On Saturday, August 29 we attended the Tokyo Calling 6 event hosted by Breakfast Club Rally. Z Car Garage participated with a group of client cars and enjoyed a wonderful day of driving through the foothills of Northern California. The event featured 250+ Japanese classics and 90’s-era wonders to appreciate during the morning social gathering and rest stops. Enjoy our report with photo gallery and video!
Breakfast Club Rally
The Breakfast Club Rally (BCR) started 6 years ago as a small group enjoying weekend drives. It blossomed into monthly events with one hour of hanging out followed by several hours of driving. I highly recommend it for anyone looking to enjoy the beautiful Northern California roads and scenery. You can see our previous BCR reports HERE!
The initial BCR Tokyo Calling event, Tokyo Calling 2, Tokyo Calling 3, Tokyo Calling 4, and Tokyo Calling 5 were all a blast. We did not want to miss their sixth all-Japanese, mostly-vintage rally so I assembled a group of Z Car Garage clients and friends to participate in TC6. We left the shop at 6:15am heading to Sonoma, here is a preview of our cars:
Armon’s 1973 Datsun 240Z has a great story. He got this car running on his own and even performed rust repairs. He’s running our ZCG Heat Shield on his triple-Weber carb’d L28:
Linda’s 2023 Nissan Z
Linda Williams drove her 2023 Nissan Z. This is the special,”Proto Spec” edition limited to just 240 units. We love her “1OF240Z” tribute license plate. Linda joined us on the last two Tokyo Calling events in her 1972 Datsun 240Z OMS Pace Car Duplicate. She loves driving it everywhere.
Our crew arrived at the rally start in Sonoma and it was already filled with fabulous J-Tin parked at a local airport. BCR hosted a “social hour” from 7:30-9am so we could take in all the glorious cars. The vibe was tremendous, and as usual it went by too quickly. Let’s go through some of the highlights, with more photos in the gallery below!
Over 25 S30 Z cars were present!
I am always on the lookout for Nissans and Datsuns, and roadsters get my attention. There were at least 14 in attendance including a few genuine 1967 2000s.
One of the most sought after Datsuns, these “half-year” models were introduced mid-1967 offering a 5-speed transmission and 150hp twin-Mikuni carb’d 2L engine…hot stuff for the era.
Ian’s SRL is #601 (out of ~1000 cars) and it was fully restored years ago by Les Cannaday in San Diego. Ian is meticulous about maintaining this car, but it is no garage queen, attending monthly rally events. The (655) Off-white paint with red interior is one of my favorites. Yes, it even sports a factory Nissan hardtop with all the stainless trim!
Another ’67 2000, this one is #048! Our client Vince M picked this up from Bring a Trailer last year:
High and low-windshield roadsters models were present. John Baker’s ’69 2000 is always a stunner with Spanish Red paint and many rare, Nissan Competition parts fitted:
Datsun 510
We spotted this ultra-clean Datsun 510, built by our friends at Spriso on with an S15 SR20DE/6-speed:
Back to Z cars…Jason Dove’s 280z featuring Z Car Garage Big-Brakes. Jason is a long-time friend and client, full report coming to zcarblog.com.
See the gallery below for more S30 Z car photos!
A S130 280ZX attending!
Our client Cameron’s Z32 Twin Turbo visited Z Car Garage for maintenance work, downpipes, inlet piping, larger intercoolers all from Specialty Z. Cameron has been bringing his 300 to us for many years and we we are really glad to see him driving. There were several Z32TTs in attendance!
R34 Skyline GT-R in Bayside Blue on BBS LM-R wheels.
R32 and R33 GT-Rs
Enjoy this walk-around video from Tokyo Calling 6:
Rally On!
Photo by Emma Lai
The rally started at 9am and I was tasked with leading our group. I really enjoyed hustling Mrs. Butters through the backroads. This route was a little over 100 miles roundtrip through Marin and Sonoma County.
One of the perks of BCR events is their team of professional photographers at various stages capturing epic rolling and detail shots so people can focus on enjoying the drive. I encourage you to visit each of these FOUR photographer’s photo albums to see shots of your rides: Kevin Lee, Alex Nibyt, HubbeEmma Lai and Chris Friske.
We took a midpoint break in the small town of Occidental. Lots of cars to see and great chatting with fellow enthusiasts.
The rally concluded back in Sonoma airport, where BCR arranged for lunch from Kinoko Japanese Home Cooking. We enjoyed Japanese comfort food surrounded by J-Tin and vintage aircrafts.
There were so many cool cars, please check the gallery for more photos! Next, let’s check out some non-Nissan/Datsun action…
Honda
Honda was well-represented including late model DC2 Integras, a few NSXs, lots of S2000s, CRXs and EF/EG hatches rounded out the display:
Mazda
First-gen, FC and FD RX-7s, and many Miatas attended:
My favorite Mazda was this Rotary Pickup:
Toyota
Some of our favorite Toyota’s including Supra (A60, A70, A80), first gen MR2s, and AE86s!
Trucks and Vans
Let’s not forget the Japanese classic trucks and vans! Land Cruisers, Datsuns and a Isuzu VehiCross!
Thanks BCR!
Many thanks to the Breakfast Club Rally organizers, we had a blast and I urge you to register for their next event, especially if you are in the South Bay area like me and want to see what driving bliss lies North.
Photo by Chris Friske
Thank you to all of the Z Car Garage clients that made the journey with us! Huge thanks to BCR for extending their hospitality to our crew, everyone was thrilled. Here’s to the next rally and always, always #DoitInADatsun! More photos in the gallery below…
We had a fabulous week racing at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion August 12-15. More commonly known as the “historics” at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca, this epic vintage race is part of several events occupying the week-long Monterey car festival leading up to the Pebble Beach Concours. Enjoy our race report with photos and in-car video!
Serious recognition for Japanese Race Cars
Pete Brock with the BRE Datsun 240Z and Japanese racing icons
Now in its 52nd running, for the the first time ever the Rolex celebrated “Icons of Japanese Motorsport”. Laguna Seca was filled with run groups and displays highlighting racing histories of Toyota, Honda, Acura, Yamaha and Nissan. Taking center stage in the paddock was a huge 40+ car showcase of significant Japanese race cars like the legendary Le Mans-winning 1991 Mazda 787B. Nissan was well-represented with IMSA prototypes and the BRE Datsuns:
The Nissan Prototypes
These were factory-backed prototype race cars that Nissan used to conquer the IMSA GT Championship during the late 1980s and early 1990s. (Above) is the #23 Nissan R91CP Group C / IMSA GTP car, shipped straight from Japan for the Rolex event. (Below) is the 1990 Nissan NPT-90, driven by Geoff Brabham.
Z Car Garage was proud to display the 1988 Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo at the Rolex. This iconic race car was driven by Geoff Brabham and John Morton, known for de-throning the Porsche 962 in IMSA racing with 8 straight wins. (Below) Chassis #8801 with Rob in Turn 4 at Laguna Seca staged for the Japanese Icons photoshoot:
(Below, left) Electramotive engineer Chris Willes with Rob. You can see behind-the-scenes photos of the ZCG crew getting the GTP car out to turn 4 for the Icons photoshoot in the gallery below. We thank Dean Case and Greg Nelson of Nissan Motorsports for the opportunity to have this legend here at Z Car Garage since 2024. It now resides with our client Randy Jaffe in Atlanta.
The Rolex is a highlight for race fans, but it is also part of Monterey Car Week which is filled with classy events like auctions and the famous Pebble Beach Concours d’ Elegance, where we displayed the GTP ZX-Turbo in the first ever “Japanese Motorsport” class:
VIDEO: See the GTP cars in action!
Video of the LeMans prototypes in action including the Nissan NPT-90 from Turn 6, volume up!
Japanese cars also got some love at The Quail, with a first-ever “Legacy of Japanese GTs” class. We even spotted Larry Chen’s SR20DET-powered 1970 Datsun 240Z on the lush greens (photo by Geoff Wise):
The BRE Datsuns
Nissan also celebrated the Brock Racing Enterprises (BRE) race cars alongside the GTP prototypes. Our client and friend Randy Jaffe and Mark Lambert transported the 1971 BRE Datsun 510 and 1970 BRE Datsun 240Z from Atlanta on behalf of Nissan. Both cars were part of the central showcase:
BRE Championship driver John Morton gave hot lap rides in the BRE Datsun 510. Legendary automotive designer, racer, and motorsports visionary Peter Brock served as Grand Marshal for the event, a fitting choice given Brock’s influence on Japanese motorsports.
Pete Brock and John Morton with the BRE Datsun 240Z
Nearby was the original BRE Datsun 2000 roadster driven by Frank Monise who won the Pacific Coast Championship in 1969:
Complementing the three BRE Championship cars above were the BRE Hino transporter and Jamaica 510, the 1973 BRE Baja 240Z, the 1969 BRE Baja 510 and Pete Brock’s personal 1972 Datsun 510 aka “screaming yellow zonker”:
Now, let’s get to the racing!
Z Car Garage Trackside Support for Seven Race Cars
With 60+ Nissan/Datsuns racing this year the starting grid for Group 2 (Small-bore/roadsters), Group 8 (B-sedan/510s) and Group 9 (IMSA GTU/Z cars) was a fan’s dream come true. Z Car Garage supported seven race cars, see them all on the dyno in preparation for the Rolex…volume up and enjoy that L-Series music!
Peter Gregg Trophy (1973–1981 IMSA GT, GTX, AAGT, GTU and FIA)
Rob Fuller piloted the the #49 Joel Anderson IMSA GTU Datsun 240Z in the IMSA group. You might recall the story behind this special, 1972 IMSA GTU 240z as it was owned, built and raced in the 70’s by none other than Joel Anderson. ZCG restored #49 back to its former glory and it debuted at RMMR 2014. John Morton would drive #49 at RMMR 2015, and Rob Fuller finally drove it at the 2018 RMMR.
Rob Fuller in the Joel Anderson IMSA GTU Datsun 240Z, photo by Travis Bath 2026
ROB: Since the IMSA car has been back together, unfortunately we’ve been having a couple of teething issues with it. It was ok in the first practice of Rolex Reunion, but it just didn’t feel like it was gonna work well. We made the call to to leave it on display in our paddock.
Rob was heartbroken, but that is racing. The #49 car will be back, for now enjoy this extended video with in-car footage of Rob dicing it up with big power Porsche RSRs at the 2024 RMMR… Volume UP and Long Live The Z!
Bob Sharp Cup (1966–1979 Historic SCCA B & C Sedans)
Photo by Nicholas Caraballo
Historic B&C Sedan proudly organized a field of 48 historic sedans set to be exhibited and raced in the Bob Sharp Cup. Datsun 510s dominated the field with notables including the Corky Bell U2.5L Trans Am 510, Paul Newman’s 510 and several Bob Sharp Racing cars including the #38 Ex-Jim Fitzgerald 510, 610 (driven by Adam Carolla) and 200sx.
Z Car Garage helped arrange the field for a photoshoot on the front straight and it was epic. Each car with historical provenance, ready to be driven hard. Kudos to Glenn Chiou and Dave Stone for making this race group a reality. You can grab a high-res image of the group photo directly from the photographer Rami Garcia.
VIDEO: See the B-Sedan group in action!
Video of the B-Sedans from Turn 6 with starting grid and paddock action, volume up!
Z Car Garage Racers in B-Sedan Group
ROB: Z Car Garage raced and supported four Datsun 510s running in the Bob Sharp Cup. Myself in the Corky Bell car, Tom Dockery in the Ex-Balzer car, Kenny in the Ex-Ted Gruner car and new client, Patrick Byrne in the Ex- Greg Schmidt 510. Everyone had a good time.
#72 Tom Dockery
We have helped Tom build and prepare his Ex-Norm Balzer/Koobation 510 for several years. He is a Datsun enthusiast, friend and we love seeing him improve his craft. Here is Tom’s race report from the Rolex…
TOM: The full impact of running the Pre-Reunion and the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion is still sinking in. Racing at the Rolex was only a dream 20 years ago, but it became my primary goal after acquiring the Norm Balzer car in 2016. A very special thanks to Dave Stone for finding the car and facilitating the sale, and to Steve Link for selling it to me.
The week had another special element: my sons, Matt and Nick, and my daughter-in-law, Sarah, drove their historic Datsuns and Alfa down from Portland. We spent the entire week together, caravanning to Monterey and enjoying the automotive scene. It was great fun.
Both racing events were fantastic. As always, the car was flawless, and the ZCG Team made the experience seamless and carefree. They allowed me to be fully present with my family and friends throughout the event. Thanks to Rob’s coaching and positioning at the front of the practice and qualifying grid, I was able to set a personal record in the very first session.
The races at both events went well, and I stayed in the top 15 in all four races. I was especially pleased to remain within sight of Jenson Button and ahead of Jimmie Johnson in both races. To be fair, both had a 500cc handicap, and Jimmie was racing a right-hand-drive car for the first time. One thing I will never forget is the energy of sitting on the grid and feeling the excitement of the people surrounding the area. It was a magical moment for me. A big thank you to everyone who helped me get there.
VIDEO: In-car action with Tom’s 510
Take a few laps with Tom Dockery in the Ex-Balzer/Koobation B-Sedan Datsun 510
#39 Patrick Byrne
ROB: Patrick and Bill Byrne are a father and son team that have lots of cool vintage cars. Patrick runs in the IMSA group with my Z and he is a brilliant driver. Super excited to see the Schmidt car previously owned by Bill Ockerlund, now in the ZCG’s hands. We took this car to a test day before the Rolex, found a few shortcomings and sorted it out. Really cool car, beautiful and very competitive with Patrick behind the wheel.
#64 Kenny Tse
Kenny has been with us for many years enjoying our Z Car Garage Trackside Services for his Ex-Ted Gruner B-Sedan Datsun 510. Kenny did awesome, finishing top 10 in the Bob Sharp Cup:
#40 Rob Fuller
Rob drove the Corky Bell U2.5L Trans Am Datsun 510. Famed engineer and race car driver Corky Bell ran this Datsun 510 in the early 70’s Trans Am series. Z Car Garage restored it back to its former glory with Trans Am livery and Corky drove it for the first time in 53 years at the 2024 Velocity event. We will dedicate a separate blog post to the restoration and Corky’s story. Here are a few photos of the car during the revival:
Rob had a blast driving the Bell car with fellow B-Sedan racers in the Bob Sharp Cup. Rob won the race, with Richard Stuart Milne in second, Timothy Probert in third and Patrick Byrne in 4th. All Datsuns for the win!
(Left) Photo by Travis Bath
VIDEO: In-car action with Rob’s 510
Take a few laps with Rob Fuller in the Corky Bell B-Sedan Datsun 510
See the both races from Rob on his YouTube Channel and give the man a subscribe!
Datsun Roadsters at the RMMR
The 2026 Rolex Reunion featured no less than 12 Datsun Roadsters, roughly 9 of them racing in the John Morton Trophy (1950s–1960s SCCA Small Displacement Production Cars). Z Car Garage provided race preparation and trackside support services for our two new clients: Bruce White out of Colorado and Greg Walsh from Monterey.
ROB: Bruce White purchased the #33 1967 Datsun 2000 from our friend Ron Carter, so we’ve known about this car for many years and super excited to be a part of its next chapter. The car needed some sorting prior to the Rolex reunion so we did a test day and identified some shortcomings. Jim Tyler from Datsun Restoration Products was a wonderful resource to help us get this thing going. Bruce had never driven the roadster and by the end of the Pre-Reunion he was really competitive, putting down solid 1:54s and third overall among the Datsuns.
Greg Walsh had a similar experience in his Dan Parkinson Roadster: he struggled in the past with his roadster and we were able to have both of these cars run flawlessly. Both clients had a great time and that was really cool running at the Pre-Reunion and Rolex.
Such a great sight seeing all these Datsun Roadsters in the paddock. Here are a few notables, with more photos in the gallery below:
Craig Carter’s Bob Sharp-prepared Datsun 2000. Note BRE-style exhaust that wraps around frame exiting side:
#88 Christopher Van De Meulengraaf 1967 Datsun 2000. This is the first RHD 2000 I’ve ever seen racing here in the States:
Phil Mendelovitz’ Ex-Bob Studdard 2000. This car won the EP national championship in 1987. Phil took 6th place overall in the John Morton Trophy and fastest Datsun Roadster running 1:49s.
VIDEO: See the Datsun Roadsters in action!
Video of the Roadster and Sports cars from the 60’s in the John Morton Trophy from Turn 6, volume up!
The best part of the RMMR has to be the paddock. Home to all the race cars and their teams, massive car transporters and an all-around pure sensory overload. At every corner there is wicked metal with history begging to be told. Here’s a few of my favorites, more in the gallery!
My favorite race group, the Trans Am group with muscle cars abound:
Phil Mendelovitz cars included this HKS Turbo Datsun 240Z (dyno tuned at ZCG) and Nissan GT3 240SX:
Z cars were well-represented in several race groups including IMSA:
The #33 Planters / Newman-Sharp 300ZX with turbocharged VG:
S130 Z cars, #85 had a turbocharged VG!
Race car driver, restorer and Datsun Historian Glenn Chiou raced his FAR Performance 240Z in the Ken Miles Trophy (1955–1967 SCCA Large Displacement Production Cars). This Z has a very rich racing history, driven in the 70’s by Loren St. Lawrence in VIPS Restaurant livery.
Troy Ermish had a stable of cool Datsun 510s, including this freshly built, logbook #001 B-sedan owned by Daniel Wu:
Datsun 1200s just across:
This Miller Imports Datsun 510 was mint:
Autozam AZ-1 just chillin’ in the parking lot. Motorcycle for scale 🙂
JDM/Euro gems all around!
Randy Pobst’s first National Championship-winning Miata (1992), currently owned by Ross Lindell
VIDEO: RMMR Paddock Action!
Video of the machinery in the paddock, enjoy!
JDM Legends Car Show
Kaiju Company x Super Drive — JDM Legends Display
The JDM Legends Car Show was held August 14-15 within the lakebed at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca. They had a fun showing of curated vehicles plus great turnout. More photos in the gallery below!
Wheels for Fantasy
A wheel lover’s dream, especially if you like meaty fitment…
People
Contributing to the fun were family and friends. We were humbled by the number of people that stopped by including fellow Datsun owners Jan Trondsen and Dave Sholz:
ROB:Lots of really cool people from all over the country came out and I got to meet a lot of enthusiasts… people that have been inspired by Z Car Garage and it was very cool. Just a wonderful weekend.
ZCG Race Crew
Huge shoutout to the Z Car Garage race crew including Josh, Meghan, and Cooper. We are grateful for your support, keeping us safe and on the track!
Thank you!
ROB: Seeing Tom Dockery with his kids there and everyone supporting him it just really warmed my heart. And then the guys, Josh and Cooper and Megan and Alvin…the vibe in the Z Car Garage paddock was incredible and the amount of cool cars that were there was unbelievable. You know I’ve been going to the Rolex reunion since the 90s and it was just awesome for me to see the paddock filled with so much deliciousness from overseas in Japan. Thank you to Nissan for letting us be a part of the GTP history…we got that car rolling, on display and then to Pebble Beach. A great job to everybody that’s involved to make those weekends work, really appreciate it. Thanks to Nicholas Caraballo and Travis Bath for the on-track photos.
We hope you have enjoyed our recap of the 2026 Rolex Monterey Motorpsorts Reunion! Please browse our mega-gallery of pictures from race weekend below. We certainly enjoyed the company of friends and visitors in our paddock, here’s to another year of vintage racing in Monterey, California.
Filed under: 510,Racing
by Alvin G @ 5:10 pm on December 11, 2025
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! …[read more]
On Saturday, August 30 we attended the Tokyo Calling 5 event hosted by Breakfast Club Rally. Z Car Garage participated with a group of client cars and enjoyed a wonderful day of driving through the foothills of Northern California. The event featured 280+ Japanese classics and 90’s-era wonders to appreciate during the morning social gathering and rest stops. Enjoy our report with mega-photo gallery and video!
Breakfast Club Rally
The Breakfast Club Rally (BCR) started 5 years ago as a small group enjoying weekend drives. It blossomed into monthly events with one hour of hanging out followed by several hours of driving. I highly recommend it for anyone looking to enjoy the beautiful Northern California roads and scenery. You can see our previous BCR reports HERE!
The initial BCR Tokyo Calling event, Tokyo Calling 2, Tokyo Calling 3 and Tokyo Calling 4 were all a blast. We did not want to miss their fifth all-Japanese, mostly-vintage rally so I assembled a group of Z Car Garage clients and friends to participate in TC5. We left the shop at 6:15am heading to Sonoma, here is a preview of our cars:
Linda Williams drove her 1972 Datsun 240Z OMS Pace Car Duplicate. Z Car Garage revived this historically-significant Z from its slumber to make it a nice driver for Linda while retaining its survivor status. She loves driving it everywhere.
Our morning caravan of 6 cars enjoyed cruising up I-280 and the Golden Gate Bridge. Nothing beats driving with fellow Z car owners!
Tokyo is Calling before the Rally!
Our crew arrived at the rally start in Sonoma and it was already filled with fabulous J-Tin parked at a local airport. BCR hosted a “social hour” from 7:30-9am so we could take in all the glorious cars. The vibe was tremendous, and as usual it went by too quickly. Let’s go through some of the highlights, with more photos in the gallery below!
Over 20 S30 Z cars were present!
I am always on the lookout for Nissans and Datsuns, and roadsters get my attention. There were at least 10 in attendance including a genuine 1967 2000. One of the most sought after Datsuns, these “half-year” models were introduced mid-1967 offering a 5-speed transmission and 150hp twin-Mikuni carb’d 2L engine…hot stuff for the era.
Ian’s SRL is #601 (out of ~1000 cars) and it was fully restored years ago by Les Cannaday in San Diego. Ian is meticulous about maintaining this car, but it is no garage queen, attending monthly rally events. The (655) Off-white paint with red interior is one of my favorites. Yes, it even sports a factory Nissan hardtop with all the stainless trim!
Another ’67 2000, this one is #072!
Mark’s right-hand drive ’69 2000:
High and low-windshield roadsters models were present:
Datsun 510
There were several Datsun 510s in wagon and sedan form. Our client Jay installed a set of our Z Car Garage CV Axles on his Green 510, and this time he brought the entire family in their mint 510 Wagon!
More 510s:
Back to Z cars, Lora joined us with her recently acquired 1971 Datsun 240z. This one-owner Series 1 S30, affectionately known as “Buttercup” has been with Z Car Garage for many years. Excited to share her Z-car journey on zcarblog.
Jason Dove’s 280z featuring Z Car Garage Big-Brakes. Jason is a long-time friend and client, full report coming to zcarblog.com.
See the gallery below for more S30 Z car photos!
A Z31 300ZX attending, in turbo form!
Our client Cameron’s Z32 Twin Turbo visited Z Car Garage for maintenance work, downpipes, inlet piping, larger intercoolers all from Specialty Z. Cameron has been bringing his 300 to us for many years and we we are really glad to see him driving. There were several Z32TTs in attendance!
Paul’s B13 Sentra S-R
There were a handful of S13, S14 and S15(!) 240SX:
Leo’s Nissan Pulsar GTi-R
Super happy to see Leo and his Nissan Pulsar GTi-R at Tokyo Calling 5. This RHD, JDM hot-hatch is known as “Baby Godzilla”, sporting all-wheel drive and an SR20DET drivetrain. What’s wild is that this Pulsar used to be owned by our very own Gary at Z Car Garage! Leo purchased it back in 2017 and drove it all the way from Reno, NV.
Nissan Skyline
It was great to see Miles (Rays wheels) and Kurt W.. Both will be getting updated zcarblog features.
Mike’s R32 is looking sharp, now wearing silver TE37s:
Enjoy this walk-around video from Tokyo Calling 5:
Rally On!
Photo by Zack Hubbell
The rally started at 9am and I was tasked with leading our group. I really enjoyed hustling Mrs. Butters through the backroads. This route was a bit longer than previous TC events at a 130+ miles.
One of the perks of BCR events is their team of professional photographers at various stages capturing epic rolling and detail shots so people can focus on enjoying the drive. I encourage you to visit each of these SIX photographer’s photo albums to see shots of your rides:Nathalie Mossberg, Kevin Lee, Alex Nibyt, Zack Hubbell, Emma Lai and Chris Friske.
Photo by Emma Lai
We took a midpoint break from the heat in the historic town of Winters. Lots of cars to see and great chatting with fellow enthusiasts.
The rally concluded back in Sonoma airport, where BCR arranged for lunch from Kinoko Japanese Home Cooking. We enjoyed Japanese comfort food surrounded by J-Tin and vintage aircrafts.
Photo by Kevin Lee
There were so many cool cars, please check the gallery for more photos! Next, let’s check out some non-Nissan/Datsun action…
Honda
Honda was well-represented including late model DC2 Integras, a few NSXs, lots of S2000s, CRXs and EF/EG hatches rounded out the display:
Mazda
A rare Mazda Cosmos was a real treat to see. First-gen, FC and FD RX-7s, and many Miatas attended:
Toyota
Some of our favorite Toyota’s including Supra (A60, A70, A80), first gen MR2s, and AE86s! The Lexus IS300 SportCross with A80 Supra wheels was sweet!
I don’t think I’ve seen this many 2nd-gen A60 Celica-Supras on one place!
Trucks and Vans
Let’s not forget the Japanese classic trucks and vans! Generations of Land Cruiser:
Thanks BCR!
Many thanks to the Breakfast Club Rally organizers, we had a blast and I urge you to register for their next event, especially if you are in the South Bay area like me and want to see what driving bliss lies North.
Photo by Chris Friske
Thank you to all of the Z Car Garage clients that made the journey with us and braved the heat! Huge thanks to BCR for extending their hospitality to our crew, everyone was thrilled. Here’s to the next rally and always, always #DoitInADatsun! More photos in the gallery below…
On Saturday I took Mrs. Butters, our Series 1 shop 240z for a drive with fellow enthusiasts through some backroads to Carmel. It was a blast with fast roads, great cars and company. Enjoy our report with photo gallery below.
By 7:30am the South San Jose starting point was filled with cool cars. Our very own Cooper attended with his Datsun 260Z, now sporting a 3L L-series. More on his Overcrest Rally experience coming to zcarblog.com. The group was 13 deep with a nice mix Japanese, Euro and English marques…
The Cars
Photo by Alex Trang
Four Porsche 911s of different vintage and modification level: Koich’s 1975 911 Hot Rod, Tony’s Aubergine 911 (began life as a Targa!), Cam’s G-Body 911 with 17″ Fuch-style wheels, and Michael’s lowered G-Body 911 SC:
B-sedans representing with Matt’s 1973 Alfa Romeo Giulia 1300 Super with a 2.0L swap and Geoff’s Cortina:
Glenn and Rei’s NA Miatas:
Alex’s Midnight Blue 370Z
Bob’s Noble M400. This thing is wicked
We made a short stop in Hollister where Pascal joined us in his ND Miata. From here we took 25 to King City. Got some good rolling shots with smiling drivers:
The scenery and topography is wildly contrasting to the Bay Area through 25 with rolling hills and farmland. Some great curvy stretches of road here.
Pit stop in King City where we somehow managed to get all 13 cars parallel parked in one block:
King City to Carmel via Carmel Valley Rd was another change in scenery and weather.
This was a very twisty stretch with some rough sections and wet surfaces from earlier rains. Still fun! Mrs. Butters’ 3.2L with triple-Mikuni induction, Z Car Garage Big-Brakes, Z Car Garage CV Axles, ZCG Heat Shield, 6-speed transmission and full KW suspension all worked in harmony. The 3.54 rear end makes a huge difference in power delivery and cruising…80mph at just under 3500rpm!
Lunch at Baja Cantina, good food and great conversations!
Cooper and I got home via HWY 1 and 17. It was a wonderful driving day.Thanks to Alex and Glenn for organizing. Saw some familiar faces and met new folks sharing the same passion!
