I was doing a bit of ebay searching this morning (retirement is wonderful) and came across this race programme:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255222665737?hash=item3b6c74d209:g:oQwAAOSwvrZhjO9P
Just look at the entry list - the quality is amazing e.g. Ickx, Mass, Peterson etc etc. Also entered of interest to Datsun owners are Percy, Richardson, Williams, Poole and Bob Neville who I'm thinking is of RJN the 350/370 racing team?
In the entry is Datsun 240Z LAL which was car 47. The original owner of the programme shows 47 at the back of qualifying. This was due to a fuel supply problem (long story - this car has it's own paragraph in the Samuri book).
Anyway the car ran with just a hastily assembled 190bhp engine and finished 20th even after a few laps lost in the pits repairing a fuel breather after the car was 'black-flagged'.
The car is shown as having drivers Clive Richardson and Bob Grant but in Spike's book he says it was Clive and Jeremy Walton (journalist). By coincidence I worked with his son Steve Walton for BT in Coventry.
The car LAL was bought as a 'banger' for £900 just 3 weeks earlier and viewed outside a chipshop. It was knackered and dangerous to drive home apparently but bear in mind it would only be a few years old in '77 so £900 was the deal. The Samuri guys worked night and day to get this car fit for the 'World Manufactures Six Hour' race!
This is a great story and just one of the 'escapades' that in my mind make Samuri stand out in the history of Zs.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255222665737?hash=item3b6c74d209:g:oQwAAOSwvrZhjO9P
Just look at the entry list - the quality is amazing e.g. Ickx, Mass, Peterson etc etc. Also entered of interest to Datsun owners are Percy, Richardson, Williams, Poole and Bob Neville who I'm thinking is of RJN the 350/370 racing team?
In the entry is Datsun 240Z LAL which was car 47. The original owner of the programme shows 47 at the back of qualifying. This was due to a fuel supply problem (long story - this car has it's own paragraph in the Samuri book).
Anyway the car ran with just a hastily assembled 190bhp engine and finished 20th even after a few laps lost in the pits repairing a fuel breather after the car was 'black-flagged'.
The car is shown as having drivers Clive Richardson and Bob Grant but in Spike's book he says it was Clive and Jeremy Walton (journalist). By coincidence I worked with his son Steve Walton for BT in Coventry.
The car LAL was bought as a 'banger' for £900 just 3 weeks earlier and viewed outside a chipshop. It was knackered and dangerous to drive home apparently but bear in mind it would only be a few years old in '77 so £900 was the deal. The Samuri guys worked night and day to get this car fit for the 'World Manufactures Six Hour' race!
This is a great story and just one of the 'escapades' that in my mind make Samuri stand out in the history of Zs.
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