Nissan GTP

[Z-point]

This Nissan ended the dominance of the Porsches in U.S. sports car racing in the early '90's. Geoff Brabham drove the car to a championship in 1991. The V6 twin turbo was capable of making over 1000 horsepower. Even though the Porsche and Nissan cars had turbocharged 6 cylinder engines, the Nissan had a distinct sound and you can hear it when it speeds by!

check this! and wait until its loaded.

http://www.endorphin.com/sponsors/movies/nissan_gtp.php :bunny:

[Steve Parmley]

I am old enough to have watched them the first go round. Here is a pitstop I photographed at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma Ca.

http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=3413&password=&sort=7&thecat=500

[2ManyZs]

Don't say old Steve......:disappoin

I was a huge fan of IMSA in the "Glory Days" of racing, not only the GTP cars, but also the GTO and GTU cars as well.

Unfortunately, I never got to see a GTP race in person, but I did see a couple GTO/GTU races in person at Summit Point, WV.

I was always an AL Holbert/ Bob Tullius fan until the Nissan entered the fray. From then on it was Geoff Brabham all the way....:classic:

Still an admirer of the cars, especially the Nissan, the 962 and the Jaguar of Group 44's. Nothing today even comes close to the looks of those old cars. Seems every time I miss the big Vintage race that Brian Redmon puts on every year at SP, that is usually the year that Tullius has had his GTP car there....:disappoin

Oh, can't forget the 240SX GTU cars that the Leitzinger's drove either... they were quite a sight.

[Steve Parmley]

As a P.R. stunt Toyota under Dan Gurney would let members of the local press be part of the pit crew of their GTP cars. After blowing a motor in practice Sat. a new one was to be trucked in. At 2 A.M. I get the phone call that it had arrived. As the television photographer on this story I had to return to the pits (I lived only 20 minutes away) and shoot the crew swapping motors. A now favorite memory for this gear head. The next day the P.R. woman offered me a Toyota hat to replace the "Nissan" hat I had been wearing all weekend.

[Bambikiller240]

Oh, man IMSA!!! Boy do I miss the excitement of those races! I was fortunate to attend every IMSA race at Laguna Seca and Sears Point from 1978 until the day IMSA died.

in no particular order:

Tullius in that Beautiful Screaming V12 Jag XJR

John Paul Sr/Jr in the 935

Bob Wollek in a 935

Derek Bell in a 935

Peter Gregg in the 934's and 935's

Bob Holbert in the 962 (forget what he drove before them)

Frank Leary in the 240Z GTU

PL Newman in the various Z Cars

Bob Devendorff in the ZX's (drifting through T10 at Sears!)

Geoff Brabham in the Nissan ZX GTP

the list goes on but I'm at work and time is limited.

We need something with the excitement and flair of those events in the US, but we are stuck with Snorecar, Indy Rehab League, and what's left of Champcars (they became Chumpcars & commited suicide)

EDIT: (thanks Steve P. for reminding me)

Oh yeah and Gurney's "tiny mighty twin turbo" 1.6L Toyota(or was it 1.3 L) GTP

[26th-Z]

IMSA is kind of alive in the American LeMans Series - ALMS. I just saw the 1000km, ten hour race at Road Atlanta in October. Audi is king at the moment with their R8's. The Sebring 12 hour race is also an ALMS race and I saw the LeMans winning Bentley last spring in their only American appearance.

One of the things I have liked about ALMS is their "Meet the Drivers" venue the day before the race. I talked with Geoff a bit last fall. Bob Tullius keeps his collection of Group 44 cars in a hanger at Sebring and will show his cars by appointment.

The Nissan GTP car is just beautiful and I miss it as I miss many of the other cars of my younger days. I don't feel very old, but lets face it. Her Majesty the 26th is celebrating her 34th birthday this month!

[2ManyZs]

Hmm, maybe that's why I haven't seen any of the Group 44 cars... he snuck out of here and moved to warmer weather...:disappoin

He used to have his cars in a hanger at the Winchester, VA airport just down the road from his old race shop that Tom Milner (PTG) used, of course, maybe he's moved too....

Used to watch Tullius' T-6 flying over doing rolls and loops back years ago before Brian crashed it and lost his life.

Unfortunately, I never saw him flying this one over the house, but people have said he used to "buzz" the track with the P-51 during the Vintage races for fun....

http://www.fot-racing.com/historic/caption/mustang.htm