NVZEE

It looks like someone in Taunton MA has some ‘splainin to do 🙄

From humble beginnings — there wasn’t a lot of metal in the first place: https://attackingtheclock.com/2017/01/04/bondo-magician-meets-mad-max/#more-151

Chevy powered, carbon fiber time attack beast retains traces of its S30 roots: https://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a27482031/carbon-bodied-time-attack-datsun

ZCON Scarab reunion and the upcoming Randy Lewis book get a mention: https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2019/05/10/subtle-as-a-chain-link-jock-strap

Dry sump? The builders are engineers, so they probably have a trick solution planned. Autoweek’s the only source I’ve seen on the project.

https://autoweek.com/article/diy/update-swapping-mercedes-v12-datsun-280z?fbclid=IwAR27Yil-xKtE6CgDaa1hvjcXNku-PGol8C0c0zDJOm7_VLmbmDaOXNnnRDg

If the Greenlight brand isn’t familiar, Mike, here’s a limited, quick intro. Not current though, as they’ve included Datsuns and Nissans in other model sets as well and generally have taken pretty good care of the enthusiast 👍 http://www.greenlighttoys.com/index.php?id=478

Only not a Hot Wheel, just similar in scale but not as common in the big-box stores.

FWIW, the Greenlight toy car people have a Hot Wheels sized Big Sam in an upcoming release. They've done a pretty good job of recognizing Zs in their Japanese car selection, including models that represent BRE, Bob Sharp, Safari, rally and Baja versions (like Carl Beck's BRE offroader). In their scale and price range, details can be ... vague, but overall it's been a good assortment.

Not being a Brit, I have to rely on the interwebs for info but recognize Big Sam as a racing icon of the era. The street cars were specially modified and detailed in a small production run, something akin to Scarab but without the V8 and related hardware. From the history link in the first post, Samuri ... “went on to build around 74 examples of the uprated road going Z’s called the Super Samuri.”

I don’t know about BAT comments being pre-screened. From my experience, a comment is instantly posted and then left to readers to “flag as not constructive” if someone feels that way. It’s surprising that isn’t used more frequently as a weapon in some disputes, but people seem to respect the power to edit one another and use it with discretion.

One more of their gathering, this from Christian Jarno Exley.

Where these things so often go off the rails is the debate over “correctness” - as in, that shouldn’t be that way, period. There doesn’t appear to be anything in the description that claims it’s The One True Datsun, but rather a nicely maintained and presented example. This is a used car, nearly 50 years old. If there’s no misrepresentation of what it is or isn’t, the discussion about variations and changes can be interesting and educational. But the ego-polishers charge in with their absolutes and the whole process gets hijacked.

A contemporary build in a “vintage” racing class, this Z is one of many cars built and raced by the Botoneta team in Guatemala.