The Nissan Sunny originally debuted in 1960s Japan as a Datsun model. This racecar, a 1972 B110-chassis, is a second-generation Sunny, which was also known as the Datsun 1200 on account of its engine. The A12 engine displaces just 1200cc in its four cylinders and uses pushrods (gasp) and carburetors (double gasp) to make just a hair shy of 70bhp. Back in 1972, that wasn't too bad.
Immediately eye-catching is the 'racing jacket' covering the grille and headlights. Whenever the skies were devoid of precipitation or heavy cloud cover, the B110s of the day were said to wear these color-matched covers to aid aerodynamics and cooling.
A closer look at the exterior exemplifies the era's artisan pedigree-all molding of the fiberglass components was done by hand. With Chinese mass production still in the distant future of the 1980s, a craftsman's finesse sculpts the rear deck spoiler, the aforementioned 'jacket' and the front air dam.
Underneath the 50mm-wider fiberglass fender flares is a set of 205/50/13 Advan R-compound race tires up front and 225/50/13 tires in the rear. Peering into the small windows of the Tosco wheels (13x8 up front and 13x9 in the rear), we see MK63 Nismo brake calipers. Cryo-treated and slotted OE front rotors are bitten by Luvix pads.
Unfastening the fiberglass hood reveals something special. Directly over its coarse under-plane lie the autographs of John Morton, Masami Kageyama (GT500 Calsonic/Impul driver), Kazuyoshi Hoshino (Impul founder and president), Michael Krumm (GT500 Motul/Nismo driver), Masahiro Hasemi (Hasemi Motorsport founder), Wada Takao (1986 JTCC Skyline driver), Iida Akira (GT300 WedsSport driver) and Motoyama Satoshi (GT500 Xanavi/Nismo driver).
Surely a car with the blessings of such famous drivers has an equally blessed origin. Auto Factory Hirota worked closely with Tomei, not just on the correct look for the period, but on building and restoring-to the exact specifications of the day-a genuine Tomei GX-5 racer. And the other important signature under the hood? That would be Takahashi Kenji, the original driver of the Tomei Sunny.
Having friends in high places means the Tomei insignia on the engine isn't merely a dress-up valve cover, but an entire catalog of parts nested within the A12. The freshly built, twin-carb Austin derivative funnels air through four Tomei trumpets. After inhaling some high-octane from the twin Webers, the combustibles are sucked down a Hirota-ported head. The 78-degree Tomei camshaft levers against forged Tomei pushrods and OE rockers, then into Tomei 40mm valves. A desirable 7.5mm of lift is produced on the eight-valve engine. Igniting the concoction are Denso spark plugs at the end of Ultra 8mm plug wires, which extend toward their respective cylinders from a Setrab distributor and Woko external coil.
A Tomei bottom end kit, including pistons, rods, crankshaft and crank pulley, makes up the now-1300cc short block. The compression ratio has been raised to 12.7:1 from the factory 9.5:1. Bore is up to 77mm from 72mm. And nowadays, 170bhp goes through the Tomei flywheel and Nismo clutch. The transmission uses a custom close-ratio gear set, utilizing an F56A Omori 2.676:1 for first gear, 1.691:1 for second, 1.398:1 for third, 1.181:1 for fourth, and a 1.000:1 fifth gear. At the two Tsukuba Circuit races each year, the Nismo LSD wears a 4.38:1 final drive. At the Fuji Speedway Jamboree event, a 3.90:1 gear is used.
In the trunk is a Cusco tower brace and an ATL fuel cell. Twin electric Nismo fuel pumps and an adjacent aluminum surge tank replace the mechanical draw type of the era. Electrical systems rely solely on the interior-mounted Odyssey PC680 battery, as the alternator has been removed.