The Original California Z Car

Pictured Above: Is the "Original California Z". As Featured in the February 1976 Issue of Z"HOT ROD MAGAZINE".

Working with the Datsun Competition Department, this Z Car was dreamed up by Dave Kent and his crew of talented fabricators and painters at "Creative Car Craft" in El Segundo California in 1976.

While Creative Car Craft did all of the design work and modifications to the Z Car featured here, Jim Cook Racing assisted with some of the fiberglass work on the B-210, Floyd Link worked his magic on the engines, while Manning & Brady reworked the heads etc.

Below is a copy of the Jim Cook Racing Catalog (rear cover) that features "the California Z" Kit - Jim took the molds for his fiberglass kit directly off the metal car done by Creative Car Craft.

So Where Is The Original California Z Car Today?

Today it is owned by Howell Johnson and the story of how he and the California Z came together is the stuff that all Z Car Fan's dreams are made of.

When I ask Howell to tell me where he found this famous Z Car and how he came to own it, Howell wrote the following:

Okay, here it goes. My love for Z's started when I was 19 years old and in the Marine Corps stationed at Camp Pendleton in 1992. I traded my first car (a 1980 Honda Accord) and some money for a 1972 240Z in reasonable condition. I imediately fell in love and wanted to modify the car in order to get all the speed I could.

I had started to hang out in San Diego with a bunch of hot rod junkies on Friday nights comparing Mustangs and such. My Z paled in comparison with the power of those cars. So I began spending every penny I had plus every dollar I could borrow in order to go faster. All in all I spend an enormous amount of money and ended up with a 280Z block, Diesel crank, 240Z head machined to fit 280Z valves, a wild cam  Triple Solex carbs and the neccessary suspension to hold it on the road. 

I couldn't let all that speed go to waste on the street and tried my luck in some amature racing. The car had plenty of speed but my driving skills were still young. So after exausting my monetary funds and having the time of my life, I gave up on the race circut and sold the car. After which I paid back some of my loans and purchased a 1973 240Z for $800.00.

It was in terrible shape and needed a lot of TLC. Shortly there after I transfered service from the Marine Corps to the Army and moved from San Diego to Monterey Ca in 1993. Where I was stationed at the Defense Language Institute to learn Arabic. I quickly met a beautiful woman and got married shortly there after.

We then discovered that we were going to have a baby and as you know a 240Z only has room for 2. So the car was sold to a friend and I went on to Svannah Ga. It only took about a week before I missed my Z.

Being a new parent I could hardly afford to buy a second car and was left to only dream of owning a Z again. Even after I bought a Taurus SHO, I still couln't help but remember the fun I had in my Z cars. Until recently that is.

In 1999 I came back to Monterey and the Defense Language Institute again to sharpen my Arabic language skills. I had never lost the dream of driving a Z again. One day as I was driving to work past the same car lots were I would look longingly at the Porches, Ferraris and the occational Corvette or Shelby Cobra and remember the joy of driving a "fun" car like my Z, when I saw an amazing sight.

There it was, the Z of my dreams, sitting in a tiny car lot next to a Celica with a broken convertable top and few other ho-hum every day cars. On my way home that day I had to stop and ask about the Z. I was told it was a 1975 280Z with only 17,00 miles. "WOW!" I said, I wonder how much it is.

The salesman who barly spoke english said "24." "24 hundred?" I asked and the sales man said "Yes." I thought to myself "This is it! I can finally own and drive a Z again." The salesman told me to come back the next day when the owner of the lot would be in. The next day I came back and asked to buy the car for $2,400.00.

The owner looked at me as I was from another planet and said "The price is $24,000.00." Broken hearted I left and went home to sulk over my still lost dream. Day after day for a month I passed this beautiful car on my way to and from work. Then one morning I noticed a price had been put in the windshield of the car. $6,900 it read and I thought, "I can't belive it! It's too good to be true. They must have left a 1 off at the beginning of the price. There is no way it went from $24,000 to $6,900. So I didn't even bother to stop and ask fearing the feeling of loss and hopelessness that I had felt the last time I was there.

Then the next week the price was gone off the windshield and was replaced by a sign that said "Make offer." I stopped in and inquired to the owner who coincidentaly is from Palestine and speaks Arabic. He was pleased to learn that I could speak his native tongue and told me that he could take no less than $7,000 for the car.

It belonged to some rich person that owned more cars than he had places to park them and the owner wanted to sell the car. I imediately went home and talked to my financial adviser (otherwise known as wife, who had to talk me into even trying to buy the car because I was hesitant to spend that much money) to see if we could scare up the money.

We had a SAAB 9000 that was promptly sold and our savings emptied to come up with $5,000. Being an Arabic speaker myself I was able to work a deal with the owner of the car lot and he "financed" the remaining balance with no interest. Really no interest at all, just tax and registration.

Howell