The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles hosted the Brock Racing Enterprises (BRE) 50th Anniversary Reunion last Saturday. The legendary team, featuring principal Peter Brock and driver John Morton, took the SCCA C Production Championships in 1970-1971 and the 2.5 Trans-Am Championships in 1971-1972 with Datsuns. A large standing room only crowd in the Petersen’s Mullin Grand Salon enjoyed great stories as told by all the team members, including Trevor Harris, Mac Tilton, John Caldwell, John Knepp, Joe Cavaglieri, Jeff Schoolfield and Kirk Allegro.
An outdoor car show featured a number of Datsuns, including a beautiful BRE 240Z C Production tribute, Adam Corolla’s BRE 510 2.5 Trans-Am car — driven in the day by Bobby Allison — and a host of roadsters, coupes and racecars. Brock, at the podium, looked out upon the vast crowd and got misty-eyed, “I am just overwhelmed at how many people came out.”
For attendees, this was an opportunity of a lifetime to pay tribute to a group of people who elevated the Datsun (later Nissan) brand in the United States through racing. It was Peter Brock’s idea to have Datsun supply 510 sedans instead of the intended roadsters — and in an era of win on Sunday, sell on Monday — led to a boom of sales for the Japanese carmaker. Stories of triumph and color enthralled the crowd.
