This Datsun 240Z Is a Purpose-Built Rally Rocket

“When you get in the Z, it has a little bit more of a rocket feeling to it,” says Taz Harvey in this video from Petrolicious. A Nissan dealer who grew up racing, Harvey caught the rally bug from a friend who had entered a 911 in the La Carrera Panamericana rally in Mexico. Harvey started racing in Datsun 510s, but realized he needed more top-end speed. So he rebuilt a used 240Z specifically for rally racing. “It definitely has more acceleration,” Harvey says. “On the 510, you could pedal the car really hard, it had more grip than horsepower.”

The 240Z has roughly 220 horsepower, with a top speed of about 130 miles per hour. “But the way I set the car up, it turns really well,” Harvey says. “It’s designed to be more of a race car than a street car. On crowned roads in Mexico, when you’re going 100 miles per hour, you’re constantly putting in steering input. That’s what makes it so exciting, you’re really going fast.”

“Racing for us has always been about the trip,” Harvey says. “The race itself – you better have your shit together. The planning for the trip separates a good race team from someone chasing their tail.”