Jeff Agner

I am a Z car enthusiast, but moreover, I am a Z car Community enthusiast. As long as I can remember being interested in automobiles, I have been a fan of the Z car. The actual cars themselves and their heritage are important to me as I consider myself a student of Z car lore. However, equally important to me is the culture and worldwide community that the Z car has created. I look for opportunities to meet and interact with other Z owners, both in person and virtually. I also have a passion for networking with and connecting enthusiasts, vendors, suppliers, and ambassadors. To me, growing and strengthening the Z car community is as enjoyable as building and modifying the cars themselves.

Group Z Monthly Board Meeting

I am the president of Group Z Sports Car Club, the world’s oldest active Z car-specific club. In addition, I am a current and active member of established Z Clubs in California: Empire Z, West Coast Datsuns, San Diego Z car Club, Z Owners of Northern California, Vintage Japanese Motor Union, and Zociety. I am also a member of the US national Z car Club Association (ZCCA) and am involved with numerous other less formal clubs and groups. I am a member of ZCAR.com, ZDriver.com, HybridZ.org, ClassicZCar.com, my350Z.com and many other internet-based Z car forums and message boards. I am the administrator of a dozen or so Facebook Groups, including: Datsun 280zx 10th Anniversary Edition Enthusiasts, Jim Cook Racing Datsun Owner’s Club, Group Z car Club, and Datkins. I am active in dozens of other Z car Facebook groups. I also am part of the core team that runs the monthly Cars and Coffee Classics, Anaheim, one of Southern California’s premiere JDM and classic car meets for the last four and a half years running. I enjoy learning and sharing knowledge in all of these physical and virtual connections to the Z car Community.

Cars and Coffee Classics Monthly Show

I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and am blessed to still call this amazing city my home.
I was just about 8 years old when a 1981 Kidco 1/64 die-cast car took the lead role in my toy car army. It was two-tone black and gold with t-tops and shiny wheels. I remember loving everything about that little die-cast piece: the headlight scoops, the spoke wheels, the detailed paint job, the opening doors, the fact that the t-bar roof revealed the details of the seats and the dashboard inside. It was a Datsun 280zx, and it made me a Z car fan.
As this was prior to the widespread use of the internet, I fed my passion and thirst for information about the Z by hunting down automotive books and browsing the tuner and import magazines that my friend’s older brothers had. I would scan the table of contents of each one in the stack until I saw and article referencing a Z car. My college dorm walls were wallpapered with classic and highly modified Z cars. My first car and daily driver at the time was an 87 Acura Integra, a fun car in its own right, but I always dreamed about getting a Z one day. At one point, a fairly close friend of mine (who heard me blabber on and on for months about the Z car), showed up with a lightly used 1996 300zx. I at once volunteered to help tune up the car and install a sound system. Anything I could do to experience a Z car was worth the effort. This car happened to be one of the last 300zx cars produced before Nissan reported the discontinuation of the 300zx and the Z car line.

A short time later, word of a new concept Z car began to spread, and the internet provided artist renditions, design guesses, and performance speculation. Then the actual concept design was released, and it looked like a science fiction transport vehicle and was a poor attempt at proposing a new look for the millennium and left quite a bit to be desired. Nevertheless, I researched and explored all I could find out about this new Z. Then I found that issue of Road & Track with an article written by Sam Mitani that provided photos and incredible details about the New Z car. The Z was back in production and its story would continue.

That was the time that my Z ownership began. I just graduated from a University in Los Angeles, got a decent job, and committed myself to buying a Z car. I had been browsing the AutoTrader books and similar websites looking for a 300zx. I was looking for a twin-turbo version, but otherwise was open to any Z I could afford. I found a 1996 Twin Turbo with fairly low miles at a Nissan Dealership in Los Angeles. I did most of the negotiation over the phone and went in to pay the deposit and take possession of my own Z. As the salesperson was out of the room preparing the sales agreement, one of the dealership managers popped in the office since he had heard about me wanting to buy the Z. He asked me if I wanted to order a new Z since he just received brochures and was ready to take build orders. I explained that I could not afford a new car, and I was informed that the price of the new car would be the same monthly payment as the used car due to the more favorable financing options when the car is new. All he had was a medium-sized pamphlet with glamour shots and random specification information. I already knew every fact and figure included in that pamphlet, and twice as many more that weren’t listed. When deciding which color, the only visual clue about the shade of the color was a little half-inch wide thumbnail swatch on the cardboard brochure. I asked about this somewhat muddy colored square was; the color code referenced the name Brickyard, which made sense, given the color of the swatch. Curious, I asked if I could see what it looked like in real life. Of the hundreds of Zs that had already been pre-ordered, only a dozen or so were ordered in Brickyard. That was intriguing enough to get me to put that color code down on the sales order. I was now the proud owner of a 2002½ base trim 350Z, but I would have to wait over 6 months to meet it.
It was Valentine’s Day 2003, and I got the call that my Z had arrived. When I got to the dealership, I was greeted by the sales manager and the most amazing car color I had ever seen in person. It was a warm deep maroon with light gold fleck in the sunset and almost black at night. I couldn’t believe that only 4% of people had chosen to order this color when I did. Shortly after, the color was discontinued for the following model year.

2002.5 350Z - Brickyard

This would my daily driver for just around 100 miles per week for the better part of 17 years. As an owner, I looked to get involved with the local community of Z car enthusiasts since most of my Z family were virtual acquaintances from ZCAR.com, ZDriver.com, HybridZ.org, ClassicZCar.com and other sites and forums. I drove down to Orange County to see a club that I had seen at car shows (such as the MSA West Coast Z Nationals) and wanted to see what they were about. Although I was one of the few 350z owners (I convinced a good friend to buy a Daytona Blue 350Z, so he was there too), the guys were welcoming, and I decided to join Group Z Sports Car Club.

In just 2 Group Z meetings spread over about 4 or 5 months, I was able to spend enough quality time with earlier Zs owned by other club members to convince myself that I needed to have a classic Z car. I began looking at those old Autotraders again, but better resources were now available and between Craigslist Ads and eBay Motors auctions, I had my eye on a few S30s. I scoured listings and got alerts daily on my phone. Most were either not running or out of my price range. My wife’s father caught wind of my hunt, and he pointed me to a fairly complete, albeit tired, 1975 280z for sale not too far from me. I also had a running, driving, and freshly painted 1977 280z on my radar. I was weighing the pros and cons of each. The 75 needed work but was much more affordable. The 77 could be enjoyed right away, but was also slightly modified with wheels and a sound system that replaced the stock radio and cut into the door panels. It was very hard to choose between the two, and then the decision was made for me. California’s “Governator,” Arnold Schwarzenegger, had just signed into law a new piece of legislation that ended the 30-year rolling smog check exemption. All cars built in 1976 and newer would be forever be subject to frequent smog inspections, increasing the maintenance costs and limiting the modifications that could be done to the car. The smog exemption tipped the scales, and I was now the owner of the 1975 280z… I was finally a classic Z car owner!

1975 280z - the Brown Bandit

After completing some long-overdue maintenance, I was driving the “Brown Bandit” every chance I could get. I am fairly mechanically inclined, having spent many a childhood weekend observing and helping my dad maintain the family vehicles. The Z was very rewarding to work on. With every breakdown, I would learn something new about how to best keep it on the road. I absorbed and applied things that I learned on the Z car forums.

Early EFI L-Series Maintenance

Sometimes, I would take it over to Pierre’s Z Car Center and spend time with Pierre Perrot, sponging his brain for maintenance tips and listening to tales of Z car racing and his experience with Datsun over the years. Pierre was the Z car specialist chosen by Nissan (and blessed by Mr. K) to tackle the full restoration of a few dozen 240Zs as part of Nissan’s “Z Store” program in the United States.

Mr. K, Pierre Perrot and the Z Store Program

Sadly, Pierre passed away a few years back, but I still recount his stories and advice. One such story was about another Southern California driver named Jim Cook, who died tragically of a heart attack while racing his Z in Northern California. After some research, I learned that Jim Cook had a legacy in the parts that he made to support the Z car community. I learned that at one point, he had come across an all-metal widebody 240z that was built by Creative Car Craft in El Segundo, California, not far from where Peter Brock, John Morton and the Brock Racing Enterprises built their champion Datsuns, not far from where Electramotive pushed the limits of the Nissan L6 powerplant and the Z car chassis, not far from where Datsun established its headquarters in America, and not far from where I lived.

I became intrigued about the history and racing lore of Datsun and the Z car, and was fascinated by the fact that so much of it was rooted right where I called home. I found out that Jim Cook had created a fiberglass body kit by taking a mold of the Creative Car Craft widebody Z. I began the hunt to find this California Z kit as the first major step to upgrade the exterior of my 280z. I made contact with Sandy Cook, Jim’s widow, and explained that I was interested in finding a kit. Since so many years had passed since the kit was in production, the molds were no longer in her possession and her former customers were no longer in touch. She shared that there was one complete kit still available in the rafters above her shop in Los Alamitos California, but that she was saving it for her son, James, to create a tribute car to his father. I would see Sandy Cook a couple of times a year at various Southern California Z car Shows and each time I would ask her if she was willing to sell the kit and each time, she politely declined. Undeterred, I would always approach her with a hug and a smile and would see how she was doing and how her Sebring Tuning business was going before I would drop the futile magic question and continue on my way. After a number of years and many more encounters, Sandy surprised me with a request to make an offer on the kit. After the realization that her son was not interested in building a tribute car since he had his dad’s actual Jim Cook California Z car, she was ready to let it go. Unable to come up with an offer price, Sandy decided that she would let me have the complete (unmolested and complete with the original mold release film still on it) fiberglass kit for the 1982 Jim Cook Racing catalog price. The next phase of the project had begun.

Jim Cook Racing - California Z body kit assembly

Unable to concede to using the factory 280z bumpers running square headlights on a classic Z car, I decided to modify the kit to meet my vision of what a 1970s widebody racecar should look like. I installed the kit and painted the car in black primer. The Z was now the “Black Bandit” and was much more enjoyable with 9.5” wheels and wide tires

Mid-transformation (the Black Bandit) at the MSA West Coast Z Nationals

It wasn’t until much later that I saved up enough to paint the car and upgrading the interior. I was a big fan of the British Racing Green color found on the 240z (and on many other European and import sports cars of that era), but I wanted something with a more modern feel and something that would complement the aggressive body kit. I found that the British Racing Green from the 2017 Jaguar F-Pace was exactly what I was looking for. Just like my Brickyard 350Z, the color was deep and velvety in the sunlight, but almost black when out of the light.

A sunset drive in the Green Bandit

Now affectionately called the “Green Bandit”, I was satisfied with the car’s exterior and had largely completed the interior to my liking. It was now time to address the heart of my Z. She was running well, although a bit rich as I was running larger injectors to offset the much larger throttle body I had installed. I would enlist the help of my oldest daughter, Julia, to pass me tools and hold the proverbial flashlight while I worked on the car. She would then join me on test drives and learn about the joys of riding in the cab of a tow truck.

Julia as my copilot

I don’t think she really minded the Z car smell, and I personally felt that its aroma complimented the sound of the inline 6-cylinder motor and straight pipe exhaust perfectly. However, it would become time to bring the car’s number’s matching engine up to a condition that was consistent with the rest of the car. After a couple iterations of the engine build, it is now one of a few supercharged L-Series engines on the road. It is a thrill to drive and now has the power to back up its aggressive looks.

Supercharged

During this time, my family was growing and by the time my second daughter was born, it was time to give up the 350Z in favor of a more practical car. It was also unfair to my wife that her Nisan Pathfinder had to do all the household errand duties, and I found myself again looking for a car. I remembered a Nissan commercial where a man who just found out that he was going to be a father decided to stretch his 350Z into a 4-door car to accommodate his upcoming arrival. I had always loved the Nissan Maxima, and I found one that was nearly the same color as my 350Z. The trade-in was swift, but not painless. At least I still had my Green Bandit to enjoy.

Some track time at Autoclub Speedway, Fontana, California

A few years later, a good friend of mine in the Z car community let me know that he had just acquired a 10th Anniversary Datsun 280zx from up in Northern California. This car was one of only 2500 produced to celebrate the 10th year of the Z Car. It was two-toned, black and gold, with t-tops, just like my Kidco diecast car that started my Z obsession. The car was built in 1980, the same year that I was born and after a wild story that I will save for another day, I now had another Z car.

The arrival of the 10th Anniversary Edition 280zx

After a full interior refresh and an exterior clean-up, the 10AE S130 quickly became my Z weapon of choice due to its superior comfort and drivability on city streets. It still sees some track time like its green sister, but its main purpose is to carve around the canyons and join the numerous classic car cruises and car shows every year, including a 2000-mile roundtrip pilgrimage to Colorado for the 2021 International Z Car Convention (ZCON).

Trying on some different shoes

The evolution of my 10th Anniversary 280ZX continues, as I have built an L28ET turbo replacement engine that I will swap in once the current original engine with over 200k miles finally gives up…or when I have a lull in my other projects and decide to drop it in. In keeping with my penchant for wide-body Z cars, I found myself working with fiberglass again-almost 10 years after thinking I was taking my last breath of fiberglass dust once the Jim Cook kit was complete. After an unfortunate mix-up with a shop that I engaged to convert my 14”x6” original 10th Anniversary alloys into deep dish 17”x9” wheels, I am now running John Washington’s Z-Trix 280zx-C kit, modeled after the East Coast Bob Sharp/Paul Newman 280zx IMSA racecar from the 80s. It also sports a rear spoiler that was adapted from the West Coast Brock Racing Enterprises’ SCCA winning 240z. The fact that all the fiberglass on my Z cars is inspired from the Z car racing greats of the 70s and 80s is a fun little idea.

The ZTrix 280ZX-C fender treatment

Shortly after the onset of the lockdowns resulting from the Coronavirus pandemic, my wife could tell that I was getting ants for another project. She would support a new build, on the condition that it would be for her. I thought that this was an excellent idea, my only request was that it be a Datsun. I was thinking that she might want a 510 or 510 wagon, or maybe a little 620 truck…nope, she had found out about Chris Bishop’s chopped windshield 1966 1600 Roadster. Her selection came with a final set of expectations: she did not want to smell like toast after driving the car, and she did not want to break down on the side of the road. With these extra conditions, I knew that a stock build and carbureted R12 would not cut it. I quickly found an abandoned project in the local area, and that would be the start of an 18-month frame-up build.

MaryAlice manifesting her new roadster

The chassis was already powder coated and the seats were reupholstered…but that’s about what I was starting with, the rest was in a box or a rusty pile. Bolt by bolt, the chassis and suspension came together in my backyard. I found a recently imported SR20 engine from an S14 Silvia that had not yet been cracked open and was still mated to its 5-speed transmission. This was a common power plant upgrade for the Roadster, so I had many examples to follow and community advisors to consult as I cut, welded, and ground the chassis to receive the new engine. To handle the power, the limited slip rear end of a RX7 GSL-SE was adapted with the roadster mounting points. I set up a disposable wedding tent in the yard and tackled the major bodywork necessary to remove the rusted parts and get the panels back into shape. With a few box fans, the wedding tent was converted into a paint booth and my wife’s 1960s Hot Rod Mint color was applied. With the help of an engine hoist, I dropped the body onto the frame and completed the wiring and exhaust system.

Body on frame fun

Fortunately, the main Datsun roadster online parts store was just north of Los Angeles, so I was able to grab most of the interior pieces that I needed without much hassle or shipping expense.

Interior touches

On Mother’s Day, 2022, my wife, MaryAlice, took her brand-new 55-year-old old roadster on its maiden voyage.

A Mother's Day Maiden Voyage

With the roadster now on the road and my other Z cars seeing cruise, track, and canyon time fairly often, it seemed like my Datsun cup was finally full. My backyard and garage certainly were, at least! Then that phone call came in…
A friend and co-worker reached out to me since she knew that I was knowledgeable about Z cars. She said that a good friend of hers had just passed away and that she was in charge of settling her assets and finances. The woman’s husband had passed away just a year prior, and my friend was brought in to help her manage his affairs. With both of them gone, and few family members around, she found herself playing the role of executor of their estate.
I agreed to help her find a buyer for a Datsun the couple had loved so much. I asked my friend for some information about the car, and she said that she saw the pink slip in one of the files and would send it my way. “Pink Slip?”, I thought…this just got a bit more interesting.

They had gone to the dealership in January 1970 once they learned about this new teardrop-shaped sports car. They returned again in May of that year to put a deposit down, checked all the available options and stated their color preferences (905 Monte Carlo Red or 918 New Sight Orange). They finally got a call in October 1970 that their Z was almost ready and would be there soon. Just before Christmas that year, the couple brought the Z car home.

My friend sent me a picture of the original pink slip and when I zoomed in to read the vin number, my heart jumped. A one-owner, mostly original, so-called “Series 1”, California car, was within my reach. I explained to my friend that I would like the right of first refusal to purchase the car and if it didn’t follow me home, I would still help find a good home for it. Coordinating a visit to get a look at the car was a bit tricky because once the couple fell ill, they entrusted the car to their mechanic. This mechanic also had a connection to the couple and the car, as he was one of the neighborhood kids who was outside playing that day when this shiny new Orange Z car came down the street after it left the dealership. The mechanic’s uncle owned a Z car ship in Whittier and would go on to maintain the car for years until the uncle passed the torch down to the mechanic to take it over the shop. I quickly learned that this car was special to many people, and I had to earn the privilege of being its next caretaker. To complicate things further, the car was not located at the mechanic’s shop any longer, instead it was parked at a neighbor’s place and the neighbors were also dealing with health issues and were not always around. Finally, the stars aligned, and I was able to see the tired, but gently loved and mostly complete 240z.

A new member of the family

The mechanic and I had never met prior to this situation, but we both knew of each other and after a few discussions, I was deemed worthy of being the second owner of this 240z. As an added bonus, the couple also had kept meticulous maintenance records and retained all the original documentation, right back to the manual, warranty card and original purchase order documents. I was able to piece together the story of the roughly 25 years that this car was on the road, including many road rallies and car shows. The last registration card accompanied a recommended maintenance sheet that was never addressed. It had spent the second half of its life tucked away in the owner’s garage, at the mechanic’s storage facility, or in the neighbor’s backyard. After a 35-year slumber, it was now ready to wake up again. I was concerned that the engine had seized since I could not get the crank bolt to turn with a long pipe over my breaker bar, but once I connected a battery, the engine turned over smoothly. After a bit of Marvel Mystery Oil in the chamber, I found that the engine had decent compression. I removed the fuel tank drain plug, and an amber jelly slowly dripped out. A refresh would be needed before she would run again. Under the supervision of my youngest daughter, Sirena, I would replace all the hoses, blow out all the lines, and clean up all the wiring. Then this time capsule from 1970 finally breathed again.

Sirena supervises the 1970 240Z’s initial tune-up.