NISSAN UNLOCKS THE MOTORSPORT VAULTS

For the first time since the event’s inception in 1974, a Japanese marque headlined the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion (23–26 August). And, to celebrate, headliner Nissan opened up the vault doors to let out some of the most historically significant cars to wear the brand’s nameplate, including the first-ever appearance on US soil of the R390 GT1 road car. Other notable cars included John Morton’s BRE Datsun 510, Geoff Brabham’s International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) GT Championship GTP-ZX, Bob Sharp’s Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) C-Production–winning Datsun 240Z, the Japan Grand Prix–winning 1969 Nissan R382, and the recently unveiled GT-R50. Nissan design director Alfonso Albaisa called them all “beautifully restored cars of [huge] significance”.

And that was just the display. In addition, over 50 Nissan and Datsun race cars made their way onto Laguna Seca tarmac, with the likes of IMSA champion Steve Millen in his Daytona- and Le Mans–winning Nissan 300ZX Turbo, John Morton driving the BRE Datsun 240Z, and Adam Carolla driving Paul Newman’s SCCA National GT-1 Championship 300ZX Turbo.