Created: 7/14/2002
Last updated:
7/19/2002
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This month's social event took us to Mt. Shasta California for the 10th Annual Mt. Shasta All Datsun Meet. Attendees came from all over the US, Canada, and as far away as Australia. This event is largely attended by Datsun 510, roadsters, 1600's, other Datsun cars, and Nissan Cars. The event was organized By Dennis and Peggy Hale along with the help of many other people. For 10 years, the people of Mt. Shasta have welcomed the Datsun meet with open arms. The hotels are always booked to capacity.
The event starts Wednesday at Thunderhill Raceway located in Willows, Ca. After registration, tech inspection, and dinner, Thursday brings an all day track event from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Friday, the event moves from the race track up to Mt. Shasta, California, located in picturesque Northern California near the Oregon border. Mt. Shasta and the rest of the Cascade Mountain Range serves as the backdrop to the event. After registration, a tour is organized around the Mt. Shasta community. Another tech inspection for the various autocross events is scheduled. 3 different Autocross events are held this day.
Saturday is the actual Show and Shine Car show and an autocross event. There is an all day swap meet and then a dinner and awards ceremony for the various autocross events and car show.
Sunday brings the Group Photo shop with Mt. Shasta in the background and then an autocross event with instructors.
For the first annual Club Z showing at the show, Paul Cobbs, Joe Keawkalaya, and Kevin Neely represented the club. We also brought along some friends, Mike, Roddy, and Rob. Paul brought his 1991 Cherry Red Pearl TT, Kevin brought his Midnight Blue Datsun 510 instead of his charcoal grey TT, and I brought my 1995 Ultra Red Twin Turbo.
The early morning drive to Mt. Shasta California.
As we got closer to our destination, we could see the beautiful Mt. Shasta tower over the rest of the Cascade Moumtain Range.
Kevin's Datsun 510 in
our hotel parking lot.
A lonely Datsun
Roadster.
A Datsun 1000. These
guys are extremely rare.
A Nissan Sentra SE-R
prepared for the track.
An orange Datsun 1200
I believe.
Two-toned orange and
black Datsun 210 Wagon.
Yellow Automatic
Bluebird Coupe. This awesome right hand drive car was imported from Japan and is
powered by a Nissan Silvia S-14 SR20DET motor.
One of many SR20DET
powered 510s in attendance.
Mario's SR20DET 510.
This was the first 510 in the US to receive this engine swap.
Our very own Kevin
Neely's SR20DET 510.
Rob's (of Scott's
Performance fame) lime green SR20DET 510. He won Best of Show, Best Paint, and
Best 510.
A SR20DE S-15 NA 510.
VG30E powered 510 section.
KA4DE powered 510.
Turbocharged L-series
510 that won best L-series 510.
Mazda 13-B rotary
powered 510.
510 Wagon section.
An interesting 510
wagon. This bad boy is powered by a single Turbo Toyota Supra Motor.
Another interesting
510 wagon with orange tinted windows. That can't be legal in California.
This 510 had a built
in personal computer with DVD player. As you can tell, a small color TV was
fabbed into the dashboard.
A wild box-flared
510.
Race-prepped 510s.
Miscellaneous 510 pictures.
Nice yellow 240Z
powered by stock motor.
Jim Bowen's (ZONC
President) pristine 240Z.
One of many V-8
powered 240Zs.
Nice yellow
convertible 240Z with V8 motor, and Z32 Twin Turbo rims.
Race-prepped 240Z.
1975 280Z owned by
Dave Carr that was also the only first generation Z to have had a turbo L28 and
B/W 5 speed installed. This was one clean car.
Miscellaneous 240Z pics.
A 300ZX NA.
A 2+2 NA to TT
conversion that was put together by a husband and wife team.
The 2002 1st place
winner of Best ZX of show. This highly performance modified Twin Turbo is owned
by Craig Kristie.
This is my 1995 Ultra
Red Twin Turbo. She placed 2nd in the Best ZX category.
Paul's 1991 Cherry Red
Pearl Twin Turbo.
Some pictures of
Paul's TT and my TT together.
An older Datsun
station wagon. I am not sure of the official model name.
Another old Datsun car
that I had no information on.
280ZX section.
Miscellaneous pictures
including pictures of the autocross course that was set up and the beautiful
scenery.
Group Photoshoot. A wide-angle lens was used for the shot to get all of the cars. When I get my copy of it, I will try to scan it and post it here. These will have to do as my digital camera and Paul's digital camera do not have wide-angle lenses.
A view from our hotel,
the Finlandia Hotel, Mt. Shasta, CA.
The drive home.
John's insanely fast
510 wagon.
Picture of the new Z28
SS California Highway Patrol Cars. They have a low profile light bar LED and is
clear until the lights are turned on. It has minimal markings and is hard
to distinguish from civilian Z28 SSs. These cars are capable of 165+ MPH.
Mike showing us how
having too much fun on a trip can leave you exhausted.
This Shasta event was definitely worth the trip. We had to brave average 105+ days and the strong sunshine to hang out at this event. As you can tell, this event is heavily 510 favored, but other cars were in attendance. Everyone made us feel welcome as there weren't too many Z32 cars in attendance. Hopefully, for all those people who were not able to attend the event but see how much fun we had, they will be able to join us at Mt. Shasta next year. We need to have more Z32s present to represent our wonderful machines. Not only was the whole event awesome and entertaining, but the beautiful scenery, and spectacular views of the snow-capped Mt. Shasta is enough to make me want to visit Mt. Shasta again. The residents were extremely hospitable, and did everything they could to make us feel comfortable. I would like to take the opportunity to thank the Finlandia Hotel, the residents of the town of Mt. Shasta, and especially Dennis and Peggy Hale for the monumental task of organizing this event. You both are an inspiration when it comes to your dedication to Datsun/Nissan cars. I definitely look forward to next years event and hope there will be a larger Club Z presence.
Some reflections from Kevin Neely:
Well lets see where do I start...We had a great time for the 1st attempt at Mt Shasta. I was very impressed at how well it was put together and how nice everyone was too! There were soooo many nice cars there too. You can see by the pictures who had that biggest wallet! However I could not believe that Joe lost to a riced out Z32. This should never happen!!! In fact they are going to run Shasta at around the same time as last year so lets make sure that we show up like UZW and blow the entire shasta crowd away! You think that they ooooh and awwwwww at the MSA show, I can tell you this, if 20+ Z32's show up at shasta next year I promise that you will take the attention away from everyone! Soooo next year I want to see all of you there. Lets show them that club z can gather in big numbers too. Oh and by the way my 510 ran great with the exception of a couple of leaks! With the knowledge that Joe, Paul, and myself learned this year, we will have an even better time next year if that is at all possible!
Some reflections from Paul Cobbs:
What can I say? Shasta was a blast and a half. The only thing that would have
made it better is if Club Z would have represented ourselves a little better in
the numbers department. There were tons of cool, heavily modded cars there, with
some beautiful paintjobs and awesome engine transplants. Yes, most of these were
510s, but there were also a couple of nice Z32s there other than the ones
provided by Club Z. There was a silver Stage 6 Twin Turbo (minus the NOS) with
HKS turbos, Brembo big brakes, and a modified exhaust that allowed the owner to
run straight pipes at the track without removing the mufflers. There was a 2+2
Twin Turbo conversion there, owned by a self-proclaimed grandma. The conversion
was done by her husband at her request, and it was clean!
All the people were very friendly, and they had some cool
events for us to participate in. Thursday was the track day, which we missed,
but I want to attend next year. Friday, they had a tour of Shasta / poker run, a
gymkhana (imagine yourself flying as fast as you can from one cone to the next,
and then slowing down or stopping for long enough so that your passenger can
knock an aluminum can off the cone with a super-soaker), and a left-coast (take
off from a standing start, let off the gas at a pre-defined point, and coast to
a stop while turning left -- whoever gets closest to the final cones without
passing them wins -- and they're apparently pretty good at catching e-brake
cheaters). Saturday they had an autocross. Sunday they had another autocross,
this time with instructors to help you learn HOW to autocross if you'd never
done it before. They also had morning and evening meals set up for everybody,
and the food was actually pretty good.
I had so much fun that not only am I planning on going back
next year, but I'm trying to figure out how to get my wife and baby there, too,
while still bringing the TT. I'm also going to be sure to bring some shade with
me next year, although I managed to squeak by without too much of a sunburn this
time around.