Are you thinking about going vintage racing? A Datsun 510 might be out of reach so we suggest the “German 510”,  BMW’s 2002. This 1968 BMW 2002 race car is non-historic but very competitive. It is currently owned/raced by one of our clients that has several 510s and decided to find a new home. This car offers a great opportunity to get into entry level B-Sedan racing, with 25 to 35 cars in the field in our California-based race group.

   

The car has been prepared and maintained by Z Car Garage. We have a refreshed engine. It has an expired fire system but other than that, it’s race ready. Dyno numbers available. If you’re interested in purchasing the car, we have the ability to store it for you and also provide you with Z Car Garage trackside support services. Don’t miss this opportunity to get a BMW race car. More photos can be viewed in our FOR SALE listing.

 

 

Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) hosted the Sears Point Challenge at Sonoma 10/3 and Finale event at Thunderhill 11/1.  Z Car Garage participated  in both events, supporting several client’s Datsun 510 race cars running in B-Sedan Group. Great weekends filled with competition, camaraderie and plenty of Alfas, BMWs and Datsuns sharing the track. Enjoy our race reports with photos and video!

 

Sears Point Challenge 10/3-5

 

ROB: Beautiful weekend at historic Sonoma Raceway (which will always be Sears Point to me). We had a a few bitchin’ 510s including Tom Dockery and Kenny. Super excited to test out the suspension fresh and adjustments on Noah’s Bluebird coupe.

 

Everything seem to be working well with Tom, Kenny everyone up to a really good pace, it was fun.

 

Lots of cool hardware in the paddock:

VIDEO

Turn the volume up and enjoy the sounds and sights from the paddock at Sonoma Raceway!

Vintage Spec Miata

 

ROB: The Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) is excited to welcome Vintage Spec Miata (1990-1997) to all of their events! This is a fun, affordable way to get into vintage racing. Each event we see more really clean VSPs coming out to race. Season high for us in Sonoma, with I believe 10+ cars out there:

 

Speaking of glorious…we would like to introduce you to “Little Butters”, our 1991 Vintage Spec Miata that will be available for rental throughout the vintage race season. Contact Rob at ZCG for details. Since this is a new build for I drove it for the weekend to make sure it was sorted and ready to rock for any client that wants to enjoy it. It has a competitive race engine, Penske shocks which are the current suspension for SCCA Spec-Miatas. Just to pay tribute to how wonderful Mrs. Butters Z (our Series 1 shop 240z) is,  we painted it Safari Gold. It’s nickname is Little Butters,  Josh likes to call it “I can’t believe it’s not Butters” and then we picked the number 23 because we are Nissan dorks.

 

Anyway it was fantastic to have the car out and then honorable mentions are Lora B, she keeps kicking ass in her Spec Miata and Allison as well. Also on Saturday and Sunday we had Ross Lindell in the Randy Pobst National Championship-winning Miata (1992)…pretty cool that Miatas are old enough to have their own vintage class and then also have one of the their own ambassadors:

  

Super excited for the season to play out at Thunderhill. Huge thanks to Josh and Cooper for keeping us safe all weekend , Meghan and Oliver for taking care of the snacks and the tire recycling. I love that event. CSRG is magical. If you haven’t been to one those events you ar emissing out, so come on out! WE’ll be posting out race scehule soon after the holidays.

 

CSRG Finale 11/1

ROB: Every year CSRG ends their season with the Finale at Thunderhill. This event is lightly attended and results in tons of track time. There’s an Enduro on Sunday with with a faux LeMans start… and it is just rad. The Saturday night dinner is a special event and we are seeing more and more people showing up. It’s been two years since I have had my Datsun 510 out and it was a great way to end the season racing it. 

 

Troy Ermish brought his 510 and we had a really nice B-Sedan field with a ton of Dimes out there. Most important 510s to us obviously include Tom Dockery and the return of fire captain Todd R,  Noah, Tom, Alison and Rob was out stable for the weekend:

 

It was just awesome having so much track time. Everybody was kicking ass and taking names, and by Sunday afternoon I think we’d all kind of figured that we’ve had enough track time which is unbelievable for us to say. Once again Josh and Cooper kept us all safe all weekend long and we rocked it. Oliver was on tire recycling duty and Meghan on snacks while enjoyed the small town feel of Willows.

  

We enjoyed Saturday night dinner with CSRG and it was so much fun to see everyone. I hadn’t seen Josh Moriarty in a long time and he was out there kicking ass in his 510. There was a really great group of these ex-GT3 cars (tube frame/ fiberglass bodies).  Jim Froula was in one (240SX) and a kid I run Spec Miata with (Joseph Carl) was out there with his Dad in a super cool vintage 1st-gen GTU RX-7.

 

VIDEO

Turn the volume up and enjoy the sounds and sights from the paddock at Thunderhill!

 

ROB: We had perfect weather and another race reason in the books.  Can’t wait for 2026 we are super excited and will be traveling this year. There will be a big Japanese big-bore/bash with Sovren in the PNW and I’ll be going to the Rose Cup at PIR in my Miata. Get out there and race! If you have any questions/thoughts about racing with us please contact Rob at rob@zcargarge.com

Tom Dockery

 

Tom Dockery continues to enjoy racing in his Ex-Norm Balzer B-Sedan 510. Here is his report from both CSRG events along with some great in-car footage

TOM: The Sears Point Challenge was a fantastic weekend filled with learning and improvement. With Kenny, Noah, and me as students, Rob skillfully coached, challenged, and encouraged each of us to push our limits. As a result, I managed to improve my lap times with each session, achieving a new personal best at Sonoma.

 

The CSRG Finale at Thunderhill was fun, although it had its frustrating moments. We shared track time with the higher horsepower group 8 machines during all 10 sessions. The frustration stemmed from some group 8 drivers opting to start from the back of the field despite their qualification times. As they worked their way through the field, they didn’t always take the easiest path, requiring slower drivers like me to let them pass, which affected my race pace with competitors I hoped to stay with.

VIDEO

Volume up and enjoy. in-car video action from Tom Dockery’s Datsun 510!

 

TOM: There were positive aspects too. I learned the freight train signaling method to coordinate with teammates at the start. Noah and I used this technique to block a NASCAR Cup car that tried to prevent the faster B-Sedans from overtaking in the corners. Josh and Cooper provided excellent support on both weekends. At Thunderhill, Josh performed a fuel pump swap while Cooper replaced a lower radiator hose, ensuring we didn’t miss any sessions.

 

See more photos in the gallery below (Thanks Meghan!) and stay tuned for our 2026 race schedule!
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WE LOVE RACING! Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) is hosting the Sears Point Challenge at Sonoma Raceway, October 3-5. Z Car Garage is participating and supporting several client’s Datsun 510 race cars running in B-Sedan Group. 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. Attention DRIVERS: there is still time to register to race! Sign up HERE.

 

Again, admission is FREE for this event and you will have access to all spectator areas on track, race cars and drivers. You can see our report from the 2024 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…

  

#64 Kenny Tse

  

#6 Noah’s Bluebird Coupe

#72 Tom Dockery

We have helped Tom build and prepare his Ex-Norm Balzer/Koobation 510 for several years. You can view his race report below:

#68 and #30 Noah’s 510 and BMW 2002

#7 Rob Fuller

ZCG owner Rob Fuller, Bay Area Datsun Dealers tribute car

 

Vintage Spec Miata

 

We will also be supporting Vintage Spec Miata!

Join us for the 2025 Vintage Racing Season!

 

The Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) is excited to welcome Vintage Spec Miata (1990-1997) to all of their events! This is a fun, affordable way to get into vintage racing. If you have any questions regarding prep and presentation, reach out to Rob Fuller: rob@zcargarage.com.

Z Car Garage is amped for more racing this year. Please check the CSRG website and zcarblog.com for upcoming race events.

 

 

 

 

 

Last weekend was beautiful and sunny in the Bay Area, perfect for a quick drive in Sora, our 1967 Datsun 2000 roadster. I joined Geoff in his 1963 Lotus Elan and Glenn Chiou in his Honda Civic Type-R (FL5).

 

We met in downtown Saratoga and admired Geoff’s recently acquired 1963 Lotus Elan S1. It’s sporting 26R-spec wider bodywork and interior pieces.

 

The hardtop is the most sharp-looking I’ve seen on a 60’s roadster (this is not a coupe!) and those are real Knock-on wheels. Dyno tuned at Z Car Garage. We’ll take a deep-dive into this English gem in a full report coming to zcarblog.

 

We headed up HWY9  to the Vista Point where the skidpad hosted some great hardware as usual, including these two Porsche (993) 911 Turbos. The Arena Red car had 195k miles and the Polar Silver car sported Advan GT wheels and Andial-built GT2-spec engine.

 

Vanity plate award goes to this BMW 1M:

 

Geoff was happy to see a fellow 7-owner. This one clearly powered by a Hayabusa motorcycle engine:

 

An NC Miata wearing Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R wheels…we thought it looked great!

 

From there we drove down HWY9 to Boulder Creek and headed home via Bear Creek Rd. There was an usual (and welcome) number of Pre-War “Ragtime Racer” cars out and about!

 

 

Enjoy the sights and sound of our 60’s sports cars in this video:

 

At home, Geoff kindly indulged my obligatory driveway photos. My family also witnessed a car that’s actually smaller than the Datsun Roadster!

 

Sora performed admirably, making many people smile this weekend. Enjoy the photo gallery below and Do It In A Datsun!

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On June 20-22, Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) will host the Corkscrew Classic vintage race at Laguna Seca. Z Car Garage will participate and support several client’s Datsun 510 race cars running in B-Sedan Group 3. It will be a great weekend filled with competition, camaraderie and plenty of Alfas, BMWs and Datsuns sharing the track. Remember to bring your family and friends as admission is FREE for spectators!

Hoosier Tire 2.5 Challenge

CSRG will be featuring the Hoosier 2.5 Challenge TA/BS. This is an action-packed race group with B-Sedans battling for points in the series!

 

Race Schedule

Watch these Datsuns Race!

Want a glimpse of what it’s like to see Datsuns racing at Laguna Seca? Check out our 2024 race report with video and photos: HERE, and view a sample of cars expected to race June 20 at the Corkscrew Classic:

Race car driver, restorer and Datsun Historian Glenn Chiou in 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.