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Bob Sharp Racing Enterprise (BSR)
With over 20 National titles, and probably double that in regional titles, and a son who now races
in the IRL, it's fair to say that Bob Sharp and Bob Sharp Racing is one of the most successful
racing stories in the history of American, and Nissan Motor sports. It's a pretty amazing story
for a guy who started out sharing a car with another driver, and who started his racing team out
of a gas station garage in Connecticut.
The Datsun Roadster was raced to ten National SCCA Championships over a 20 year period. The first
of these Championships, which also represented Nissan's first National Championship, was collected
by Bob Sharp in 1967.
He was one of the most successful Datsun roadster campaigners during the years of its production.
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Sharp started his long Datsun and Nissan campaign in 1964, driving a Datsun 1500 for a Rambler/Datsun
dealership, P Bruck & Son, in Connecticut. The owner, Paul Bruck, had decided on investing in a race
car to advertise his dealership. Bob and the team finished third in the SCCA's North-East Divisional
standings, and Bob qualified his 1500 for the First American Road Race of Champions, held at Riverside
in November 1964. Although he did not finish at the runoffs, this was an excellent start to his race
career in his first season.
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First win driving Datsun 1500 Roadster
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The Rambler/Datsun dealership soon went bankrupt and Bob decided to set up on his own car sales and repair
business in a gas station and shop in Ridgefield, Conn. Still running two cars, he had caught the eye
of Nissan's East Coast boss, Mr Kawazoe, who agreed to back Bob's team for the 1965 race season.
In 1965, the Datsun 1500 was an unusual sight on the track. It was only when the likes of Bob on the
East Coast and Tommy Allen, from the Mid-West, started getting a few results, that more racers started
looking at the Datsun as a viable alternative to the Spitfire, Sprite and Midget. The Datsun was
definitely a cheap way of breaking into SCCA racing.
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Roadster 1500, 1600 and 2000 campaignes
Bob's 1500, which was stripped to within a whisker of the 5% weight reduction allowed by the SCCA
at this time, gained an extra horse power with every 19lbs removed. Bumpers, glass and interior
fittings were all stripped and the steel wheels were replaced by 5x13 Empis. The stock bolt on
windscreen lent itself nicely to replacement by a perspex screen and, with the chassis/frame rails
directly under the ledge behind the seat, fitment of the 2" diameter rollbar was easy.
Bob's engine and suspension mods were thorough from the early days, and the BSR 1500s were always
well turned out. For the 1965 season, with Nissan's backing, Bob fought his way to become the
North-East Divisional Champion. This was also Datsun/Nissan's first Divisional Championship. Bob
was invited to the ARRC, that year held at Daytona, where he placed an excellent 3rd, ahead of Dick
Gilmartin (4th in a Spitfire) and Fred Darling (5th in his Sprite) who Bob had battled against all
season in NE Division.
A further successful season in 1966 followed, resulting in a second place in that year's Divisional
standings, and a fifth place in his third ARRC, just five seconds behind Jim Fitzgerald in his Morgan,
who himself placed behind would be Bob Sharp racer Dick Gilmartin in his Spitfire.
Soon Bob was to receive more support from Nissan. The factory support and competition funding for
all Datsun campaigners, helped by Bob's initial success, was to increase dramatically.
During the early years, Bob raced under a number of competition numbers. However, it was not long
before he could call #33 his very own.
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With Nissan now taking a keen interest in competition, and following the team's early success
with the Datsun 1500, Bob Sharp was well placed to build on his achievements with the launch of
the 1600 in 1965. In 1967, Bob was asked by Nissan to become their competition consultant, in which
role he produced the Datsun Competition Preparation Manual jointly with Nissan.
On the track, Bob continued to perform well. In 1966, his first season in F Production with the
1600, he qualified for his fourth Runoffs. |
F Production with the 1600
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1967 was the most successful of all Bob's years at the wheel of the roadster, when he finished
first in the Divisional standings once more. At the ARRC held that year at Daytona, Bob went on
to win his first SCCA national title, ahead of Don Carmichael (Sunbeam Alpine) and the Datsun
Racing Team's.
Bob continued to race the Datsun successfully in F Production in 1968 and 1969, qualifying for
the ARRC in both seasons, whilst also campaigning the Datsun 2000, (during 1968 in C Producton,
with Solex carbs, and 1969 in D Production, with Hitachi carbs).
His campaign in the 2000 started as early as 1967 when, during the season, the Solex 2000 was
launched, with SCCA sanction for competition in C Production. Bob, who had qualified his 1600
for the National Runoffs, was also invited to the C Production Runoffs, against competition
wholly consisting of Porsches and Lotuses.
Against the Porsche competition, Bob reached a creditable 12th place in this, the year of his
first National Championship, in his Datsun 1600.
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C Production with the 2000
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For the 1968 season, the Datsun 2000 was still classified in C Production. Whilst still
campaigning the 1600 in F Production, Bob had an excellent year in the 2000.
For 1969, he campaigned the lightweight roadster, of which less than 10 were believed to
have left Japan. From 1968 the roadster came with the SU set-up as standard, and this model
was classified in the SCCA's D Production class.
By 1969 Bob had hired the talents of Jim Fitzgerald, who was to run for the team in the SCCA's
South East Division. Jim had started out in G Production driving a Morgan and he moved on to
the Datsun 1500. In 1969, he started campaigning one of Bob Sharp's five salt damaged 2000
roadsters'. This car was to take him to the national DP title at the ARRC, Road Atlanta, in 1970.
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Bob Sharp's Z Collection
Bob Sharp was also the first racer to get the 240z. The 240Z was introduced to US racing way
before it was supposed to be, all because on an unfortunate, or for Bob Sharp, fortunate event.
Bob had gone to see the New Z car at the New York auto show well before it became available for
sale. He fell in love with it and called up Mr. Kawasoe and asked him if he could have one for
racing. He was told, "none were available, unless a salt damaged one shows up". The Car went
on to the Toronto Auto Show. While there, a model sat on the roof and put a rather large dent
in the car. It was immediately pulled from the publicity tour. Sharp got a call from Mr. Usami
one of Kawasoe's people, who told him to come pick up the damaged car before Nissan execs
changed their minds. His West Coast counterparts, Pete Brock and BRE, would have to wait a
couple more months to get their first Z car. Both teams would have 2 240z's each on the track
by the end of 1970.
With his new 240z, again with number 33 painted on the side, Bob went on to win divisional titles
in 1970 and 71, and C production championships in 1972, 1973, and 1975 before turning the drivers
seat over to other people, namely Elliot Forbes-Robinson and Brad Frisselle.
Datsun was pushing the 510 as a race car at the same time as the Z and Bob Sharp, like BRE, was
right up front . Sharp drove his number 33 510 to B SCCA Sedan national titles in 1971 and 1972
at the same time as John Morton was taking his car to Trans Am Series championships. Sharp moved
up to a 610 for 1973, but Dave Frellsen took the B Sedan title in an older 510.
It wasn't until 1979 that Sharps BSR team would see another major title, this time with an unlikely
driver at the wheel, actor Paul Newman. Paul Newman had learned to drive for the movie "Winning" at
Bob Bondurant's Performance Driving school at Riverside, CA. Paul, and fellow actor Robert Wagner,
had been Bondurant's 4 th and 5th customers after Bondurant's separation from Carroll Shelby's racing
school. Bondurant was using 2 Datsun roadsters and a 510 at the time, as well as a formula Vee.
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Newman began racing on and off for Sharps team in 1977, after Newman assisted previous Sharp Driver
Elliot Forbes Robinson in a successful run in a Budweiser sponsored Can Am racing team. Newman took
the controls of a Z car for BSR , a 280z in 1978 and was one of 4 drivers given a shot at the new
280zx in 1979. |
The "Budy" 280ZX
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For the 1981 season Sharp, in partnership with Electromotive, decided to escape GTU and the Mazda's
and move up to IMSA GT class for cars over 2.5 liters. With a Nissan President 4.5 liter V8 engine
and the work of Gene Crowe and chassis designer Trevor Harris, the two teams developed a couple of
unsuccessful turbocharged ZX's. They had the power, but the engine design lacked strength and cracked
under pressure. The IMSA now shifted focus to allow even more highly modified prototype cars that
outclassed even a 700 horsepower twin turbo V8 ZX. The project was abandoned.
SCCA C production became GT-2 in the early 80's, but Bob Sharp set his team goals on the GT-1 class.
With a series of outstanding 300zx turbo cars, and the even more outstanding driving of Jim Fitzgerald,
Paul Newman and Bob's son Scott Sharp, BSR won the GT-1 class five years in a row from 1984 to 1988.
Bob Sharp Racing became Newman Sharp Racing in the 80's, cementing a shared love of racing into a
very successful business partnership.
Scott Sharp actually won his first National Championship in the 1986 GT-2 series in his father's
original 240Z. The car had been sold to Jim Fitzgerald in the mid Seventies, and eventually sold
back to the senior Sharp when it was retired in 1979 for a new ZX. The car was lovingly restored in
Sharps basement, and then taken back out on the track in 1986. With updates to 280z specs, Scott
Sharp drove the same car to victory in '86 that his father had taken to victory in '72 and '73.
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