Kidney, Anyone? 1976 IMSA GTU Champion Datsun 240Z

IMSA GTU Datsun 240Z Brad Frisselle01

Not just a kidney, but you’ll probably need to part with a retina and a lung or two. For $285,000 you get a slice of motorsports history — the Datsun 240Z that straight up won the IMSA GT/U 2.5-liter championship in 1976. Along the way, it’s been touched by the the legends of American racing. Brad Frisselle, an accomplished driver who went on to race for Mazda, piloted the car. Aerodynamics expert Yoshi Suzuki, who would go on to design the legendary Nissan GTP cars of the early 90s, shaped this yellow and orange bullet. John Knepp and Mac Tilton of BRE fame built the engine and suspension. Dave Kent constructed it (and would later go on to build IMSA Mazda RX-7s). Even BRE driver John Morton took a spin during its championship season. And oh yeah, it makes 400hp. Can we strap a dialysis machine to it?

If you have the dough, contact the Canepa Collection. More photos below the fold, including some from its glory days.

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10 Responses to Kidney, Anyone? 1976 IMSA GTU Champion Datsun 240Z

  1. banpei says:

    That’s a good one! 😀

  2. Hoolio510 says:

    That is insane, it’s amazing what a simple but very well thought out paint scheme can do for a car, mind you that thing would like wild in any colour.

  3. Nigel says:

    Canepa is a car guy for sure, and to see the restoration work he does.
    AWESOME !!

  4. J.Ramirez (zetozeto99) says:

    I’d buy that for a dollar!

    😉

    Gorgeous machine!

  5. Matt says:

    those aren’t 240z tails obviously, but the website says
    The chassis of this car was the first 240Z imported to the United States in 1970.

    • Ben says:

      Yeah. There are a lot of inconsistencies here. The ad can’t even decide if it’s a ’74 or ’76. Somehow I doubt it’s the first 240Z imported. It mentions it was restored on 1990 so maybe some changes were made?

  6. junglist says:

    I love this car and its been for sale for awhile.

    Why does it have 280Z tails instead of the 240Z tails? Per the IMSA rules the cars had to appear like the current models so it had to run the 260Z/280Z tails.

    http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php?/topic/64426-anyone-want-to-buy-a-race-car/

  7. Pete says:

    I saw that car at the Mitty a couple of years ago and it is a beautifully maintained incredibly nice piece of machinery.

  8. donald brown says:

    Not to burst anyone’s bubble about this beautiful car, but 2.5 liter datsun 6′ engines made about 270 -280 HP, by Road and Track car dyno tests in the late 70’s, so a number of 400 HP is bogus. Growing up and living in Connecticut, I frequented LRP since 1963, and saw M Donahue race as an amateur in I think an MGB or Elva.
    Donald Brown
    Lake Forest Ca

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