History

This 1970 Datsun 240Z (HLS30-19927) began its race career on the East Coast in the early 70’s. In 1976, the racecar came into the ownership of Loren St. Lawrence, one of the most successful racers from the early days of SCCA’s Oregon Region and ICSCC. Loren was a middle school teacher and also mentored high school students as a guidance counselor at South Salem High School. Loren enjoyed racing sports cars throughout the United States and Canada during the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s winning in a variety of cars: Datsun 240Z, Datsun 510, Chevron, BMW 2002, Volvo 544 (aka 46 Ford-shaped) sedan, an aluminum Buick powered Lotus 6, the DeAtley Michelob Mercedes 450SL, all bearing his number “39.”

Loren and his wife Barbara picked up the car in Wyoming, meeting the seller half-way across the United States. The car was originally raced on the East Coast by an unknown driver from new. The car is rumored to have been to the SCCA National Runoffs in years prior to Loren’s ownership. Loren converted this 240Z to 280Z race specs, which was a common way to keep the most current eligibility back in the day. With this car, Loren became one of the most competitive known Z racers in the Northwest Region. Loren raced the car in not only ICSCC’s C Improved Production and C Sport Racing categories from 1977 through 1979, but also in SCCA C-Production, Trans-Am, and IMSA GTU.  His engines were prepared by Everett Hatch in a cornfield out by Stayton, OR. #39 was his go-to number, but he also ran #33 and #99 when #39 was not available. Loren’s wife, Barbara, recalls the tedious duty of constantly swapping numbers. She always had a different set of stickers to shape the 9’s into 3’s and vice versa. The livery on the car was that of a local restaurant chain known as “VIP’S restaurant.” VIP’S had several stores in the Oregon valley.  Their restaurant and corporate office were located in what is today a Mexican Restaurant just across the street from Salem’s Marion Hotel.

Multiple podiums and points in 1978, at tracks like Sears Point, PIR, Laguna Seca, paved the way for a trip to the 1978 SCCA Champion Spark Plug Road Racing Classic at Road Atlanta. Loren was faced against the likes of Paul Newman and Jim Fitzgerald of Bob Sharp Racing, Frank Leary, Logan Blackburn, Dan Parkinson, Casey Mollett, Joel Anderson, and Don Kearney. Joel Anderson recalls them racing door-to-door through the bridge of Road Atlanta. Unfortunately, Loren ran out of luck that year and ended up with a DNF only after two laps. In 1978 the car wore two different faces, a 240Z front airdam and a 280Z valance with aluminum lip. This was due to the regulations during the period. In 1979, the car continued to dominate ICSCC regional races, and continued to be competitive in SCCA C-Production and Trans-Am. The car also had one stint in IMSA, as a stand-in replacement car for the sister “VIP’S” IMSA 260Z, which is now owned by ZTherapy and then pit-crew chief, Steve E. Steve recalls that although the IMSA 260Z was newer and supposedly better setup, but to their surprise the CP car was always faster. The car’s livery also changed in 1979, changing from the diagonal fender design to “VIP’s” being written across the side of the car. The car also gained some 280Z touches like rear tail lights, front valances pieces and aluminum lip. Steve said that the car’s “VIP’S” livery was largely done to help advertise the car, as Loren had decided to move on from the Z after the 1979 season.

In 1980, Loren sold the 70 Z car to, as Steve E. recalls, an Asian gentleman in the San Francisco Region.  In 1982, as he moved on up the racing food chain, Loren’s love of auto racing led to an opportunity to work for Budweiser in St. Louis where he directed motorsports marketing and sponsorship for the various events. During this period, Loren also raced for the famous DeAtley Team (run by Neil DeAtley) before their Corvette Days in the black Michelob Mercedes 450 SL V8 car. In 1991 Loren returned to guidance counseling at Webster-Grove High School in St. Louis, mentoring kids and coaching the school’s golf team to the state tournament. He was an excellent player himself.  Several years ago after retiring, Loren and Barbara moved back to the Salem area and had been seen at the Oregon Region races in the last few years with Steve E. and Loren’s former IMSA 260Z.

In 2005, the car came up for sale by John Merrill. Story has it that John sold the car to Ed H., who had got into Z cars back in the day having seen the two “VIP’S” cars at a few races in the 70’s. Ed H. was supposed to make payments on the car. Those payments stopped and resulted in John and Ed falling out. John threatened to sue Ed for not holding up his part of the deal, and as a result, Ed dumped the car on John’s lawn without the logbooks and missing parts. MD (name protection) purchased the car at this time and owned it for several years. Steve E. remembers “John Merrill” actually being MD, and that MD was not exactly the most genuine character. Steve wanted to purchase the car and he remembers MD having raised the sale price from $3,500 to $9,000 after seeing Steve’s name in the logbooks. The car eventually came into the hands of C. Johnson, who had the car refreshed. C. Johnson’s work on the car included the engine being redone to Rebello spec, a repaint (same color scheme), and major clean-up of the car.

In 2009, C. Johnson traded the car to R. Kardynal with money on top for a yellow tub Z car. After five years of ownership, R. Kardynal listed an ad for the car in May 2014 on Vancouver, Canada’s craigslist as his health was deteriorating. Around this time, Loren St. Lawrence himself e-mailed R. Kardynal to speak about the car, highlighting that it was indeed the car he had raced in the 70’s. He pointed out that multiple items in the car, namely the dash, roll-bar, and engine accessories, all matched his original car. Loren also asked R. Kardnyal if the air box he created was still present, which was not. GC (current owner) also e-mailed R. Kardynal in May to inquire about the car, but decided to pass as the timing was not right.

Unfortunately, Loren passed away in his sleep in the early morning hours of Thursday, July 10, 2014, with his beloved wife Barbara by his side. Loren had survived an eight-year battle with cancer, saying, “I got cancer, but cancer didn’t get me.” He died of complications of aplastic anemia, a rare blood disease. Loren passed away in July that year.

In September 2014, GC approached R. Kardynal again about his rekindled interest in the car. After several weeks of planning and research, speaking with Barbara St. Lawrence, Steve E, Andy Barcheck, Joel Anderson, C. Johnson, MD, and the SF SCCA Region Archivists, GC decided to move forward with purchasing the car. GC flew up with his girlfriend to Vancouver on October 11, rented a U-Haul trailer and moving truck, and headed to Port Coquitlam, BC to meet R. Kardnyal. After spending the afternoon loading the car and parts, GC began his trek home to San Jose, California. After a night in Seattle and Portland, GC met with Barbara St. Lawrence in Salem, OR. Barbara provided GC with many pictures, notes, race results, and articles in three scrapbooks that Barbara’s mother kept diligently during their race days. After digging through several drawers, Barbara found the car’s ICSCC and CACC Regional logbooks from 1977-1979! Logbooks that were thought to be long gone and forgotten, actually laid quietly in her living room dresser for over 35 years. After over three hours of taking pictures of the scrapbooks, GC headed home to San Jose, CA.

The racecar’s restoration process has begun with the goal of bringing it back to its old “VIP’S” livery. Les Cannaday at Classic Datsun in Vista, California will be a key player for getting this car back to its original livery and to the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion.

Special thanks to:

Barbara St. Lawrence (Loren’s wife)
Steve E. (ZTherapy)
Andy Barcheck (Loren’s best friend)
Joel Anderson (Former competitor)
Casey Mollett (Former competitor)
Les Cannaday (Classic Datsun)
Larry Oka (Larry Oka Racing)
Gary Horstkorta (SCCA San Francisco Region Archivist)
And to all those not mentioned!