Nissan Celebrates 40th Annivesary of Z's First National Championship in US

Forty years ago, the Datsun 240Z arrived in North America and changed the sports car landscape forever with its combination of sleek design, excellent performance and amazing value. That same year Peter Brock’s Southern California-based Brock Racing Enterprises (BRE) racing team helped to change the motorsports world by claiming the first SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) National Championship for a Japanese production racer over long-established champions from Germany and England in head-to-head competition. That win, and the follow-up win in 1971, changed the perception of the Z® and other Japanese cars and the motorsports world was never the same. Those championships wins, with driver John Morton at the wheel, firmly established the performance and engineering credibility of the Z®.

The #46 championship car carried the now famous red, white and blue BRE paint scheme designed by Peter Brock. This past weekend at Road Atlanta Brock, Morton and many of the BRE team members reunited with a replica of the #46 (the original was unfortunately destroyed many years ago) and many of the famous original BRE cars at the Classic Motorsports Mitty at Road Atlanta. In recognition of BRE’s multiple championships in Nissan products and the Z®’s first championship, Nissan North America again teamed with Brock to create an updated rendition of the famous BRE livery on a specially modified 2010 Nissan NISMO 370Z Coupe.

The BRE 370Z was shown for the first time at a special BRE Reunion dinner on Thursday evening when Brock drove it into view for a sellout crowd. It received a very warm welcome and was displayed throughout the weekend along with large collection of the famous BRE racecars and a 40th Anniversary Edition 370Z. Brock, Morton and many of the original BRE team members spent much of the weekend reminiscing about their BRE team days. The team even had a chance to jump back into action when one of the old team cars wouldn’t fire just before the celebration laps on Saturday. They quickly diagnosed the reluctant racer and fired it just in time to take to the track for a few laps with all the BRE team cars led by Brock in the BRE 370Z. While the speeds were limited the BRE team members couldn’t resist the opportunity to occasionally run up the revs to feel a little surge of acceleration and revisit that 1970 championship for a brief moment.

“To be able to gather with many of my old BRE crew members at Road Atlanta was truly a special occasion,” said Brock. ”It was fantastic to see so many BRE tribute cars and to have so many fans join us for the celebration was very gratifying.”

The BRE Nismo 370Z was well received by the fans at the Mitty and Brock looks forward to getting behind the wheel when he can experience the full performance of the car. “Because the 370Z has strong, sculpted shapes, I was able to make the livery even bolder and more aggressive,” said Brock. “I’m really pleased with the livery and I enjoyed driving it around the track but I’d like get a chance to drive it as it should be driven sometime.”

The BRE 370Z is not just a show car, it’s built for the track. As is appropriate to commemorate the championship car, it was built to current SCCA T2 racecar regulations and will see track duty later this year. It will also be on display at multiple Z® Club events around the country, including ZCon 2010, the annual Z convention, from July 28 to August 1 in Nashville.

Credits: wilswong