Z Car West Coast Nationals
Silverado, California
April 27, 2008
Words by Ben Hsu, Photos by Dan Hsu

he last weekend of April is always Datsun heaven for nostalgists like us. Immediately following the Solvang Datsun Roadster Classic on Saturday and a three hour halfway across the state of California, we hit up the Z Car West Coast Nationals on Sunday. Organized by Motorsport Auto, one of the largest Z-car parts stores in the world, this was the show's second year at Oak Canyon Park in Silverado.

From the 240Z to the NISMO 350Z and everything in between, Z-cars of every year, color and engine imaginable were accounted for. And as if the Z-heads' plans for global domination weren't complete, Nissan USA even brought out a brand-spanking-new Nissan GT-R supercar and 2009 Maxima for display, the first time many attendees had seen the car in person.

On one end of the spectrum, you had cars like the 240Z with 29,000 original miles. A the other end were completely insane creations like a V6 mid-engined Frankenstein. In between were RB-powered Zs like the one from Vildini Motorsport, the master swappers who dropped the RB into the orange Fairlady Z (which should look familiar to anyone who has our magazine).

This widebody G-nose also caught our eye and for a moment we thought we had warped into 1980s Japan. Total Wangan style! But perhaps more symbolic of our times, there was an all-electric Z, home built with about 1000 pounds' worth of car batteries.

We'd like to thank Greg Smith of Motorsport Auto for his hospitality and for giving us our very first booth at a car show!

For coverage of the 2007 show, click here.