Thirty years ago, a young driver named John Morton and a Datsun 510 changed the way American racing fans viewed Japanese cars.
It happened in the final race of the SCCA's 1971 2.5 Trans-Am Championship season. Morton, driving a 510, duked it out with one of racing's toughest 'shoes in a race-long, metal-bashing fight for the checker. Morton, known for his black eyeglasses and gold driving suit, emerged the victor and changed motorsports as we know it.
Prior to the 1971 season, there were no Toyota or Nissan sedans racing in America. Honda, Mazda and Subaru were essentially unknown at that time and the fastest tin-tops in the series' were the nobility of European touring car racing, Porsche 911s, Alfa-Romeo GTVs and BMW 2002s.
It was Nissan's rebel president of Datsun USA, Yutaka Katayama, who decided to run his company's little two-door 510s against the best from Europe. Banished to America by his ultra-conservative contemporaries at the Nissan home office, Katayama had an artist's soul, an engineering background and a clear vision of what his company could do in America. Still, Nissan's execs were so sure of failure, they renamed their U.S.-market cars "Datsuns," so the possible U.S. marketing disaster wouldn't besmirch Nissan's strong worldwide image. Katayama, of course, proved them all wrong; he came to California and built one of the greatest sales empires in automotive history.
A couple of years before the 1969 U.S. introduction of the Datsun 510, which featured a hot, single-overhead cam 1600cc engine, four-wheel independent suspension and front disc brakes, Datsun began making its mark in U.S. racing with its sporty 1600 and 2000 roadsters.
With hired guns Bob Sharp Racing on the East Coast and Brock Racing Enterprises on the West Coast, Datsun began racking up the victories in the Sports Car Club of America's amateur racing series. When Katayama introduced his slick Datsun 240Z in 1970, BRE made racing history by winning the first of two national championships for Nissan against the then all-powerful, factory-backed Triumph and Porsche racing organizations.
Katayama's ultra-rapid Z-cars were mechanically similar to his tiny 510 sedans. Both were equipped with Nissan's advanced "L" series single overhead cam engines that would easily rev past 8000 in racing form.And the Z-car's slick five-speed transmission, limited-slip differential and alloy rear brakes could be bolted into a 510 in an afternoon. Add a set of BRE-developed springs, shocks, anti-roll bars, alloy wheels, an intake manifold, twin-choke Mikuni carbs and a set of tubular headers, and the 510 was a runner. It was also legal for the SCCA's highly competitive Trans-Am series for sedans under 2.5-liters.
Katayama knew what he had to do. He gave BRE the first contract to build a team of 510s for the 1971 season, but because the decision came late, the BRE team missed the first race of the '71 season at Lime Rock, Conn. When the BRE transporter finally rolled eastward to Bryar Motorsports Park in New Hampshire, it was late May and the series' past champ, Australian touring car legend Horst Kwech, already had nine points tallied for his team of bright orange, Wetson Racing Alfa Romeo GTVs.
Morton and his red, white and blue No. 46 BRE racer, however, qualified number one at Bryar and pulled out a 40-second lead during the race. He was well on his way to victory when a rear half-shaft failed, handing the win to Gaston Andrey, in an Alfa-Romeo.
At the series' next stop at Mid Ohio, Morton scored his first win and his second in Edmonton in Alberta, Canada. Fan support for the BRE-Datsun team was growing. The rivalry between the New York-based Wetson Alfas and the California-built BRE 510s had become intense. At each race, highly vocal 510 and Alfa fans would gather on specific corners in support of their favorite teams.
At Donnybrooke, Minn., Kwech blew his engine on lap 20, leaving Morton in front, only to have his oil pump fail 14 laps later. Fortunately, Mike Downs, in the second BRE team car, finished fifth, winning two valuable points for Datsun. At Elkhart Lake, Wisc., Morton won again against a horde of Alfas and the points race nearly evened out when Morton and Kwech split victories at Olathe, Kan., Watkins Glen and Riverside. The Alfas were still leading, but just barely. The 2.5 Trans-Am Manufacturer's Championship would be decided at Laguna Seca, the final race of the season.
At Laguna, Morton won the pole by a couple of tenths over Kwech, but the next few slots were all Alfa Romeo. It was obvious to all that for Alfa to win the championship, Kwech had to take Morton out, even if it meant crashing himself. If both cars were sidelined, another Alfa would take the checker and the Championship would go to the Italians. Morton, on the other hand, had to win if Datsun was to win the Championship.
In those days, Laguna Seca was much faster and more dangerous than it is today. From the start/finish line to the famed corkscrew, it was a long series of ultra high-speed left-hand sweepers that required consummate skill on the edge of adhesion. At the start, Morton redlined each gear in an attempt to put as much distance between himself and the pursuing Alfa. Kwech, too, pushed and kept right on the Datsun's tail.
Lap after lap, the championship hung in the balance. Both drivers hung it out, getting their cars completely sideways out of the 90-degree left-hander that leads onto the main straight. Then they'd both drift out to the edge of oblivion on the four long sweepers as Kwech tried to get the Alfa's nose alongside the 510.
In desperation, Kwech finally tagged Morton on the steep downhill left out of the corkscrew. When the orange Alfa reappeared, alone, with a smashed nose, racing out of the trees toward turn eight, the fans thought the race was finished. And then, just eight seconds behind Kwech, came Morton. He'd skillfully recovered the spin without killing his engine and had the Datsun's tail hung out in every gear, determined to catch his rival.
On a relatively clear track, with only the orange Alfa in front, Morton relentlessly began to clip whole seconds off Kwech's time. If both cars held their blistering pace, Morton would catch the fleeing Alfa just one or two laps before the finish. Then, just as Morton was on the verge of attempting a pass, he was given the "IN" sign from the team and dove into the pits for fuel. Everyone knew Kwech would also have to pit. With the Trans-Am rulebook mandating 15-gallon fuel cells in all 2.5-liter cars, and race distances set a couple of laps farther than either an Alfa or a Datsun could run being pressed to the limit, pit work was always a key to victory.
But Kwech never stopped for fuel. He completed the last lap still well ahead of Morton and took the checker to thunderous applause. Just as he crossed the line, the Alfa's engine coughed and sputtered to a stop, apparently out of fuel. It seemed Kwech gambled and won. The accolades were tremendous. Alfa Romeo had apparently won the toughest championship race in the entire history of the Trans-Am.
There was just one problem: There was no way any Alfa that had run that hard for so many laps could go the distance on the legal amount of fuel.
BRE protested the Alfa's fuel-cell capacity and after two hours of careful investigation and refilling of the Alfa's fuel system, the race officials discovered the Alfa's tank had been cleverly disguised to hold several extra gallons of fuel. Kwech simply fiddled with the ignition switch as he crossed the line, making it appear as if the Alfa was out of fuel.
The protest was upheld and Morton was declared the winner. Datsun had won the 1971 2.5 Trans-Am Championship in its first year of competition. But it was a quiet, almost depressing victory for the BRE crew and John Morton. It had been the greatest race of his young career and there was no one to share it with. The crowds had gone home. The press already filed their stories, which stated the Wetson Alfas had won. Even Katayama, who'd graciously come down off the top of the BRE transporter's roof to congratulate Morton for his superb season, believed his beloved 510s had lost to a superior force. There were retractions, of course, but Morton never got to savor the victory he rightfully deserved.
Despite the SCCA's tech officials imposing a ballast penalty on the team's cars, the BRE Datsuns and John Morton would go on to again win the Trans-Am Championship in 1972, winning nine of 10 races and finishing 1-2 in eight of them-an amazing record, which helped propel Katayama and the Japanese manufacturer to first place in import sales.
By the end of the season, the opposition announced they wouldn't return, so SCCA canceled the series. The four BRE-Datsun 510s would never again run as works' racers. All except Morton's No. 46 were sold to private teams.Morton's two-time champ was retained by the factory to take its place in their long-planned museum. Only one other BRE racer, the Bobby Allison No. 85 car, would survive the ravages of time and competition. It would win several national SCCA B-Sedan amateur championships and then be sold to a collector in Alabama. The others went out of the country and were eventually crashed or raced into the ground and sold for scrap.
Fast forward to the summer of 2001. The Monterey Historics have become the oldest and most respected vintage racing event in the world. Steve Earle, organizer of the Historics, decides it would be fun for both BRE racers to return to the scene of the crime and be paid the tribute they deserve.
He calls Dennis Morgan, the present owner of No. 85, who spent four years with restoration experts Bobby and Nancy Taylor of Birmingham, Ala., bringing the ex-Bobby Allison car back to its former glory. Morgan is in.
He also calls the Nissan Motor Corporation in Gardena and invites them to bring Morton's No. 46. Only, the No. 46 car hasn't been touched in 30 years, and many of its valuable parts have "disappeared" over the years (hopefully to assist other B-Sedan racers). Nissan's Competition Department agrees to have the car ready for the August event.
Morton too, is invited to Laguna to drive his old racer.
A powerful, new 1800cc Rebello-built engine is prepared for No. 46 and the reunited team gets a couple of practice days at Buttonwillow and Willow Springs prior to Monterey. All appears in order. Morgan taps ex-Nissan racer Tommy Riggins to drive the No. 85 car, as Allison long since retired from competition.
Sunday's combined Trans-Am main event at the Monterey Historics is for both large- and small-bore sedans. Parnelli Jones and George Follmer have also been invited to drive a couple of their old racers in the big-bore portion of the event. They qualify on the front row. Morton qualifies fastest of the 2.5 cars and starts in the middle of the big car field. Behind Morton is some very fast 2.5 equipment, including John Norman's very quick GTV Alfa and Shelly Zide in one of the ex-Wetson Racing GTVs.
At the flag, Parnelli and Follmer roar off, but somehow Morton manages to stay with the mid-pack big bangers. Within a few laps, Morton finds himself racing with Vic Edelbrock in the famed ex-Smokey Yunick Camaro, one of the fastest cars in the history of the Trans-Am. But Edelbrock, after a desperate blocking move, puts his Camaro off in turn 3.
The tough car-to-car battle allows Norman's Alfa to catch Morton, but on the last lap, Norman loses his water-pump drive belt. Morton wins, and it's the most popular win of the afternoon. Later that day, Morton is formally acknowledged for his gritty drive and the BRE teams are given the award for the best and most original presentation of the weekend.
The most interesting part of the Historics weekend for the Datsun racers was how many people came to Morton after the race and told him that they had been there when he raced Kwech in '71. Many said it was one of the best races they'd ever seen and came down specifically to see him race again. That satisfaction may have come 30 years later, but it's still genuinely appreciated.
By the way, Peter Brock is the B in BRE Racing. That's him in the middle of the bottom photo on page 211. He is now a freelance writer/photographer living in Seattle, Wash.