{"id":2661,"date":"2026-08-03T21:56:04","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T21:56:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zcon.org\/conventions\/2026\/?page_id=2661"},"modified":"2026-08-03T21:57:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T21:57:37","slug":"special-guests","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/zcon.org\/conventions\/2026\/special-guests\/","title":{"rendered":"Special Guests"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Special Guests <\/h1><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Peter Brock<\/h3><\/div>

In 1965, Brock left Shelby American to start Brock Racing Enterprises, known in the racing community as BRE. He also started his own race team and put Japanese cars into the history books. Two wins in the C Production National Championships (240Z) and two 2.5 Trans-Am Championships (driver John Morton) in BRE 510s.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Hiroshi Tamura<\/h3><\/div>

Hiroshi Tamura joined Nissan in 1984, where he spent his early years as an engineer, along with stints at Autech Japan and Nissan Prince Kanagawa sales branches. In 2006, he received his first CPS assignment\u2014with the Product Planning Department\u2014and in 2012, he became the CPS of the GT-R and the 370Z. Tamura-san continues to be an integral part of today\u2019s Z (and GT-R) community.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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JDM Legends<\/h3><\/div>

Eric Bizek, Josh Martin and Mauricio Rosales have become regulars at our events. The trio hosted the \u201cJDM Legends\u201d series which covered the shop\u2019s Datsun and Japanese sports cars. Come out and hang with some true Legends of the Datsun car community.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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John Morton<\/h3><\/div>

John Morton got his start in Carroll Shelby’s race shop before Peter Brock hired him to drive for BRE, and the pairing put Datsun in the record books. Behind the wheel of the 240Z, Morton took back-to-back SCCA C Production National Championships (1970\u201371), and he claimed the 2.5 Trans-Am titles in the BRE 510s. His career spanned Le Mans, Sebring, and Nissan’s dominant IMSA GTP run alongside Geoff Brabham. In 2026, Morton will be inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America\u2014come meet a true icon of the BRE era.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Chris Willes<\/h3><\/div>

Chris Willes joined Electramotive Engineering Inc. in 1986 as a young design engineer, working on the Nissan GTP cars through the company’s transformation into Nissan Performance Technology Inc. That experience set the course for a career in race design that has since produced more than ten racing vehicles, including three championship-winning Mustangs and a record-setting Pikes Peak hillclimb car. In 2009, he earned the SCCA World Challenge Zimmerman Cup as Crew Chief of the Year. Today he’s also an author, chronicling the innovation and passion behind the Electramotive Nissan GTP program.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Randy Rodriguez<\/h3><\/div>

Randy Rodriguez spent 14 years at Nissan Design America, where he served as lead exterior designer on some of the brand’s most recognizable machines. His portfolio includes the original 2009 Nissan 370Z\u2014the sixth-generation Z that carried the Fairlady lineage forward\u2014as well as the muscular Titan Warrior Concept, which he described as a “suit of modern armor.” His concept work also touched the Nissan BladeGlider and several award-winning Infiniti design studies. Come talk shop with the designer who shaped the modern Z.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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