Ron Carter

Nothing against, Sal or the guys at MSA, but Stahl headers are already available from Classic Datsun, and the pricing should be better from Les.

Hi Jerry, I was by Les's shop this week to return my roadster after racing at Phoenix and saw your car on the rack. It is stripped down and ready to go to the body shop. Looking great so far. You have good reasons to be excited as it is really moving along.

You know I think it is funny that the twit above had to insult the owner/seller of this car in order to feel better personally. It says a lot about the shortcomings of the individual who made those comments. I have seen this car in person several times including parked across from him at the 2000 NZC. It is not my taste, but the car was always nicely turned out and well done. R

Got to go with Folgers...Better resonance. There are lots of tips to choose from I always liked the looks of the tips off a 944 Porsche which were oblong in shape. I will see if I can't find a photo to post.

Yeah! that is a great model. Lots of detail for its size!

DP Racing offers several different levels of camber plates for Z cars. They have a street version and a full race version.

Very well done!!

Living in the East bay I recall seeing the Black Primadonna Z several times, once in Lake Tahoe, once on the Bay Shore freeway. I think I spoke to the owner as well, on one occasion. It was a interesting car, larger than life. I am glad the car is in good hands. It is gawdy in a Miami Vice sort of way, definately a time capsule. Since there are so few examples I hope that someone takes good care of the remaining cars.

IT LIVES!! Gongrats Mike! glad to see your yellow hotrod on the road!

Four Peaks brewery is a lot of fun, and a great bar. That would be my recomendation.... R

Sorry Jmark, I am in Phoenix racing this weekend. Les says nothing more than 1 1/2"

There are a couple of other options: BRE race header replica, $1500.00 Rebello Stepped race header $?? Nissan motorsports header with huge primaries that would not work well... But for the best performance in a street or race car I would suggest the Stahl. I have spoken to Jere and he really knows his stuff. Builds a really well made product...It's worth the money. The MSA header's primary tubes might be a little big for a 2.4 I know that Les Cannaday has another option as well along with the Stahl that he sells. you might want to call him for his personal take on what is available. 760-940-6365. les@classicdatsun.com

WingZr0, Thanks for your nice words. The guys at PDK Fabrication did a brilliant job doing all the fabrication and body work. It is as real as it gets with the exception of the correct chassis serial number. I will have the car at MSA this year, come by and say hi.

Thanks Nate, Good point. I do know that they are the title sponsor for CORR, and almost made a notation of that in my post you quoted above. Nissan needs to know that promoting their past will help them to sell new cars. They have an awesome racing history in the USA and abroad. I would hope that they would use this as a tool to sell cars. Like what Porsche does. I own, a Z, 510, Roadster and Armada. I could have, and almost did, buy a Toyota. But due to sense of loyalty I could not see myself towing my racing Datsuns with a Toyota. How many Z owners on this forum own a 1983 or newer Nissan, and if so what cars. Then put together a letter with the demographics and send it to Nissan. It would be interesting to know who on the 350Z/G35 sites, HybridZ, Clubarmada.com and others were influenced by the ownership or history of the product that they drive. And how important was that to them at the time of their purchase! I get comments from "Kids", (I am 40 so everyone under the age of 27 is a kid to me) who see one of my race cars and are really interested in it, what it is what its known for, etc. Same with the Drifting crowd. They have lots of respect for the older Japanese cars and love them the way the generation before us loved muscle cars. I will tell you for every one Toyota I see racing in Vintage there are at least to 25 racing Datsuns. That says something about owner loyalty, and the quality product behind the Nissan/Datsun Marque. The only car I know of that has such a following is Porsche! Alfa Romeo is a distant 3rd. I welcome anyone who is willing to put this together, and contact Nissan. I will put that person in contact with my contacts at Nissan for what it is worth. But I will warn anyone who wants to take on this project, don't expect much in return.

Looking Good Mike! will you be down for MSA this year in a running driving car?

I think the burden of proof is on the person, or persons that claimed that the cars were crushed and not the other way around. I would like to see proof that one of the cars was crushed. Otherwise it is just a rumor in my mind...How do you disprove a rumor that can't be substantiated in the first place? As for Nissan USA, well they have "loaned" their cars to a museum, and had to cut back on their inventory to do so. Nissan sold the cars that they could not get into the Lane Museum... Toyota built their own Museum, where they are not restricted to the number of cars. Another example: the JCCS show here in Southern California, Toyota supports this event by showing up with a tractor-trailer rig full of rare beautiful Toyotas. Nissan, which has a much larger turn out in pure numbers and percentage of cars, did the minimum. I spoke to my contacts at Nissan USA, in the marketing department prior to the JCCS event. They did not even show up for this event. Again, their interest is NISSAN cars, not Datsuns. Nissan USA is in the business of selling new cars, they support any action that "in their mind" supports the sale of new cars and trucks. Supporting a Vintage event is not in their best interest. Nissan was on board to support the Mitty last year, the first celebration of the Vintage Japanese car... and backed out rather publicly after the fliers were completed...Mazda stepped in and will sponsor through 2009. Mazda supports racing...Laguna Seca is sponsored by Mazda. To my knowledge Nissan does not support a track in North America. Please understand that this is not a bashing of Nissan, rather a statement that they could be doing better. There are aspects of NISSAN USA that are well done, and I do support them. My daily driver is a 05 Armada, and it is a great SUV. I would hope that NISSAN USA would show a unified front and gather their resources to support the history of the cars that is the foundation of their marque. I will continue to hope that they do so some time in the near future, because at the end of the day I still am an advocate for these great cars, past and present.

Victor you are right, none of the cars at Gardena were very well taken care of. Most sat around, coated in dust, with flat tires. All of the cars were not in a state where they could be "viewed" by the general public. As a matter of fact you had to know where the facility was, know the right people to talk to, and then ask them if you could see the cars. Although I have not been to the Toyota Museum, I have heard it is nice. But Nissan USA formerly Datsun is still haunted by it's old name, and feels that it has to ignore the Datsun name, so these wonderful old cars, are relegated to obscurity...

The BRE 510 was at the Runoff's this year along with Peter Brock who spoke to the SCCA. The BRE 510 has traveled to Japan at least once that I know of, but not in the last year that I am aware of.

The Nissan dream garage was a set at Sony 99% of what you see was CGI (not the cars but the background) all added after the initial photography. Les Cannaday supplied several of the cars in the dream garage commercial and photo, and was on hand for the filming. He can give you specific details. The cars in Gardena (which I got to see on several occasions), were sold or are on hand at the lane museum, almost of them that were marked for sale went to employees who had the first shot at them, a small few went to private parties. Zulater works for Nissan, is a huge advocate of the early Datsuns and has relocated back to Tennesee with Nissan corporate. His explanation is correct. Now sadly Nissan sold several cars that they should have kept, and kept several they should have sold...but they did not know or pay attention to what they were doing...and they did not consult with the people who knew the cars. Sadly a large amount of historical "items" of significance have just vanished too...Some of which I have seen on ebay. Some of which will probably never be recovered. I will get off my soap box now.

Hey Mark, I was wondering when you were going to drop in on this conversation.... On the record, I purchased all that cool stuff from YOU!! And your right, my car is a trailer queen. All that work, time and money and well I am afraid to drive it agressively on the track. I can say that it has been driven on the track by John Morton though... All the info from the article came from an info sheet that I put together eighteen months ago. I do think you got mentioned in the article in the last magazine it was in though.:stupid: :stupid: Hey I thought you would be at the VARA thing this weekend, and not under the knife. Also I did not hear that you had an on track incident. When was this? Las Vegas? We are going out to Phoenix to go racing this weekend with the Roadster. I just put in my 4.88 gearset (the one I should have had at Las Vegas) to run Phoenix. Wish you were coming out with us. HSR runs a great event!

Craig, It was great to see you and meet Cindy! enjoy the Panasports!! It was a real thrill to have John Morton drive my Z on the track for it's first track outing, and although it does not mention it in the article if you look closely you can see John's glasses through the eye opening on the Simpson helmet on the cover pages, driving my car. John is always very gracious. JMark, I am trying to find a way to make it to Daytona this year. It is not easy or cheap to do so. Really I want to bring two cars. Both my Roadster and my Z for the show and trackdays. I hope to see you all on the east coast too. Sblake & e_racer, thanks for your nice words, hope to see you guys at MSA this year.

Here is a scan of the article for you guys who dont get the magazine. http://www.datsunracing.us/RC-World/SCC_03-07.pdf

I sent Pete an email after reading the story in Vintage Motorsport. http://www.vintagemotorsport.com/show_news.asp?id=836 I also spoke to Les Cannaday, who spoke to Gayle directly. She told Les that Pete's surgery went really well. I am sure Pete will be up and around in no time at all, as he hates to sit still.

Hi Jerry, Just read some of your comments. Thank you for your nice words about my roadster. I was by Les's shop the other day. Looks like he is making progress getting your car stripped down. (I think it is yours as there are several orange early Z's at les's shop currently). Best! Ron