We recently had the opportunity of tuning the famous “Kas” Kastner Triumph race car. This 1971 Trimph Vitesse sports sedan was designed to run against cars like the Datsun 510 in the SCCA’s Trans-Am racing series. Though car wasn’t successful in the series it became a winner in the hands of privateers for last 30 years.

 

It’s a really quick car powered by an inline-6 with triple carbs, independent rear suspension and 4-wheel discs. Find out more info HERE. Butch Gilbert is the current owner of the car and found Z Car Garage through Datsun racer/specialist Troy Ermish. Here is Butch practicing with CSRG at Thunderhill…the sound is almost S30-like!

Rob dyno-tuned the Triumph and picked up significant hp/tq while increasing the rev-limit…Butch is happy!

 

 

 

Butch has been racing since the 50’s and owns a bunch of cool cars. This is a 1958 Hagemann-Sutton Special. It has a 283 with Hilborn injection and Lehman cross drive front cover.  Weighing in at only 1980lbs with an aluminum body/cromoly frame and Halibrand drive pin wheels:

 

Here is Butch driving the “Birdcage” at the  2013 Monterey Historics….oh that v8 sound!

We love working with authentic race cars so big thanks to Butch for visiting ZCG!

Stunato Racing Machines is breaking speed records again! Z Car Garage helped tune their #477 Sprint car and recently dyno’d their Studebaker to go after a record at the Bonneville Salt Flats. While on the dyno the Studebaker blew a tire! This was a first and fortunately nobody was injured.

 

275hp/416tq to the wheels! We love helping this great group of racers and look forward to more record breaking passes!

Remember Todd Green and his VQ-powered Datsun Roadster race car? Here are a few pictures from him running Solo2 at Grattan Raceway in Michigan earlier this week. Shown above, Todd is crossed-up going sideways at the top of 4th gear (8,000rpm) preparing for a 90 degree right hander!

 
We love this beast of a roadster and how Todd runs it hard. “I was at the top of 6th gear going across the finish line. I could hardly see as my head was getting beat around violently by the turbulence”
Keep at it Todzilla! Datsuns Are Driven!

The Concours event was an amazing experience. Big thanks to David Swig for the invitation and giving Japanese classic cars a presence at the show and in people’s hearts!

We left ZCarGarage at 7am with three 240z cars, a ‘67.5 roadster and one sinister-looking s/c’d 350z.

This was my first time at a Concours event, and I was really impressed with how the venue was organized. As we drove  past the registration and onto the lawn area each car received a bottle of wine!  Flag wavers at every turn directed us to our staging area, where I immediately saw a sea of Ferrari’s and other exotics. I kept wondering, “A bunch of Datsuns get their own display in this show? ” Yes indeed. Not only Datsuns, but Hondas and Toyotas deserve their moment in the spotlight as well 🙂

The Japanese classic car display included a Toyota ’67 2000GT,  Toyota Sports 800, ’68 Honda S800, ’71 Skyline GT-R.   3 Datsun 240zs,  Datsun roadster, and a 1973 Toyota Corolla.   9 lovely Japanese cars in between gangster-era Cadillac’s and bright red Ferrari’s.
 
 

 

 
People were smitten with the display. I could hear memories being conjured, stories being swapped. It was great exposure for our cars, and quite endearing to see this happen amongst all of the high dollar iron surrounding us 🙂

                    
Rob told me that the Skyline was real, with the S20 drivetrain. My jaw dropped and I got very giddy as I have never seen a real Skyline GT-R in person. When the owner opened the hood the mighty S20 gleamed in all its twin-cam glory. Check out the pictures below for more detailed shots…from the underbody to the interior, it was a treat.
                  

The arrival of summer came late to the Bay Area but it was definitely felt with 95 degree + temps. Multiple tents and water stations were available to the attendees. Our invitation included snacks, drinks and lunch in a pavillion with a perfect view of the car display ramp. We were fortunate to have a chat with David Swig about seeing more folks getting into vintage racing and increasing Japanese car representation.
    

Here is a sight that was new to me: Concours judges scrutinizing cars. Maybe one day these gentlemen will be judging your Nissan/Datsun at a Concours event! Why not?

After lunch it was time to check out more of the cars, and I can’t describe or include all of the wonderful machines so I will  list a few favorites. Make sure to click after the “read more” to see all of the pictures!

Mercedes Benz 300SLs, and Gullwings galore! The new SLS was there too.

This Alfa Romeo Guiletta Sprint had just the right proportions:

Chrome everywhere, huge grilles, hood ornaments, and interiors that are so huge and luxurious that they belong on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

           

The event was truly an incredible experience and hopefully we can have an even greater display of Japanese cars for the collector car world to appreciate. Enjoy the pictures!

Click on the “continue reading” link below for the full picture album (315 pics)
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David Swig of MotoringJStyle teamed up with the Z Owners of Northern California (ZONC) to bring us “Turn Z” during the Historic Races held at Infineon Raceway last Sunday. It was a fantastic day with incredible weather and a very impressive showing of classic Datsuns and Nissans.

ZCarGarage once again was the meeting place for the morning caravan up to Sonoma. I highly recommend joining us when we caravan to an event because it is a fun experience. Motoring up the freeways with a group of fellow car nuts is not to be missed. This group included a nice mix of old/new: two 240z cars, a ’67 roadster, a twin-turbo 370z and 350z, a twin-turbo G35 coupe, and 2 more z33s.
Here we are enjoying an on-ramp to highway 80 going to Sonoma:

Morning fog burned off and gave way to a sunny sky with light breeze when we arrived at Infineon Raceway…I love the sound of engines blaring and the smell of race fuel in the air.

As we drove through the ticket gate I was joined by 3 other Datsun roadsters and we were escorted Nascar-style by an Infineon ring taxi to Turn 7, appropriately designated “Turn Z” where the Datsun/Nissan car corral was being held. To my surprise this corral was completely paved, and had a stunning view of the track. In fact, we were so close to the Turn 7 run-off that we had to re-park a few cars for safety!
Big thanks to ZONC and David Swig for giving us a great corral, it was much better than the corral we have at Laguna Seca which leaves your freshly detailed ride covered in a nice thick layer of dust with bits of hay in the interior.

There were plenty of cool old-school Japanese rides in the corral mixed with modern ones too.  At the peak there were close to 50 cars! Some notables:

Super clean period-restored 240z cars:

Datsun 510 with a turbocharged KA24DE drivetrain:

A ZG-flared SR20DET-powered 240z with a very JDM paint color:

A Toyota S800!

More Old-School Toyotas:

Lou’s RHD FairladyZ(Yes, those badges came from the factory!) with some killer 17″ Panasports(custom offset) and 255mm wide tires:

 

This fully restored 1967.5 Datsun 2000 roadster was just plain pretty:

After looking at cars in Turn Z we toured the paddock area to check out vintage race cars from all eras. Lots of high-dollar, exotic and American muscle cars that left us all drooling and dreaming. Attention to detail, craftsmanship and cleanliness were at ever corner, in addition to some serious and frantic wrenching by race crews.
We found 1 Datsun that was actually competing in the races, this 240z complete with light beer livery and  some interesting flares:

The garage area had some impressive IMSA/Can-AM cars, below is just a sample of what the paddock had to offer:

Once the paddock area was thoroughly inspected  it was time to watch some racing! Datsun/Nissan racing legend John Morton was driving in 2 races so we had to watch our hero! John was driving a Scarab and Sunbeam Tiger. Things got more interesting when we noticed that David Swig was in the same races as Morton, piloting the Monsterati and Shelby Mustang.

After watching a few races the end of the day was capped off with a parade lap around Infineon Raceway, where participants in the Turn Z corral could take their own cars out on the track! This was 3-4 laps of pure bliss for folks, and I am still hearing good things about it. What a great way to also show off our Japanese rides to the crowd too!

I really hope that this event reaches yearly status, and with more advance notice I’m positive turnout will be even greater. Thanks again to David Swig and ZONC. Turn Z was a success, here’s to the 40th Anniversary of the Z!

Click below for more pictures!
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