1988 ZXT GTP  |
 |  |
1987 Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo news, pictures, and information | ||
| Tweet | ||
 |  | Designer: Yoshi Suzuka Chassis Num: 90-07 |
By Daniel Vaughan | Sep 2008
The Electramotive Engineering Company of California was created by an scientist and racing enthusiast named Don Devendorf. He was aided in this venture by his friend, John Knepp. Devendorf had experience running in IMSA and had some success in the 1970s and 1980s racing modified Datsun/Nissan cars.
Before long, the Electramotive Engineering Company became renowned for their abilities to prepare and modify Datsun/Nissan cars for various types of road racing. When the Japanese company, Nissan, decided to enter GTP competition, they turned to Devendorf to lead the project. Devendorf began with a Lola T810 and adapted it to accept a Nissan engine. Changes that were necessary the bodywork and the installation of additional cooling. The bodywork was designed by Yoshi Suzuka. In total, two examples were created.
John Knepp was tasked with modifying the V6 engine, which was also used in the production 'Z' cars at the time. In stock form, the engine featured an iron block and aluminum heads. Knepp added a turbocharger, aluminum block, and many changes to the engine electronics.
The Nissan ZX-T made its racing debut at the Laguna Seca in May of 1985. The car had many growing pains its first year and was met with little success. The following year, the fortunes changed. The car sat on the Pole at Portland, after Geoff Brabham had driven it faster than any other car of the day. During the race, Brabham was joined by co-driver Elliot Forbes-Robinson; together they lead most of the race. They were running in first place when they ran low on fuel and had to return to the pits for a quick re-fuel. The term 'splash' of fuel would seem appropriate. When they returned to the race, they found themselves in third place, and that is how the race would conclude.
In 1987, Lola continued to provide chassis and the Nissan project was ongoing. The Hewland gearbox was now replaced with a Weismann unit. The Nissans had proved to be very fast machines, but they were also unreliable. This would be the cars Achilles heal.
At Miami in 1987, a Nissan driven by Brabham and Forbes-Robinson beat Rahal/Mass and their Porsche 962 and claimed the vehicles first overall victory. Throughout the season, the car would secure four more pole positions, but would not claim any more victories.
The IMSA introduced new regulations for the 1988 season which reduced the horsepower in the GTP category. Many of the cars in this group were beginning producing an excessive amount of horsepower from their turbo-charged engines, making safety a concern. Another possible reason for the restrictions were to give the American V8 engines an advantage. Restrictor plates were fitted to the engines intakes and horsepower became regulated. John Knepp was able to side-step this drawback by adapting an electronically-controlled turbocharger wastegate in the engines management system. This gave the Nissan cars a big advantage and soon they were dominating the system. During mid-season, the IMSA introduced another rule change which gave the pushrod-powered cars a weight advantage, but it was not enough to keep the Nissan's from winning. They were especially quick on the short, sprint races. For this reason, they did not enter cars at the Daytona or Sebring endurance races.
In the hands of Geoff Brabham, chassis number 8801 was driven to a victory in nearly every one of its outings. The car racked up a total of 9 victories, including eight consecutive wins. At the conclusion of the season, Nissan had captured the Manufacturers' Title and Geoff Brabam had earned the IMSA GTP Drivers' Champion.
Brabham and Nissan repeated their domination the following year. This time, a new car had been created, wearing chassis number 8802. It proved to be just as capable as 8801.
In 1990, the team was reorganized and given a new title, 'Nissan Performance Technology, Inc.', or NPTI for short. 1990 was another prosperous season for Nissan and Brabham.
By Daniel Vaughan | Sep 2008
Before long, the Electramotive Engineering Company became renowned for their abilities to prepare and modify Datsun/Nissan cars for various types of road racing. When the Japanese company, Nissan, decided to enter GTP competition, they turned to Devendorf to lead the project. Devendorf began with a Lola T810 and adapted it to accept a Nissan engine. Changes that were necessary the bodywork and the installation of additional cooling. The bodywork was designed by Yoshi Suzuka. In total, two examples were created.
John Knepp was tasked with modifying the V6 engine, which was also used in the production 'Z' cars at the time. In stock form, the engine featured an iron block and aluminum heads. Knepp added a turbocharger, aluminum block, and many changes to the engine electronics.
The Nissan ZX-T made its racing debut at the Laguna Seca in May of 1985. The car had many growing pains its first year and was met with little success. The following year, the fortunes changed. The car sat on the Pole at Portland, after Geoff Brabham had driven it faster than any other car of the day. During the race, Brabham was joined by co-driver Elliot Forbes-Robinson; together they lead most of the race. They were running in first place when they ran low on fuel and had to return to the pits for a quick re-fuel. The term 'splash' of fuel would seem appropriate. When they returned to the race, they found themselves in third place, and that is how the race would conclude.
In 1987, Lola continued to provide chassis and the Nissan project was ongoing. The Hewland gearbox was now replaced with a Weismann unit. The Nissans had proved to be very fast machines, but they were also unreliable. This would be the cars Achilles heal.
At Miami in 1987, a Nissan driven by Brabham and Forbes-Robinson beat Rahal/Mass and their Porsche 962 and claimed the vehicles first overall victory. Throughout the season, the car would secure four more pole positions, but would not claim any more victories.
The IMSA introduced new regulations for the 1988 season which reduced the horsepower in the GTP category. Many of the cars in this group were beginning producing an excessive amount of horsepower from their turbo-charged engines, making safety a concern. Another possible reason for the restrictions were to give the American V8 engines an advantage. Restrictor plates were fitted to the engines intakes and horsepower became regulated. John Knepp was able to side-step this drawback by adapting an electronically-controlled turbocharger wastegate in the engines management system. This gave the Nissan cars a big advantage and soon they were dominating the system. During mid-season, the IMSA introduced another rule change which gave the pushrod-powered cars a weight advantage, but it was not enough to keep the Nissan's from winning. They were especially quick on the short, sprint races. For this reason, they did not enter cars at the Daytona or Sebring endurance races.
In the hands of Geoff Brabham, chassis number 8801 was driven to a victory in nearly every one of its outings. The car racked up a total of 9 victories, including eight consecutive wins. At the conclusion of the season, Nissan had captured the Manufacturers' Title and Geoff Brabam had earned the IMSA GTP Drivers' Champion.
Brabham and Nissan repeated their domination the following year. This time, a new car had been created, wearing chassis number 8802. It proved to be just as capable as 8801.
In 1990, the team was reorganized and given a new title, 'Nissan Performance Technology, Inc.', or NPTI for short. 1990 was another prosperous season for Nissan and Brabham.
By Daniel Vaughan | Sep 2008
| Andy Warhol'S 1979 Bmw M1 Art Car To Be Center Piece At Saratoga Automobile Museum | |
 | • BMW History and Heritage on four wheels and two on display from May – November, 2013 Woodcliff Lake, NJ – May 17, 2013… Andy Warhol's 1979 BMW M1 Art Car will be the center piece of the exhibition 'BMW – The Ultimate Driving Machine', which opens this weekend at the Saratoga Automobile Museum. The exhibition will also feature the BMW 3.0 CSL which won the Daytona 24 Hour race in 1976. The exhibition, which features a retrospective of BMW cars and motorcycles, will run until ...[Read more...] |
| NISSAN MOTORSPORT V8 SUPERCAR DRIVERS VISIT THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE ALTIMA IN TENNESSEE | |
 | - Nissan Motorsport factory V8 Supercar drivers Todd Kelly, Rick Kelly and Michael Caruso visit Nissan manufacturing facility in Smyrna, Tennessee – 'birthplace of the Altima' - Drivers in the US ahead of history-making Austin 400 at Circuit of the Americas in Texas - Nissan Altima road car on-sale in Australia in fourth quarter of 2013 SMYRNA, Tenn. – Nissan Motorsport V8 Supercar drivers Todd Kelly, Rick Kelly and Michael Caruso have been given a behind-the-scenes tour of Nissan's North A...[Read more...] |
| IT'S WINTER TEST TIME FOR THE ALMS: FIRST STEPS TOWARD THE 2013 SEASON-OPENER AT SEBRING | |
 | The American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón will be in 'preview mode' next week as a significant group of teams participate in the annual Winter Test at Sebring International Raceway The American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón will be in 'preview mode' next week as a significant group of teams participate in the annual Winter Test at Sebring International Raceway. The Feb. 7-8 test comes a little more than a month out from the season-opening 61st Mobil 1 Twelve Hours ...[Read more...] |
| 2013 SEASON STARTS WITH SEBRING WINTER TEST | |
 | ALMS cars on-track Feb. 7-8 The countdown to the 61st Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida is less than 70 days, but the start of the 2013 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón is much sooner than that. The annual Sebring Winter Test is scheduled for Feb. 5-8 at Sebring International Raceway. ALMS cars are on-track on Feb. 7-8 with IMSA's three development series – Cooper Tire Prototype Lites powered by Mazda, IMSA GT3 Challenge by Yokohama and...[Read more...] |
| American Le Mans Series Kicks Off Mazda Raceway Season | |
 | Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca kicks off its 55th season with the American Le Mans Monterey, presented by Patrón, an exhilarating six hour endurance race, May 11-12. Featuring multiple classes of high-tech sports cars competing together, the American Le Mans Series sees constant passing and on-track battles throughout each race. The six hour endurance race takes competitors from daylight, to dusk and into the darkness, pushing drivers' and crews' mental and physical abilities. The 2011 Americ...[Read more...] |
| View more IMSA GTP vehicles |
 1987
Nissan
models |
| Nissan 300ZX |
| Nissan Pulsar |
| Similar Vehicles | |
 | 1988 Nissan ZXT GTP |
| Similar Automakers | |
| Honda | Jaguar |
| Saab | Subaru |
| Toyota | Volkswagen |
| Volvo | |
| Nissan: 1981-1990 |
| Similar Automakers |
| Nissan History |
| Other models by Nissan |
| Manufacturer Website |
| Related Articles and Event Coverage |
| Watkins Glen Historic Sportscar Racing |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 200SX 240 300 370Z | Altima Armada Cube Frontier | Fuga GT-R GTP ZX-Turbo Juke | Leaf Maxima Murano Navara | NV Pathfinder Quest Rogue | Sentra Silvia Titan Versa | X-Trail Xterra Z-Car |
| 1988 ZXT GTP |
