1973 Datsun 240Z tribute resto-mod racer

The Shell Oil Company outdoor display at the 2018 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show in Las Vegas featured an interesting 1973 Datsun 240Z “resto-mod” race car built as a homage to the Bob Sharp Racing 240Z racers of the nineteen seventies.

Bob Sharp began racing in Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) events with a series of Datsun racers that carried the #33 to help promote his Datsun dealership, and he eventually convinced the Nissan Motor Company Limited to provide factory backing for his racing efforts.   

After he retired as an active driver in 1976 with six SCCA national championships to his credit, Bob became even more famous as Bob Sharp Racing (BSR) built and fielded winning Datsun race cars for his son Scott, Sam Posey, Jim Fitzgerald, Elliott Forbes-Robinson and part-time amateur racer and actor Paul Newman.

Canadian road racer commissioned Cyrious Garageworks of Oakville Ontario to restore and update an original 240Z race car which had been raced sparingly in period and then sat unused for twenty years.  

After the crew at Cyrious repaired several poorly fabricated period modifications, they built a modern style touring car roll cage before they dropped in a 1990’s era Nissan RB25 turbocharged twin-overhead camshaft inline six-cylinder engine and transmission.

This car makes extensive use of Japanese aftermarket parts, notably the TRA Kyoto Rocket Bunny Pandem body kit which includes wheel flares at all four corners, a front air dam and rear spoiler, and 6666 custom wheels which are reminiscent in appearance of nineteen seventies BBS wheels. Of course, for lubricants the Datsun 240 Z uses nothing but Quaker State products a division of Shell Oil Products.   

All photos by the author