For those of you who read magazines more than fifteen years ago, you probably remember seeing, in the tiny ads towards the back, offers of kits that converted vehicles like Chevrolet S-10s and LUVs, Vegas and Monzas and more into V8-powered monsters that would remind you of the good old days before insurance premiums that cost a mint and EPA actions that cost an industry dearly for two decades (at least). Among the other vehicles listed would be the Datsun Z-car. The Fairlady didn’t really need a power boost…the inline six cylinder engine was more than competent enough on it’s own and the 240Z was a sweet-driving sports car…why would you want to jam a V8 under that hood?
Hang me out to dry if you must for what I’m about to say next, but at certain angles the Z-car does tend to look like a scaled-down C3 Corvette. They are light. They are big enough to house a V8 but small enough that even a smog-choked 305 could be a very entertaining choice. One company in California, Scarab Engineering, thought that would be a great setup and got to work on the conversions themselves.
What you are looking at is a Stage II setup. A 350ci Chevrolet was swapped in and would’ve been backed up to a four-speed originally. A ZF six-speed shifts gears now. The 350 has modifications, like an MSD ignition, Edelbrock intake, and more. The body kit is exactly as Scarab left it, with the flared fenders and the molded-in ducktail spoiler. Doesn’t look much besides a slightly trick Datsun, but that was the miracle of the car: oh, it was damn good. It’d have mild understeer in corners that could be fixed with a boot full of throttle. It’d cruise all day long just fine. And it was light enough and potent enough that a legion of pissed-off Ferrari, Jaguar and Porsche owners all would twitch at the mere sight of one.
Hear it for yourself. This is an E-ticket ride if there ever was one.
