race cars of the 70s

[ben240z]

A couple of threads running at the moment keep talking about if nissan had provided more equipment(LY heads, for example) then we would have used it over here. Now those threads are dealing with the ins and outs on the equipment , what I want to know is
who would have used the stuff over here in the 70s?

What cars were actually racing or competing in motorsport in the 70s?

I am ready to be shot down in flames here but as far as I was aware there were a couple of rally cars and spikes sam. Hardly a thriving market for nissan to try to corner.

 

[SeanDezart]

But they could have won a lot of publicity against traddie UK sportscar makers in their own back-garden ! But maybe they were afraid to finish up with egg on their faces - the European results were disappointing compared to elsewhere !

Think about it - at Le Mans, their is more Japanese TV coverage of the race than any other country including France and Britain and it's not because it's so far away from home that onlya handful of Japanese fans can see it live !

To broaden the subject a little (with permission), why didn't Nissan pursue circuit racing in Europe when the S30 did so well in Japan and the States ?

 

[ben240z]

But why wasnt the car taken on by the british drivers and used in motorsport in this country. The car was competitive. If it was then who were the drivers and what were the cars and where are they now????????????????????????????????????????

 

[SeanDezart]

Nissan could/should have 'franchised' a m-sport programme like BRE in the UK but didn't - why ?
I don't think that there could have been enough factory support (either direct or via Datsun UK) for the cars, tech. aid and parts !

 

[ben240z]

sean this is the same arguement running on the other thread which is why i started a new thread. What my question is, was and still is and will always be and remain so, no matter how many times you take it off topic, is who was racing Zs in the 70s and what happened to the cars. I find it impossible to believe that spike and janspeed were the only 2 racing Zs in that era. I am sorry if this is an ambiguousley worded question but it seems clear to me

 

[datsun dave]

ben whats the question again ?

 

[ben240z]

i refer the hounorable gentleman to my previous answer

 

[SeanDezart]

Ben,
with respect, I don't think I am off-topic (in relation to the reasons why there weren't more competitors in the UK) but the question still stands -

What cars were actually racing or competing (in the UK) in motorsport in the 70s?

 

[Albrecht]

........but as far as I was aware there were a couple of rally cars and spikes sam. Hardly a thriving market for nissan to try to corner.

....I find it impossible to believe that spike and janspeed were the only 2 racing Zs in that era.

How come everybody seems to forget the fine ( in some ways pioneering ) efforts of Mr Rob Grant? He never seems to get even a name-check let alone any proper credit.....

Which is rather ironic when you consider that 'Big Sam' ( version 1 ) was effectively the Rob Grant car with a paint job and some signwriting.

I'd have thought that racing in Africa and mainland Europe - as well as here in the UK - might have at least got Grant and his car a bit of recognition, but it seems not. Sad.

And I think there were more than "a few" rally cars being campaigned in the UK in that period ( the 1970s ). I can think of a whole bunch of ex-Works rally cars, and at least 8 privateer-built cars just off the top of my head.

In circuit racing - how about the likes of Clive Parker and John Rich. Both had cars that were ( apparently ) quick on their day. I have some photos knocking around somewhere. There were quite a few ( now seemingly forgotten ) others too......




As for the larger question ( ie - why did none of these people buy Nissan's more exotic race parts / cars from Japan ), well - I suspect that it was more than likely down to language problems / logistical problems, high cost, perceived lack of tech support, and a little bit of bad timing too ( Oil Crisis etc ).
I also wouldn't rule out the fact that anyone with a bit of money in their pocket might prefer to invest in a race car with a bit more perceived 'cool' factor and snob value, like a Porsche, BMW or something Italian. And if they were a little conservative, something from Ford or BMC ( nice and easy to get parts / data for ).

In short, maybe they had a lot of choice and the Nissan naturally fell towards the bottom of the list.

What's your theory, Ben?

 

[Albrecht]

How about these drivers, Ben :

 

[Legendary5]

Through the years on Datsun Nederland sponsored two Z’s on Zandvoort. The two drivers in the Datsun Radio Noordzee racing team were; Rob Janssen and nowadays circuit director Hans Ernst. They weren’t successful.

Perhaps this was because several groups raced together. They had to compete with the sports cars that were much faster as the group 2 (Datsun)

 

[grolls]

Would it be rather impertinant to assume that "uk Datsun" shot themsleves in the foot as to regards of the higher performance cars when they were selling the Datsun 100a's etc as the "lower end but free tinted glass brigade and a radio included in the price" and then gaining an image of a cheap but ultra reliable Japanese car that unfortunatly has the go of a french edible snail thus undermining everygthing afterwards.

 

[Albrecht]

I think you'd be roughly right, grolls.

The 'Datsun UK' franchise and the people that controlled it had a reputation for putting the kibosh on any performance / race-related activities. They kind of 'put up' with it, rather than sponsor / encourage it.

Although you'd have to say that - with the level of import duty / taxes involved, and the cost of the shipping from Japan - they were probably right not to try and sell anything too exotic over here ( in the UK ). It would have had trouble competing with British and European equivalents ( like the 240Z and 260Z did in some ways ).






Another Janspeed-related pic:

 

[SeanDezart]

Datsun UK sold 100a's 'cos they cost as much to transport and import as a Z and they got a bigger margin on them over the Z ! Business is money - what was needed was a factory directive to race which wasn't apparent and left to as the Count stated, 'have a go amateurs' ! They were generally up against works teams or the cars were pushed up a class to compete against much faster cars !

Count, is John Richs' car a "290Z" ? It says so on the side !

 

[ben240z]

thanks for that at last we are getting some names. I think that is what the thread was about! The paul sedburn car is the john rich car which is the janspeed car which is the han tjan dutch car. john bought the car from janspeed and ran it for a few years then sold it to paul in road going form which is why it has aquired a registration(from another 240 that john had). Paul ran it for a couple of years and then sold it to allan carruthers who used it for hills and sprints until his untimely demise the mid 90s when I bought it. .the other janspeed related car supplied by the count is the same car in circa 1975. That winter it went through the transformation to group 5 spec to include conversion to RHD. I believe that the rob janssen car is also the same car by certain things that are on the bodyshell under the paint work and a photo that i have of rob with a 240Z. So that accounts for 1 car. Until recently I was unaware of rob grant but would like to know more if the info is available. likewise any more on clive parker. what happened to his car?
as for why there were so few raced I think that the count as ever is right in that there was just too much home grown cars with a strong home tuning market for people to chose the exotic. shame but maybe fact. please keep the names coming. there must be more info.

 

[datsfun]

What cars were actually racing or competing in motorsport in the 70s?

Hardly a thriving market for nissan to try to corner.

Ben, not a s30, but there is an exJanspeed B110 coupe residing in Wilts, that has been reshelled but still has the period mods.

 

[Arkwright]

I'm not sure if this is what you want but I'll chuck it in.
In the mid 70's Godfrey Davis (Nottingham Datsun Dealer) ran 2 rally cars. One was a 240Z driven by Dave Sleath, Navigator Barry Jeffries, the other a 180Bsss driver Phil Brooks (can't remember the Nav.) Both did well in local events, eg DFS, Dukeries, 7 Dales, Tour of Lincs etc. I don't think they were top runners but always good finishes in class with mid order results. G. Davis went bust & Sleath had to give the car back. I think this ended his involvment in rallying. Brooks bought his car & carried on with Jeffries as Nav. sponsored by Masons of Mansfield (another Datsun dealer). Had a go at the Scottish about '76 but crashed on day 1. I think they did the Welsh later. Brooks always said he would never sell the car. I lost contact with them around '78. I found Barry J by chance a couple of weeks ago. Apparently Brooks went to work for TWR in Oxford? & died of a heart attack a couple of years ago. Don't know what's happened to his car. Barry has a lot of old rally photos of both cars which he says he'll lend me. I'll post tjhem uip if I get them.
Both cars had tuning bits supplied by Janspeed, Webers, cams, big valve heads, clutches, exhausts. I seem to remember a bloke called Nigel Forder at Janspeed but may have the name wrong.