Peter Brock, of Brock Racing Enterprises, is seen between an original Datsun 240Z and the Nissan 370Z 50th anniversary edition.The Globe and Mail
Peter Brock, 82 years young, stood beaming in Nissan’s display at the New York auto show, fronting 50th anniversary editions of a model he helped make famous as a young racer in his early 30s.
Back in the 1960s, Japanese imports had yet to become established in Canada and the United States for their reliability, economy and engineering. Rather, in contrast to the powerful muscle cars Detroit that obsessed with back in the day – much like SUVs today – they were oft slammed as imitative, cheaply built commuters.
Then came Brock and a Japanese executive known as Mr. K, together championing the Datsun 240Z. Yutaka Katayama, or Mr. K., believed Nissan could compete with Toyota, Honda and German-built Volkswagens in North America on two fronts – with a four-door passenger car that would be the Datsun 510, introduced in 1967, and with a GT Coupe, the Z-car, first brought to market in 1969 and raced in 1970.
The 240Z and Toyota 2000GT, each built sleekly and characterized by a long swooping hood, demonstrated that Japanese manufacturers were capable of building high performance sports cars. In their wake have flowed the likes of the Mazda RX7, Lexus LFA, Nissan GT-R and Honda NSX.
“Fifty years ago, people were focused on [sports] cars from Europe, like Porsche, and for Nissan to come out with this car, well, nobody had seen anything like this,” Brock said. “We qualified for two national championships. Nobody expected it.”
Brock, head of Southern California-based Brock Racing Enterprises, first qualified for the Sports Car Club of America’s national championships in 1969 with a Datsun 2000, an accomplishment, he would later write, that earned a meeting with Mr. K.
“He asked us to run the 240Z for the next two years under the Datsun USA banner," Brock said, in New York.
Within Nissan, Mr. K’s reputation was at stake. In short order, the BRE team had to acquire an understanding of Japanese culture, including careful treading when making requests for mechanical improvements, as they might be perceived as criticism.
“There could never be any hint of impropriety,” Brock would later write in Classic Motorsports magazine. "Any such infraction, for a Japanese sponsor, would bring dishonor and ‘loss of face.’ It would also be a personal disgrace for the head of the company and would create corporate and even national shame. "
Hurriedly, the Datsun 510′s engine was modified according to the SCCA circuit rules by adding two cylinders and increasing displacement, and driver John Morton took the car into the western region races. After further frantic modifications by the BRE team, especially to the crank shaft, Morton dominated in the late stages of the season, ultimately winning the national championship twice consecutively.
Success on the track generated sales at the dealership.
“It was a sports car with a sleek body, with a long nose and a short deck, designed so that it could be built utilizing some of the parts and components that were already used in our other production cars," Katayama, who would live past the age of 100, reflectively told the Japanese magazine, Car Graphic. “It was a car that anybody could drive easily and that would give the driver that incredible feeling of jubilation that comes when car and driver are as one. Fortunately, it became a big hit, and we were soon turning out 4,000 units a month.”
The 240Z has evolved into the 370Z over time, and the anniversary edition of that 1970 championship car will be marketed in Canada in four versions: base, Sport, Sport Touring and the 370Z NISMO. The Sport model is the foundation for the 50th Anniversary model. The exterior mimes the original BRE race car, coming in white with red accents, or alternatively, silver with black accents.
“Putting the red, white and blue on that car integrated the car into the American psyche," Brock said. "It launched the whole image of Nissan in that time. Before that, people didn’t really understand the capability of Japanese cars.”
Nissan Canada announced pricing for the 50th anniversary 370Z on Tuesday: $37,398 with six-speed manual transmission, $38,898 with seven-speed automatic.
In New York, Nissan also displayed a 50th anniversary edition of the GT-R, known to cultists as Godzilla. It will come to Canada at the GT-R Premium and GT-R Track Edition in two-tone exterior colours representing liveries from the Japan GP series. Nissan is adding new twin turbochargers to the 3.8-litre V-6, 24-valve engine, increasing rpm response and efficiency by 5 per cent.
The writer was a guest of the automaker. Content was not subject to approval.
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