I heard the May 2006 issue of Classic Motorsports magazine has a

feature story about the "10 Best Japanese Race Cars of All Time."

What's your list?

Maybe if we can get enough support, Classic Motorsports magazine will

be able to get the cars on your list to the Mitty at Road Atlanta in

April.

Moderators I think this would be a great poll and CMM is looking to put this group of cars together at the Mitty!!

My list starts a follows:

1) BRE #46 240Z /BRE #03 240Z

2) BRE #46 510

3) BSR #33 240Z

4) BSR #33 CP Roadster

5) BRE #46 Roadster

6) Shelby Toyota 2000

7) BRE Off Road 240Z

8) BSR 280ZX

9) BRE Off Road 510

10) Scoville Datsun Roadster

I would say the 240 and the 510 campaigned by BRE would be at the top of lthe list with Bob Sharp's ride up there too.

What's the good word from Nissan about sending you and some vehicles from the West Coast to the Mitty?

Sadly, it has been very quiet....I have not gotten any response what so ever from Nissan.

Would a strategically placed email barrage to the right person(s) help at all?

I've gotta believe if Nissan knew that CMM was trying to put this together, they'd help out?

Would a strategically placed email barrage to the right person(s) help at all?

I've gotta believe if Nissan knew that CMM was trying to put this together, they'd help out?

+1 on this suggestion.

+1 on this suggestion.

+1 Agreed.

Sign up and let CMM know how you feel!

Here is a link to their forum, and the information regarding the Mitty.

http://www.grmotorsports.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=14236

Done. Signed up and left my 2 cents. Will turn my 2 cents into 25 dollars if need be. .

Hey I appreciate this, please be sure to let CMM know what your interested in seeing at the Mitty...DATSUNS!!!

Moderators I think this would be a great poll and CMM is looking to put this group of cars together at the Mitty!!

Hey Ron,

I don't have a problem if you want to post a poll on this topic. But, make sure you have a good list of cars so people can pick from them. I could see this list becoming pretty long. It would be a great poll.

Go ahead and post it on the "Front Page Polls" forum when you have a list ready.

I just posted something on that thread that hopefully Ron McDonald will see and respond to. Hell Ron, I'd send you a $100 to defray costs if you were willing to make the trip just to see your cars and meet you and whoever else was willing to make the journey.

Don't be holding your breath expecting any support form Nissan for the Mitty (or for anything else either). But before I go into more detail on that here's some info on a few of the cars mentioned.

The owner of the 240/280 #33 BSN, the 900hp 280ZXTT, the 300ZX single turbo, and Tom Cruise's SCCA 300ZX Showroom Stock cars will be at the Mitty. He was not intenting on bringing any of these and was instead going to be driving 5 different vintage cars. He may make room for one of them.

The Cruise car won't be ready until early June, the 280ZXTT hasn't been started in years and the 300ZXT is waiting on the custom build crankshaft to be shipped. That leaves the #33 car which was run at The Glen last year and could be taken to the Mitty but not run hard (needs a few days with the BSN original engine builder, along with a set of tires and a suspension tune-up).

There might be another Japanese race car of interest in the owners' collection and I'm trying to find out what it is and in what shape it's in.

Now as to Nissan, a little background. There are three entities involved, Nissan North America Nissan Motorsports, and NISMO. They have different agendas and staffing. Nissan NA and the MS folks I believe have already announced they are supporting a truck race event the same weekend and are not available to help out. NISMO's answer to the question was also negative.

After seeing the promotion of the Mitty in CMM's last month, I contacted the Executive Director of the Z Car Clubs of America with a set of simple questions:

1) Would Nissan (any or all three) provide some support or attend the Mitty?

2) Was there a communication process in place that allows the ZCCA and Nissan to exchange information pertaining to events like these?

3) Would the ZCCA assist in getting the message of the Mitty (and similar events) to others and help to coordinate things?

The answer to all three was, no.

Nissan (NA, MS, and NISMO) have either no interest, couldn't see a reason to do so, or are too caught up in the headquarters' move from LA to Nashville. As to the Z clubs standing in for Nissan and carrying the company banner, that was a local dealer issue.

I got to wondering how many Z owners (1970 to 2005) own other Nissan vehicles and whether that might be point to raise with them in the future. It was Nissan that brought up the issue of ROI (Return on Investment) at the last ZCCA convention when the subject of convention funding was mentioned.

Given the amount of funding they provide, I calculated that Nissan had made at least that much in profit from the 350s, Titans and other Nissan vehicles parked in the hotel lot alone. I also got to re-thinking my choice of two replacement vehicles I will be purchasing this year.

There is no formal means of communication between the ZCCA and Nissan that would cover events such as this. Nissan makes up its' mind and does what is in its' own interest. No schedule of the events Nissan will be doing or not doing is given out (or it seems asked for either). The ZCCA was unaware that Nissan was not going or that there as a Japanese marque weekend for the Mitty. I asked if Nissan would welcome the ZCCA's involvement to help promote the event harder but there was no real interest at all to see what Nissan wanted or didn't want.

The ZCCA is made up of local clubs and has fewer than 10 people who are elected or appointed to the Executive Committee that oversees all ZCCA business. In this manner ZCCA member clubs can decide to promote and/or put on any number of events like say going to the Mitty. Local clubs are the main players in any Z related event.

That said, I was not able to get the ZCCA to see a potential benefit to promoting Zs and other Nissan products at the Mitty nor could I get them to see the benefit to having something like the Mitty coordinated at a higher level than just at the local club level. Not controlled but coordinated through increased communication, website promotions, etc. Even a simple email to clubs in say a 500 mile diameter of the Mitty asking what their plans were, did they need help getting the word out, etc. A "ZCCA" banner to be displayed at the Mitty? A follow-up article to be written with pics to be submitted to CMM? Oh, well......

I hope to be there in my 240 Datsun anyway.

Sad state of affairs. Nissan is worried about the NASCAR Truck event......Funny their newsletter I just got promotes the Z and its heritage.

http://www.nissanusa.com/form/0,,action-NEnthusiast_pageId-100003_topicId-1,00.html?Site=N06FULE0206OAC000319&Area=03&Creative=19

Click on the Z and follow the links. Ron is that you & your BRE Z in one of the pics?