Datsun 510 Trans-Am race car

The 2019 Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) Charity Challenge at the Sonoma Raceway the weekend of October 5 & 6 featured nine race groups, among them was the cars that competed for the John Morton Cup, cars that competed in the Sports Car Club of America 2.5–liter Trans-Am series and in SCCA ‘B’ and ‘C’ sedan racing in the late nineteen sixties and early nineteen seventies.

The John Morton Cup is named in honor of racer John Morton who dominated the 1971 and 1972 under 2.5-liter SCCA Trans-Am championship seasons for Datsun (marketed these days as Nissan) with six wins each season. Morton was on hand to race over the weekend in this Datsun 510.

A view of the longitudinal mounted single overhead camshaft (SOHC) 4-cylinder carbureted Datsun 110-cubic inch engine under the fiberglass hood develops around 150 horsepower more than enough for the car that weighs around 1700 pounds.

The cockpit of race cars of this era were very sparse with the myriad of electronics that we see today. 

Photos by the author 

What if Group 7 racing still existed?

Today, we are are going to step outside of our 

usual features and consider "what if?"  

The 1966 Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) Yearbook from the group that governed international racing included Appendix 'J 'which contained new regulations for new category Group 7 two-seater racing cars. 

The rules for the Group  7 were simple:  

• Design must be capable of accepting a passenger.

• Enclosed bodywork with no restriction on aerodynamics.

• Unrestricted engine capacity with turbocharging or supercharging allowed with the use of commercially available fuel.

• No minimum weight and no forbidden materials.

• General safety standards of the era required.

In North America, the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) created the SC Johnson Wax Canadian-American (Can-Am) Challenge Cup series for Group 7 race cars, that saw some of the most outrageous race cars ever created. 

The design of Group 7 cars were only limited by the designers' imaginations, but all Group 7 cars shared one thing in common - they were loud and fast. 

Photo of the Chaparral 2J courtesy of the Petroleum Museum 

Texan Jim Hall’s Chaparral series of cars were ground-breaking - first with with giant rear driver adjustable wings, which were banned in by revised FIA regulations in 1969.  Later the Chaparral 2J  in 1970 was equipped with  sliding side skirts and fans that sucked air from underneath the car and pulled it onto the ground, a concept which was quickly outlawed.

Photos of the Porsche 917/30 by the author 

In 1972, Penske Racing and the Porsche factory debuted a new Can-Am challenger - the 917/10, equipped with a twin turbocharged flat 12-cylinder 327 cubic inch engine and advanced aerodynamics followed the next year by the 917/30 with an engine said to produce over 1200 horsepower coupled with 820 ft/lbs of torque.  

The Penske Porsches broke the five-year stranglehold of Team McLaren, and for 1974, the SCCA introduced fuel economy standards which eventually killed the Can-Am series. More many years, the Porsche 917 has been unfairly blamed as "the car that killed the Can-AM series."

Photos of the Chaparral 2X by the author 

So, dear reader, I ask you to consider this proposition- what if FIA had not discontinued the Group 7 category in 1975? What would a modern Group 7 car be like? Would they resemble the Chevrolet Chaparral 2X concept seen at the 2016 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show? Had Group 7 continued, what powerplants would have been developed and what exotic materials might be used to build a modern group 7 race cars?  

electric?
hybrid?
steam?
turbine?
jet?
natural gas?
4-wheel drive?

It's sure fun to think about! 

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    

Order a 2018 calendar today and save 5 bucks!

My friend Pete Lyons is one of the greatest motorsports photographers and the best when it came to covering the nineteen sixties Can-Am series, the Group 7 "no rules racing series."

The cover of the Pete Lyons 2018 calendar

Pete annually produces a  jumbo format  wall-sized calendar that features the cars and stars of the Can-Am series, and his 2018 calendar will look back 50 years to the great 1968 Can-Am series 

 Pete is offering an "early-bird" discount for his 2018 calendar. If you order yours by August 31, 2017, and get your special price — just $24.99 (plus shipping & handling and California sales tax if applicable)

One of the "bonus" shots in the 2018 calendar

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You know you're going to need a 2018 calendar- so order now and save!