iconic VG30ET-powered 510, “The Strutless Wonder”

 

Lou’s Series 1 1970 Datsun 240Z

 

Kurt’s 1973 Kenmeri Skyline

 

Linda’s 2023 Proto-Spec Z

 

Armon’s 1973 Datsun 240Z

Craig’s 2004 Nissan 350Z

 

Alex’s Sunny Truck

 

Geoff’s 1966 Cortina and Eric’s 1964 Mercury Comet

 

Nick’s Samurai and Josh’s VW Bug:

 

Join us on Saturday, February 24 for Cars and Coffee at SIM Racers Group in San Jose. Z Car Garage would like to gather a group of vintage cars to attend. Bring out your Datsun, BMW, Alfa or any old-school marque. Stay tuned for caravan details on zcarblog.com Thanks to Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) for hosting!

 

 

 

 

Z Car Garage specializes in dyno tuning of vintage cars and this includes non-Nissan/Datsun classics. From establishing a baseline on street cars to preparing race cars for high-profile events we love helping each client achieve the best performance possible. Geoff W’s 1972 BMW 2002 came to Z Car Garage for a dyno tuning session with fantastic results.

 

Geoff is a friend of the shop with a great story behind his love for all things engineering and automotive. Let’s hear how he got into cars and acquired the BMW 2002…

Generations of Car Enthusiasts

 

“My father owned Formula Fords growing up and has owned a Lotus Elan since 1977; we spent a lot of time in the garage together in my formative years. I was exposed at a young age to AutoX and vintage racing I distinctly remember falling in love with Lotus Sevens and B-sedan cars. When I was of driving age, I purchased a 1985 Mk1 Toyota Mr2 (Chassis code AW11) and began to do a lot of track days and AutoX. This eventually led to another 4age powered car: The Toyota Corolla GTS (Chassis code AE86). I was going to college in southern California at the time and was involved with Club4ag.com which started holding drift day events. This was before professional organizations such as Formula D came about.”

 

“As a poor college kid, I started working drift events and track days in exchange for track time. I eventually became an instructor and won one of the earliest US drifting competitions in my largely-stock, daily-driver Corolla. After school, I bought a Caterham 7 Super Sprint, and while it was fun, it was never quite the original Lotus Seven I pined for. I eventually sold all of my “fun cars” to fund a house purchase in San Jose. After a few years, I finally acquired my Lotus Seven in 2013 as a tired vintage race car from Texas. I built a road-going motor and installed a synchromesh transmission for the car and finally got it running a year later.”

 

“I’ve been enjoying driving and developing it in the years since. Alvin from Z Car Garage and I met a few years after this car was finished and we became fast friends. Some of my best memories with this car have been spent driving in the mountains surrounding San Jose with Alvin. I’ve done a few vintage car rallies and been on track with it, but I eventually would like to do some vintage racing.” (See Geoff’s Lotus 7 in this excellent Petrolicious feature HERE)

 

The Inka Orange 1972 BMW 2002

“In 2018, I sought out a B-sedan road car to take on vintage car rallies and have something fun to drive in inclement weather. Alfa GTV’s, Datsun 510’s were out of my price range and I couldn’t find any Mk1 Ford Escorts/Cortinas for sale. I began looking at BMW 2002’s; I especially liked them in bright/interesting colors popular in the early 70’s.”

“When I bought this car, the previous owner didn’t know much about the engine. It had a pair of Weber 40dcoe’s, ran well, and seemed to feel like other stock bmw 2002s I had driven. I haven’t made many changes to the car, but did locate and install a set of rare and period correct Campagnolo wheels. Earlier this year, I found and purchased a Mk1 Cortina and I was going to sell the BMW 2002 because it wasn’t as exciting to drive.”

 

Dyno Tuning

 

The 2002 baselined at 99hp/114tq and after tuning put down 129hp/127tq at the wheels! Let’s hear from Rob…

ROB: “Being around so many B-Sedan race cars I wanted to see what all the hype was surrounding the BMW 2002. I started talking with Geoff about trading one of my S30 Z cars for his BMW. He kindly lent it to me, and I drove it to the Monterey Historics to root on our friend Jim Huff in his Neu Klasse BMW. First impressions were that it was anemic and the dyno confirmed this. Full-throttle was compromised so it needed throttle-linkage adjustment plus timing and jetting. It really came alive making great power…“

 

Enjoy the video below to see Geoff’s BMW on the dyno, test driving with Rob and enjoying a few road rallies:

Hold on to that 2002!

 

Rob and Geoff recall how they felt about the 2002 post dyno tuning and test driving:

ROB: “With +30hp/13tq this BMW was born again, and man did I like the German 510. Love the visibility, greenhouse, seats, thud of the door closing. Despite being a die-hard Datsun 510 guy I really dug the 2002. Enjoyed it so much that I thought maybe this was going to be my first German car. I drove it, Meghan drove it, and just as I was getting excited, (un)fortunately Geoff finally drove it…our improvements to the car convinced him to keep the 2002.”

 

GEOFF: “I hadn’t even considered having it tuned, but Rob suggested giving it a try. When I drove the car after Z Car Garage worked their magic, I was absolutely floored. It is a completely different car now, gaining 30 horsepower and this was not the “stock” 2002 I had assumed it to be. I’m absolutely kicking myself I didn’t have it tuned by Rob earlier. Needless to say, I am no longer interested in selling it. I feel like I’m experiencing a whole new car I cannot thank Z Car Garage enough!”

On Datsuns:

 

We introduced Geoff to the magic of the Datsun S30 Z car after joining him on local mountain drives and rallies. He gets it…

GEOFF: “Being around the shop, I have an even stronger strong appreciation for both 510’s and Z cars. I was recently given the opportunity to drive Mrs. Butters and was completely blown away by the Z Car Garage Big Brakes. I have never felt brakes like that on a vintage car; they’re more impressive than most modern cars! The sound of that L-series on triple Mikuni’s is absolutely intoxicating. While I’ve always preferred smaller/lighter 4 cylinder cars, a S30 tuned like Mrs. Butters is definitely on my short-list of next cars to own. It also helps to have a reputable shop so familiar with these cars in the area!”

 

Friendship

ALVIN: “It really is a small word. Geoff and I both work at the same company and didn’t meet until we saw our beloved vintage cars featured in Petrolicious. Since then we’ve enjoyed Bay Area backroads and beyond. Good times from running rallies with Driving While Awesome, to attending race events and weekend blasts. Geoff is truly someone I’d wish I had known earlier in life. Here’s to more memories and drives.”

 

Just a few events we have enjoyed with Geoff over the years, with more photos in the gallery below:

EVENTS: Cars and Coffee with Driving While Awesome!

EVENTS: Super Drive Sunday

EVENTS: DWA Rally From Home South

 

ROB: “Happy to help Geoff sort out his BMW. He’s such a great car enthusiast and friend to the shop, myself and Alvin. Wonderful 2002. B-Sedans are not just Datsun 510s, they are in the form of BMWs, Alfas and other marques!”

Dyno tuning for your vintage car

 

Z Car Garage specializes in dyno tuning vintage/classic street and race cars. Here is just a sample of the variety: (above) Team TRUST Porsche 962 from Canepa, Toyota Celica GTO, DeKon Monza, Shelby Mustang and more. Contact Rob at the shop to schedule your dyno session!

 

 

 

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