On Sunday I attended the Saratoga Classic Car Show in beautiful downtown Saratoga, Ca. Now in its 5th year running, thousands of car lovers flock to this historic strip of Big Basin Way.  Two-hundred cars line the street with music, vendors, shopping and plenty of fun for families. Despite its huge following I had never heard of this show happening in my own backyard until a friend sent me the flyer. I thought it would be cool to represent Japanese classic cars with the Datsun Roadster so I signed up and enjoyed the day with family.

 

I’m a huge fan of muscle cars and Hot Rods so this show was a refreshing break from the J-tin that is close to my heart 🙂 Here are some of my favorites:

From Ford:  “Bullit-esque” Mustang and Pro-Touring Shelby fastback:

 

This Thunderbird had a wicked stance and Halibrand-style wheels:

 

From Chevrolet: Pro-Touring ’57, trackday Camaro, C1 ‘Vette, Yenko tribute and mean Chevelle:

 

The roadster was well-received and I spotted a very clean S30 down the street! Maybe next year we can bring more JDM flair to the show!

 

Speaking of roadsters, there was a large contingent of English droptops including this absolutely bonkers turbocharged Sunbeam Alpine:

 

Sporting some sweet vintage Enkei 92 meshies with sticky Re-11s this DE-prepped beast even had a “TIGR ETR” plate!  Below: very clean MGA, Tiger and E-type:

 

I thought I was out of place with the Datsun and then I saw this beautiful ’68 Audi 100…on bags!

Such pretty lines it reminded me of BMW’s famous E9 chassis. The Rotiform wheels were perfect:

 

I was in Torq-Thrust and vintage wheel heaven. Some of my favorites. I love flat caps on these:

Check out the gallery for more pictures!

…[read more]

Kevin B has been with Z Car Garage for a long time and owns a pristine Cherry Red Pearl Z32TT(to be featured soon). Kevin also owns this surprisingly clean Fox-body Mustang GT and wanted it to be as fast as his Z.

He came to us for a complete Vortech supercharger install to wakeup the venerable 5.0L V8. Here are some of the goodies:

The Vortech kit designed for Fox-body Mustangs has been around for years and still has great fit/finish. Here are some before/after shots:

A closer look at the black finished supercharger and plumbing:

We ran a baseline dyno before the blower install and the mighty 302 put down a very healthy 199hp/264tq at the wheels. Not bad for its at-the-time crank rating of 225hp/275tq.  With the Vortech this ordinary 5.0 becomes a monster with 328hp/361tq to the wheels! Check out the significant gains especially throughout the entire rev range: well over 300lb of tq is available from 2,500 to 5,500 rpm:

So which is faster Kevin, the ‘Stang or the Z? Tune in next time as we feature Kevin’s pretty 300zx and think twice before you roll that “slow 5.0” sitting next to you at the stoplight 🙂

No, this is not a Nissan. It is not even a Z. This is a 2011 Ford Mustang GT, and it’s wild with plenty of horses. How many? The 5.0L engine is rated at 412hp from the factory, but the ZCG dyno reveals it’s true output! Rob tells the story of how this GT gets a serious boost in power from an already potent powerplant:

Michael L lives in Santa Cruz, Ca. He was referred to ZCarGarage by Vortech engineering in Southern California. ZCG is a top tier installer of Vortech products and we have performed several non-Nissan installs. You might remember the 2010 Camaro from last fall. Michael and I spoke and decided to meet. I told him we would love to add boost to his new ‘Stang as long as he didn’t mind that all the other horses in this stable would be Zs. Once again Vortech delivers with an amazing product. The kit parts and installation are as if Ford designed it to be a dealer add-on. This is a limited edition kit to celebrate Vortech’s 20-year anniversary in the performance aftermarket and most of the components are finished in matte black.

Back to the car… this Mustang marks the return of the 5.0. Rated at 412 hp at the crank this pony put down some strong baseline numbers: 376hp/364tq. So the 5.0 is really making close to 440hp at the crank!

ZCG’s Josh C comes from a Ford background. Growing up his Dad’s pride and joy was a 1970 XR-7 Cougar ‘vert. Only 1700 were made in the 351 and 4 speed set up. We hope to help Josh’s father restore this car someday. During his younger days Josh owned a ’69 Mustang and a ’65 Ranchero so he was excited to add his touch to the late model Mustang. The Vortech kit is intercooled and is going to be completely smog legal delivering its 8 psi. Post-install dyno numbers are very impressive: 496hp/436tq! The car starts and drives like a stock car until you press the go pedal. Great job Vortech! Enjoy the ride Michael and may your second car be a Nissan.
-Rob
Here are a few more pics of the install, enjoy!
Intercooler, very low-key:

Blower install: