When we learned that a Nissan Silvia was in our area Z Car Garage got excited. This is not the 90’s Silvia (Nissan 240sx here) we know and love, it is the ultra-rare 1965 Silvia CSP311. Only 554 examples were made from ’67 -’67 and never imported to the US.

 

Fortunately for owner Rick K, he was able to acquire this Silvia from our friends at JDM Legends:

“My son (Matt) and I were searching for a nice 240Z. Throughout our search, Matt kept telling me about the Silvia (CSP311).  One became available through JDM Legends. I just wasn’t sure about it until we saw Myron Vernis’ beautiful Silvia featured in a recent JDM exhibit at the Peterson. When we saw the car in person, we were hooked. We purchased the Silvia from JDM-L. It is built on the Nissan/Datsun Roadster chassis and drive train, so it is fun to drive and reliable.”

The Luxurious Datsun 1600 Coupe

 

The Silvia is special for many reasons. As Rick mentioned above, this car was built on the Datsun Roadster chassis, meaning it is a body-on-frame platform sharing the same R16 drivetrain as the Datsun 1600 (SP311). All were hand built and right hand drive with a gorgeous interior. Fairlady owners will notice familiar gauges and switchgear–all borrowed from the contemporary Datsun Roadster. The body was designed by Kazuo Kimura with influence from Albrecht Goertz (of 240z/2000GT fame):

 

Although it was a beautiful, robust little coupe it was not a sales success for Nissan. It did however pave the way for the larger S30:

“Nissan shipped one to the fledgling Datsun distributor in the US. They did not think it would sell in the US (re-naming it a Datsun 1600 Coupe) and that was the end of CSP311. It never made it to full production. We believe ours is one of 5 currently in the US.  Most are in Japan with a large group in Australia as well.  We guesstimate that there may be 150 still in existence world wide.”

 

The Silvia at Z Car Garage

 

Rick brought the Silvia in to us for an inspection and to ensure it was road-worthy. We thank owner Eric Bizek of JDM Legends for referring Rick to us!

“Eric at JDM told us about Z Car Garage and Rob.  Knowing that one of the best shops in the country was 10 minutes from our house gave us the confidence we needed to buy the car.  We knew we had a great shop to work on it in the Bay Area.”

We developed a plan to address some deferred maintenance and sort out the tired suspension. A surprisingly clean underbody (remember this came from Japan!) revealed some corrosion:

 

To satisfy our curiosity we placed the Silvia on the scales and it checked in at a scant 2210lbs:

 

We even put it on the dyno to make sure the engine was healthy. Could this be the only Silvia in the US to be dyno tuned? 😀

 

The Silvia put down a stout 67hp/81tq to the wheels, enjoy the video:

 

 

Rick and son Mat have been enjoying the Silvia and sharing it with other enthusiasts.

 “Matt and I enjoy driving it often. We also have taken it to Cars and Coffee events in the Bay Area and most notably were welcomed with position A at the Wrigley building in Santa Cruz. The Driving While Awesome Cars and Coffee was one of the best we had been to.”

We also spotted it at the 2019 Saratoga Classic Car Show:

 

While Rick and Matt were at the shop we let them drive Butters, our  1970 Series 1 shop demo Z. They were hooked:

“Hi Rob,  It was great to meet you and your team.  Matthew could barely sleep last night after driving Butters.  Thanks so much for letting us take it out.  Truly amazing. We want a Z just like that.”

 

Big thanks to Rick for letting us work on the Silvia. We suggested that a car this rare and significant should be as close as possible to a factory correct restoration which we agree with. For now they are just Enjoying The Ride!

 

Photographer Larry Chen visited Z Car Garage back in February to bring his very own S30 in for our ZCG Big-Brakes. While he was at the shop he featured our customer James Stephens’ turbocharged 1972 Datsun 240z for an episode of Hoonigan Autofocus. In this video Larry chats with Rob Fuller about the build and also gets to dyno/test drive it. We had a blast hanging out with Larry and his crew. More Hoonigan Autofocus spotlights from our shop and high-res pics are coming soon. Enjoy the video!

 

We are stoked to see our friend Eric Straw and his 1969 Datsun Roadster featured in Speedhunters. Check out the article HERE.

 

We loved tuning Eric’s RB26DETT powered DR30 Skyline, so look for a dyno report soon as we tune the Haltech ECU on this SR22VET powered beauty!

 

Congratulations to our customer James Stephens on his Best of Show win at Saturday’s Z Day in Atascadero, CA. James’ 1972 Turbocharged L-series S30 has a few more upgrades since being featured in Speedhunters, so expect a full report soon!

 

Here are few photos from the show, it looks like a great turnout. Long Live The Z!

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The 2019 Solvang Datsun Roadster show took place on April 27. Now in its 32nd year, this event continues a tradition of uniting owners from all parts of the world in a little town just outside of Santa Barbara. There is something for everyone here: shopping, food, wine-tasting, outdoor activities, and in the last weekend of April an epic gathering of Datsuns!

 

This year I did not bring my roadster but I was able to experience it with my wife and three children (now all walking):

 
We keep returning to Solvang year after year to see the latest roadster builds, meet new owners and catch up with old friends……and it was a fantastic show with perfect weather and close to 100 Datsuns on First Street in downtown Solvang:

Highlights from the Show

On to the cars! Here are some highlights from the day…starting with the “Holy Grail” of Datsun Roadsters: The 1967 2000! This year there were only a handful of these rare (less than a 1000) models. Some of these cars are considered the “cream of the crop” with full restorations or OEM levels of detail like Kurt’s Sora Blue #520:

  

Interestingly, all of the ’67 2000 models present possessed the fabeled “rivet in the C” on their valve covers. Different body colors as well! Gary Vigil’s SRL #126 was still in the process of being completed, looking brilliant in Beige Grey Metallic:

    

Arnold’s SRL 485:

  

The sole “Thunder Black” ’67 SRL:

 

Stock is Good

Solvang showcases everything from pristine to highly modified examples of roadsters. These two examples are exemplary of the “high-windshield” models. John Baker’s ’69 2000: several years of intense restoration by John has resulted in one stunning, concours-level 2000. Finished in Spanish Red with plenty of engine bay details to drool over. Best part is that it is driven, even with the Bias-ply tires!

     

Mike Ramirez’s ’68 1600 was stored for 32 years before a full restoration in 2014…it is pristine:

 

There were several early 1600s with chrome-ringed gauges and classy red interiors. Alvin’s ’65 SPL was originally imported to the US by a Naval officer and he found it in a barn with 32k original miles. His goal is to take it back to Japan for a springtime tour!

 

Engine Swaps

Like the 510 and Z cars, the Datsun Roadster chassis can accept many engine swaps and this year the show-stopper was Eric Straw’s 1969 SRL.
We have known Eric for many years and he is a talented fabricator with a penchant for high-powered Datsuns. ZCG tuned his RB26-powered Nissan DR30 Skyline and plan on tuning this Haltech-managed SR22VET beast of a roadster.

 

Backing the SR22VET is a Nissan 350z 6-speed transmission, but there are so many details to be found at the surface like the factory OEM(!) Hardtop, 225 front/245 rear tires, Brembo calipers, Lotus Elise seats and more.

  

Eric’s fabrication skills are really displayed in this chassis with full coil-over suspension and a Watts-linkage. With guidance from Michael Spreadbury of Spriso Motorsports, the level of chassis development is mind-boggling:

  

More pictures in the gallery, but this masterpiece deserves its own feature!

JDM  Feel

Two cars that I really like have a special “JDM” feel to them. Greg’s ‘1968 2000 finished in Gray sitting on 14″ Watanabe wheels looked just right:

 

Mike’s 1967.5 SPL sports 15″ Watts, a full solex-equipped U20 drivetrain, roll bar, SRL gauges and rare EMPI steering wheel:

 

A Break for Wine

A few roadster owners proudly offered their own vintage wine creations alongside their cars. Al’s SPL graces the label of his wine:

Vanity plates

When Sidewall is Good

This ’70 SRL not only had one of my favorite white/red color combos, the wheel/tire choice was spot on. Beefy sidewalls on the AR Libras and a nice stance looked great:

 

The 3-Seater: Datsun 1500s

There were only 2, three-seater 1500 roadsters. Raymond Lim’s 1963 1500 was in amazing condition considering its age. This single-carb, three-seater was remarkably preserved. Best part was watching Ray’s son show off the roadster to everyone! This is why I love the Solvang Show.

 

 

Even older than the 1500s were the SPL212s owned by Jeff Silvey:

People

People. It’s what makes the Solvang Datsun Roadster Show so much fun. Datsun folks in general are cool people and they came from all parts of the world:

 

The Beast Within

Corey’s ’66 SPL had a mighty stroked 1600 engine. Final displacement is 2.3L(!) courtesy of parts from Datsun-specialist Lou Mondello of Australia. We look forward to dyno-tuning this quad-motorcycle carb’d monster soon:

  

Non-roadsters

Don’t have a roadster but want to park and enjoy the show? The Solvang show also welcomes Japanese classics that are not roadsters. Lots of cool trucks, Z-cars and 510s joined in on the fun. Brian K drove and displayed his Nissan Patrol. He is also the man behind our Z Car Garage CV Axles. When he’s not enjoying Datsuns, Brian owns/operates KaD Models machine shop in Berkeley, CA making various parts for our cars as well.

  

Going the Distance

The Solvang Show draws roadster owners from all over the US, and world! We can always count on Jim and Susan to make the trek from Mexico in their ’70 SRL with matching trailer:

 

Adrian Christian made the long journey from New York in his ’70 SRL:

  

This is the actual car from Nissan’s multi-million dollar Datsun Heritage advertising campaign in the late 90’s.  Check it out in this Super Bowl Ad – “The Dream Garage”.

Family Affair

Ted Heaton drove his three roadsters down from Bellvue, Washington. He had help from his son and grandson!

   

We love this event and hope you have enjoyed our coverage of the 2019 Solvang Datsun Roadster Show. Big thanks to the organizer Harlan Katz and SoCal crew for hosting!  Please visit our picture gallery below:
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