Banzai. Thanks for the details

David Miller 260Z at 1981 race



Tokyo Joe "Worlds Fastest Civic" in 1976 @ Talladega Motor speedway 146.698 Mph

Excellent read - would love to see the vids of the Pit show :)
thank you for joining just to post that information

cool read

Welcome, good to read of new members with stories and memories of datsuns from years gone by.

woh, dude, paragraphs.

What would you like to know about your car? I was David Millers shop manager at Autosport Motoring accessories from 1983 to 85 when it was located at 3659 Austin Bluffs Parkway in Colorado Springs. That car has one hell of a history behind its humble beginnings. I personally worked on that car before the body panels were changed to its current configuration and probably 200lbs lighter! LOL! That was the last addition that miller did to the car besides the extra tubing added for chassis stiffening before he retired Banzai (The Car's Name) and went open wheeled, Lola I think, at least that's what I had heard after I took a position at a shop out here in California, unfortunately David passed away before he could fully realize his dream of competing in an open wheeled car. The rumor has it he suffered a moderate heart attack while testing his new ride at PMI. He hadn't fully recovered when he started a rigorous physical training program to try and get his racing license reinstated, but suffered a fatal heart attack shortly after his first. That car was the fastest 1200 I have ever personally driven before or since. They way that car was set up it would drift through corners beautifully, Miller would lap the field in the car regularly, there was a group of GT-5 cars that would show up to events in the RMR SCCA, they had quite the following, the drivers competing with Japanese cars would routinely chase each other through the pit area wearing Kamikaze head bands and plastic Samurai Swords! the spectators loved it! There was another 1200 owned by a driver by the name of John Weylan, it was prepared as an Improved Touring car, it too sported the same paint scheme as Miller's original version of the car. The car hauler was a Datsun extra cab pick up and trailer (That Miller Built)with matching paint job. Millers car had all steel panels with huge fender flares and air dam constructed of chicken wire, fiberglass and tons of bondo, the car had all of its body work done by the body shop department at the Albuquerque community college where Miller taught auto mechanics. He moved to Colorado Springs in 1983 and opened Autosport, I started working for him shortly thereafter. I have often wondered what had happened to his old car, (I located his 510) its good to know that this piece of SCCA Championship history did not end up in a salvage yard or worse yet, crushed. That car you have was a Mid Division Championship Car. This car did battle with some of the fastest cars in GT-5 during its long career, including Road Atlanta, and the Championship runoffs at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. There is another very famous car that raced against Millers car and that was Tokyo Joe, Bob Boilo's Honda CVCC, a car that now resides in Honda's Museum in japan. If you can find old issues of Car And Driver or Road & Track from the late 70's through early 80's you will find adds for the Bolus and Snopes Racing Team, there are pics of the cars on the track together in some of the background shots. David's car was well received by Nissan Racing when it qualified at Road Atlanta, the story goes like this; after a struggle getting to Atlanta, Banzi was a thin layer across the shop floor the week prior to the event, the car is thrown together and finished three days before the event, the race truck's alternator craps out somewhere in BFE, New Mexico, Miller in a pouring thunderstorm in the middle of the night removes the alternator from the race car, installs it on the truck, continues to drive straight through to Atlanta, sleeps in the back of the truck for two hours before qualifying, while on the track begins to think to himself,"I know I've forgotten something" as the car is inbound to the pit area, the oil light comes on and the engine as Miller describes it, "Sounded like a blender full of hex nuts!" the oil drain plug wasn't tightened and had worked its way loose and dumped its contents on the track. Miller is totally bummed out, exhausted from the ordeal of getting the car there, only to qualify and have the engine let loose just before his chance to race. Just then, two Japanese mechanics and one translator from Nissan Racing Development came over to see what had happened to Banzai, after a short discussion, the three left and returned with a fresh Nissan prepared Racing Mill! They helped David R&R his motor, swapped in the new mill and Miller raced at the event, all courtesy of Nissan Racing! Nissan at that time, were sponsoring Pizza Huts B-210's and from that day forward, Millers car as well. Like I said, a lot of history!

Wicked score! She looks like a lot of fun and with all that history it will surely keep appreciating in value. Is it just me or are the front guards not the same? The drivers side looks a lot more squared off than the right... What motor will you run, A12,14,15? Or something else?

Haha. D&D.

Quote:

Judging by the log book, you witnessed Daryls only outing in this car 9/3/94. For some reason after all that work he ran it both days at the SCR Nats and then it went back into storage again untill 2000.

I appreciate your offer of help, I am having a "fun" time tracking down parts. I may be in touch

I snagged a 63A trans tonight which "appears" to be a nearly bolt in affair and I am getting with a buddy of mine at Nissan Motorsports in TN. tomorrow to see what goodies are still around for this thing. I'll keep it posted somewhat!

I wonder why so many Datsun owners are also either Dodge owners, or at least Mopar dedicated as well.
The Ram truck outside & the sign on the left wall are all too obvious.

Datsun & Dodge, a winning combo.