1973 Datsun 240Z Race Car

Trailing throttle oversteer resulted in far more of them leaving the track backwards than ever drove off straight

by Thor Thorson

When Spike Anderson went trawling for a bottom-feeder race car in England, he started at a fish-and-chip shop. Anderson bought “LAL,” a four-year-old Datsun 240Z from a Greek fish-and-chip shop owner, a Mr. Michael. Stripped, prepared, and repainted in Spike’s “Samurai” colors, the car was entered for the Silverstone 6-hour relay race in May 1977, successfully completing 158 laps. Fired by their success, the team entered the 6-hour relay at Brands Hatch in August. Clive Richardson started at the back of the grid and managed to work his way up through the field to eleventh place before handing off to Win Percy. With rain pouring down, Win had the crowd on its feet, passing a car on every lap, to reach sixth place overall before the race was stopped due to the appalling conditions. On the restart, Win spun into the barriers and the car was out. Bradburn Brothers, who had been helping Spike, bought the car, stripped and rejigged the shell, and rebuilt it as a...