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The 1970's were definitely the decade of Datsun.
In 1976 Datsun once and for all erased any doubt that they were the choice of champion racing teams.
Datsuns won a total of 455 races and rallies, seven national championships, and 3 manufacturers
titles. Z cars won 79 percent of all national races in C-Production, with Elliot Forbes Robinson
taking the title. Brad Frisselle, in a Electromotive engineered 280z wins the 76 IMSA GTU
championship.
510's, 610's and 710's won 80 percent of all B sedan races. B-210's took 60 percent
of the C Sedan races. Even the long out of production 1600 and 2000 roadsters kicked butt in D and
G production. Datsun won numerous rally championships, in both cars and trucks. Jim Connor won the
Baja 1000 in his mini truck. A Z car set a new speed record in F/GT class at Bonneville with a
166.037 mph run. Datsun even showed up at the NHRA, with Paula Murphy lighting up the wheels on
her highly modified Datsun.
At the peak of Datsuns involvement in US auto racing, there were over 800 independent racing and
rally teams driving in the States, and thousands more weekend warriors doing the same at the local
level. Legendary Drivers like Walt Maas, Bob Sharp, Elliot Forbes-Robinson, Paul Newman, John Morton
and Frank Leary killed Porsches, Alfa's, BMW's and Corvettes in their Z's. Drivers like Sam Posey,
Rob McFarlin, Hershel McGriff, Dave Frellsen, Casey Mollett, Don Devendorf, and George "splash" Kord
triumphed in Datsuns in the IMSA and SCCA . Frank Ball and Ron Thompson made 510's fly to victory
at the Score Baja 500, with Jim Conner making minitrucks fly even higher.
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1970 - 240Z COMPETITION HIGHLIGHTS
The 240Z dominated the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) C-class production category for
10 years ranging from 1970 through 1979.
The twin pillars of Datsun performance in the early '70s were
Bob Sharp (BSR page) and Peter Brock (BRE page).
Bob was a Connecticut Datsun dealer and Brock had been part of Shelby American's success in the mid '60s.
Both successfully raced Datsun Roadsters and were tapped by company to spearhead Datsun racing in
America's East and West coast
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In 1970 and 1971 John Morton, -with only two regional races, both wins under his racing harness-
driving for Brock Racing Enterprises was the first to claim victory in SCCA C-Class production
racing, wheeling a surprisingly stock 240Z, just second one in the country.
Brock Racing Enterprise (BRE) placed young John Morton behind the wheel With only two regional
races -both wins- under his racing harness. Norton dethroned the Porches to win Datsun's first
SCCA C-Production title in 1970. Brock repeated as C-Production champion the fallowing year. |
John Morton poses with BRE 240Z and its crew
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Meanwhile Sharp had won Datsun's first race with the 240Z a national at Lime Rock, Connecticut,
in 1970, in a car that had been damaged by a model sitting on its roof at the New York International
Auto Show. Sharp drove that car to consecutive C-Production title in 1972 and 1973, then in 1975.
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Bob Sharp first race at Lime Rock
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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.
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The new face of BSR
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And what was good for the factory teams was good for the independents.
Dick Robinson created Datsun's competition department in US and the model for a very successful
grassroots racing program. Grids were filling up with Datsun's not only in C-Production, but in
the other classes as well.
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1974 - 1978 260Z-280Z COMPETITION HIGHLIGHTS
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The Z dominated C-Production. At the 1974 Runoffs the SCCA's championship, Datsuns occupied
the first five places on the grid, including pole sitting independent racer and eventual winner
Walt Mass in a 260Z
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Walt Mass 260Z
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Bob Sharp Won C-Production at 1975's Runoffs in a 280Z, after having won IMSA
(International Motor Sports Association) GTU division races to take that series title.
Sharp than retired from driving after being injured in a track accident, turning the wheel
over to Elliott Brad Frisselle and Forbes-Robinson. The capable Californian took IMSA GTU laurels in 1976,
backing that up with a hard-fought C-Production title as well. |
Bob Sharp 280Z
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Logan Blackbourn won the C-Production title in 1977 in a BRE racer that first went to the Runoffs in
1971 and would attend the SCCA fall classic for the last time in 1985. Underdog Frank Leary took the
C-Production crown in 1978. That same year, the SCCA rule makers instituted multiple classes for
the increasingly popular showroom-stock competition, and neophyte racer Deve Farkas captured the
first SS-A title in a 280Z
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1979 - 1983 280ZX COMPETITION HIGHLIGHTS
Couple of famous faces showed up in the championship wreaths during 1979. One of the known
mostly to hardcore racing fans Don Devendorf began racing-and winning- with Datsun 1200 hatchback
in 1971. By 1978 he was learning the ropes in GTU, and then clicked off nine wins in a 280ZX the
next year for a GTU title.
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The other famous face was actor Paul Newman. Bitten by the racing bug after starring in the movie
Winning, Newman worked his way up racing Datsun sedans to land a seat n a Bob Sharp's team. In the
field where only four cars were not 280Zs or ZXs, Newman won C-Production at the SCCA's Runoffs.
From there he graduated to an awe-inspiring wide body racing version of 280ZX powered by twin-turbo
700-hp V8 based on the engine from Nissan's home-market President sedan. Alas the car known simply
as "The Turbo" faced typical first-year teething problems, carried to much weight and was always
one step behind its German competition. IMSA soon switched to pure prototypes thus ending the car's
career prematurely "the first chapter in a book that was never really completed" according to
Sharp. |
The wide body racing 280ZX
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Nissan, for 1981, chose to limit its professional acing efforts primarily to IMSA GTO. This put
Devendorf and Electomotive in the hot seat, preparing a twin-turbocharged 2.8-liter inline-6 that
generated an impressive 700 hp. The effort culminated in 1983, when teamed with Tony Adamowicz,
Devendorf posted IMSA GTS wins.
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1984 - 1989 300ZX COMPETITION HIGHLIGHTS
Jim Fitzgerald drove a 300 ZX to a 1984 SCCA GT-1 championship, Morris Clement capturing GT-2
in a 280ZX. Fitzy's team-mate at BSR, Paul Newman, claimed GT-1 title in 1985 and 1986, and
Bob Sharp's son Scott earned his first big-league championship in a team car in 1987.
A Nissan-backed and powered effort in IMSA's GTP series resulted in the first of a string of
championships in 1988, Geoff Brabham won the driver's title and Nissan the manufacture's.
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The exotic race cars , prepared by Don Devendorf's Electromotive , were powered by modified
version of the 300ZX turbo engine and would sweep the GTP series through 1991, winning the
12 Hours Sebring 1989-1991.
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1990 - 1996 300ZX COMPETITION HIGHLIGHTS
The Nissan 300ZX took up in IMSA GTS where the Electromotive GTP car left off, winning the
championship.. In fact in 1992, the likable Kiwi Steve Miller won the driver's championship
while also racing up enough points, with a 3rd place finish, to win the manufacture's title
for Nissan. In 1993, it was GTU and Butch Leitzinger taking the diver's title.
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Back to the GTS for 1994, the 300ZX team claimed the manufacturer's crown for Nissan after a
second overall Daytona 24 Hours victory, plus a class victory and fifth overall at the 24 Hours
LeMans, A third consecutive 12 Hours of Sebring followed, counting towards Nissan's 100th IMSA GT
victory, at Sears Point. Nissan also racked up its 72nd and 73rd SCCA National Championships, not
all in Z cars but impressive nonetheless, with another SCCA national title following in 1996.
Nissan Z Timeline From DATSUN 240Z TO NISSAN 300ZX, Over 25 Years of a Classic
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