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Story by Peter Brock • Photos as Credited • Illustrations by Sarah Young
If not for a small but highly talented group of racers in Southern California, the Datsun 240Z might not have become such an American …
We engineers have a saying. If you throw enough money at a problem, we can solve it. This was BRE's advantage over most other teams that got little to no factory support; the 'three M's'. They got money, machinery and manpower from Datsun to help them.
Peter Brock and BRE were given a Competition Budget and supplied with Datsun's by Nissan Motor Co. Ltd (in Japan). BRE prepare and race Datsun’s in 1968. The Factory supplied Works Rally 510’s for BRE to run the off road races at Baja. Then the Factory sent Light Weight Roadsters to BRE from Japan - before Nissan USA and Mr. K. were ever involved. Nissan Motors in USA did sponsor a local team via the Nissan Competition Dept. but that effort was not really successful. When BRE starting winning races on the West Coast with the roadsters - was when Mr. K first heard of them, and in turn wanted to met them.
It is also significant to note that most Datsun Dealers on the West Coast had long "Customer Order Waiting Lists" for DATSUN 240Z's before BRE or Bob Sharp Racing ever appeared with them On Track. By March of 1970 backorders were running 6 to 8 months at most Dealerships. While the success of BRE and BSR certainly enhanced sales - that first year they didn't drive the demand.
"In Japan, few in Nissan’s hierarchy had any understanding of the American market or its impending federal regulations regarding cleaner air. "
The above statement is far from accurate. In 1965 Mr. K was promoted to President of Nissan Motor Co. in USA. Mr. Kawazoe had been Vice President of Eastern Sales. Mr. Kawazoe was a Degreed and experience Engineer with excellent English Language skills. He was reassigned to Washing D.C. to represent not only Nissan’s interests, but the interests of Japan’s Automotive industry. Specifically to work on pending US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and DOT/EPA Emissions Standards. These were all followed closely and were well known by Nissan Japan, during the design of the Datsun 240Z.
I always feel that attention to detail, thoroughnesss and neatness overcome some budget deficits.
Here is an photo of John getting ready to take to the track for his first testing session at Road Atlanta in 2018. At the end of that testing day, John was talking with another driver, Gary Savage, about the line to take coming out from under the bridge and going into the last turn. After getting the suggested line from Gary, John went out to walk the track in that section so he would be ready to run it the next day.
There was a good reason the 240Z engine had the resonanance problem in it's early iterations.
Prince was acquired by Nissan some time before the Z car was commited to production. Prince had been in dire straights and ceased car production and decided to focus on just delivery trucks. They had no money for a suitable truck engine so they licenced one from Mercedes in Germany. Their Japanese bank facilitated the acquistion by Nissan/datsun.
So when Datsun needed an engine in a hurry (see below) they ended up using the Prince/Mercedes light truck 6 cylinder which had never been intended to be reved above 4-5K rpm. I've always suspected that the lack of feedback from Japan to the US and the delay in producing a resonance free crankshaft was that the Prince/Datsun engineers had to go back to Mercedes for help to get the problem solved in a hurry. Loss of face and all that plus confidentiality contracts kept this relationship under covers to the public at large and presumably BRE and Sharp as well.
Remember, at the corporate level, the Z car was a response to the very positive reception the Toyota 2000 GT had received. Datsun had initially negotiated with Yamaha to produce a 'modular' engine that could be built in 4 and 6 cylinder versions. The Datsun contract with Yamaha had Yamaha keeping the design ownership and Datsun paying a premium price to Yamaha to build the engines.
When the Toyota 2000 GT was cancelled by Toyota (as it was too expensive to build and sell well), Datsun cancelled (shelved?) the Z car project as no longer necessary and Yamaha was left with some great DOHC engine designs but no sales.
So Yamaha approached Toyota with the same engine design that Datsun no longer wanted and presto, The Celica GT was born and Datsun had a problem. They had a car but no engine. That is why they resorted to the Prince SOHC 6 cylinder light truck engine when they frantically restarted the Z car program now required to compete with the Celica GT.
I loved my Z cars. They were smooth and bullet proof, but then they were designed to be used 'hauling the freight' for years and years so why wouldn't they. Every Z I owned was totally reliable for well over 100,000 miles each. Then I bought a Maxima. Quick but dull. The V6 just didn't zing.
Japanese car company politics, the direct influence of Japanese banks and the Japanese determination not to 'lose face' created intense yet very private competition between Toyota and Nissan/Datsun. To find out what was happening between these two companies one needs good sources. In Germany as well as Japan.
BTW. If you happen to park a Mercedes 230/250/280SL alongside a Datsun 240/260/280Z, both with their hoods open, compare the layout closely, and especially the later Bosch mechanical fuel injection models. As Schultz would say, "Veeeerrrryyy interestink".
Wonderful story and comments from some knowledgable folks on the success of Nissan/Datsun with the 240Z.
The reason I waited 6 months in 1971 to get my 240Z. Still have it today with many thanks to Peter Brock for his help in the years and this great story.
Thanks for an awesome article, brought back some good memories.
Back in 1995 they had the Z anniversary at Road Atlanta. Mr. K was there, remember being in the pits during the track day talking to Mr. K and mentioning I had a 510 and going around to dealerships with my family, looking at 510's then them purchasing an early 1970 4 door. He became very passionate and related to me that he had gone to the port of Long Beach, watched the first 510's coming off the boat and cried with happiness seeing them.
The part about the Z going around Riverside and hearing every shift reminds me of being at one of the Z1 Motorsport Z Nationals. Riding in the BRE 370 right next to the BRE 240, can certainly attest to how loud and distinctive exhaust note it has.
Remember being in the pits at the Mitty and helping carry in the motors to Randy's trailer.
Good times, hopefully more will come this summer at ZCON in Tampa this upcoming September
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