Let's show vintage racing pictures. I'll start.

[Carl Beck]

Hi Mike:

Great - I was looking for pictures of that car a few weeks ago... thanks, I'll add it to my collection...

FWIW,

Carl B.

[TomoHawk]

I'll add in my car since Will and Chris didn't make it to the track day at the last convention.

Edited February 26, 2009 by TomoHawk

[26th-Z]

That's exactly what this thread is intended to do, Mike! Let's have a little fun and dig into those old boxes in the attic!

Here's Daytona at the 24-hour some long time ago. I don't remember who this is. Running in GTU.

[preith]

That's exactly what this thread is intended to do, Mike! Let's have a little fun and dig into those old boxes in the attic!

Here's Daytona at the 24-hour some long time ago. I don't remember who this is. Running in GTU.

Great pic! I'm fairly sure that's the HLS30 00008 car, originally owned by Bob Speakman, currently by Tom Bork of NY, here's the zhome page:

http://www2.zhome.com:81/History/Bork.htm

here was some discussion on hybridz on the accuracy of Bob's actual race results, but he did participate nonetheless.

[26th-Z]

There is a web site that chronicles race results (racingsportscars.com) and I wouldn't be so sure of what is written about the car on Zhome. (Sorry Carl) It is not listed on the entry list in 1975 and it didn't finish 4th overall - George Dyer's 911 RSR did in 1975. In 1976, car #81 was a 911S.

I didn't want to say anything, but I do remember talking to the guy because the car was a very low serial # and that would have interested me at the time because I owned 26th. "At the time" would have been 1984 and car #81 shows up on the entry list for the 24-hours of Daytona as a 240Z driven by John Saucier, Ronnie Franklin, and Chuck Gravel. It was gridded 42nd, as I remember, and I don't recall the car finishing. Perhaps it did, 4th in class perhaps?

[Carl Beck]

There is a web site that chronicles race results (racingsportscars.com) and I wouldn't be so sure of what is written about the car on Zhome. (Sorry Carl) It is not listed on the entry list in 1975 and it didn't finish 4th overall - George Dyer's 911 RSR did in 1975. In 1976, car #81 was a 911S.

Hi Chris:

Dr. Bork and Mr. Speakman provided the history - and it may indeed have been off the tops of their head.

Looking at the Site you reference - it looks like the sentence should say;

At the 1978 24 Hours of Daytona, Bob Speckman's Z was the first Z to cross the finish line, taking 26th overall and and 4th in IMSA's GT-U Class.

Sponsored by Bondurant Racing School, Bob shared driving duties with Chris Doyle and John Maffucci.

It looks like the first Z to finish a 24 hour race at Dayton was Bruce Mabrito and Jack Steel's 240Z in 1975. 26th O/A and 7th in GT-U.

Interesting site - I'd like to see where their source data comes from - a lot of it seems to be contributed by specators...I wonder if they had access to Daytona's actual records...

FWIW,

Carl B.

Edited February 26, 2009 by Carl Beck
corrected year from 76 to 78

[peterc]

Great thread. Phil, wonder how hard it was to change the steering on #28 from LHS to RHS? .

Cheers,

p

[Colin240z]

Great thread...

Attached is a shot my Dad took back in the day...Bob Sharp GTU 260Z/280Z

The scene is the Lime Rock paddock...replete with 'period' haircuts and mustaches

Cheers,

Colin

[26th-Z]

Hi Chris:

Dr. Bork and Mr. Speakman provided the history - and it may indeed have been off the tops of their head.

Looking at the Site you reference - it looks like the sentence should say;

At the 1978 24 Hours of Daytona, Bob Speckman's Z was the first Z to cross the finish line, taking 26th overall and and 4th in IMSA's GT-U Class.

Sponsored by Bondurant Racing School, Bob shared driving duties with Chris Doyle and John Maffucci.

It looks like the first Z to finish a 24 hour race at Dayton was Bruce Mabrito and Jack Steel's 240Z in 1975. 26th O/A and 7th in GT-U.

Interesting site - I'd like to see where their source data comes from - a lot of it seems to be contributed by specators...I wonder if they had access to Daytona's actual records...

FWIW,

Carl B.

Carl,

I completely understand and you are to be commended for even posting a page on the car. However, I'm still confused. Here's the page on the Bondurant car in 1978. 24th overall and the drivers were Bob Bondurant, Steve Cook and Ron Southern. And I don't think this is HLS30-00008.

That site is pretty cool. It has been years in the making. They have result records and members send in pictures. I have a few posted. They don't let you clip the picture off the net anymore but a fast-forward to the Nissan GTP years is well worth the surf. Incidently, I think you'll find a 240Z finishing the 1973 Sebring 12-hour. What year did the Z compete at LeMans?

But since you brought up Bob Bondurant, this might be a good moment to talk a little bit about him. Bob raced Formula One in the mid sixties. He plays a role in the John Frankenheimer film; "Grand Prix" and was James Garner's driving instructor. Bob drove for Carrol Shelby and you will find him involved in the Cobra and GT40 programs. He is a close friend of Yutaka Katayama and operates the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving.

Edited February 27, 2009 by 26th-Z

[26th-Z]

Let's go back to 1976 for a moment. Elliot Forbes-Robinson would take over driving duties for Bob Sharp who was injured in an accident in 1975. Bob had won the SCCA C-production national championship in '72, '73, and '75 having given it up in '74 to Walt Maas in his 260Z. Bob was campaigning a 280Z in SCCA C-production and a 240Z in IMSA Grand Touring Under 2.5 liter displacement. He was GTU champion in 1975. However eight of the eleven IMSA GTU races in 1976 went to Brad Frisselle and his 240Z. Brad drove to victory with John Morton in the Mid Ohio 6-hour and the Road Atlanta 1000k. Elliot Forbes-Robinson won only at Pocono where he finished a spectacular third overall. Here is a Datsun press release photo of the two cars from 1976. Sorry for the quality. The original documents are really old.

Brad's car showed up at a Walter Mitty race in Atlanta in 2006 and I managed to grab a few shots of it.

Edited February 27, 2009 by 26th-Z

[preith]

Great thread. Phil, wonder how hard it was to change the steering on #28 from LHS to RHS?

It's LHS in both pics. The 'recent' pic looks deceiving perhaps due to a long lens, but the petty bar should be sufficient proof. I have studied the car personally.

On the HLS30 00008 car, perhaps I should've kept my mouth shut! :tapemouth

I was hoping it wouldn't drag into the distraction it has. Perhaps the pic 26th-Z posted is not the same car, and agreed - kudos to Carl for posting the page, but we can all agree the '08 car WAS at Daytona. Come to think of of it, Carl, please don't hate me but I was the one who posted the link on Hybrid...

Anyway, thanks for the great pics everyone, good stuff!

[Carl Beck]

Carl,

I completely understand and you are to be commended for even posting a page on the car. However, I'm still confused. Here's the page on the Bondurant car in 1978. 24th overall and the drivers were Bob Bondurant, Steve Cook and Ron Southern. And I don't think this is HLS30-00008.

Hi Chris:

Bondurant finished 24th 0/A in the 78 race and it looks like 7th in Class. He also sponsored Speckman's team. Speckman's car is listed as a Datsun 260Z... but then it couldn't have been in GT-U if it really had been a 260Z. So that was most likely HLS30 00008.

Dr. Bork may have the log books from that period... I'll check..

FWIW,

Carl B.