Bob Sharp

[gtrbg]

Sorry to hear that Bob Sharp passed away. Never met Mr. Sharp in person but do use his competition manual. Part of Datsun racing history.

https://www.autoweek.com/racing/a640232 ... -has-died/

[Mike Unger]

DSC_0320.jpeg

Bob was a great racer, team owner and nice guy. He always made time to talk to people and was well respected by fellow racers. That article missed the point he started his Datsun racing career in a 1500 roadster and then moved on to the 1600 and 2000. He won the First National Championship for Nissan in 1967 in the 1600.

[DatsunNoob]

I did meet Bob Sharp once. At Watkins Glen.
He spent way too long talking with us during the Friday afternoon walk and his handlers were getting on his case to move on to the next item. Then the autograph session started.
A friend of mine had on a white t-shirt and asked for the back to be autographed. Bob agreed and my friend spun around to reveal a BRE Datsun logo. The look on Bob's face was expressive but he graciously signed the shirt.

Yes, he was quite the man.

[redroadster]

BTW what do you guys think a Bob Sharp driven 72 510
..would be worth ?.....I had one that Bob S raced ..a bit

[Mike Unger]

BTW what do you guys think a Bob Sharp driven 72 510
..would be worth ?.....I had one that Bob S raced ..a bit

It would depend on the provenance for starts. Which race 510 did you have? I’m thinking he started racing 510s before ‘72. I don’t think they had a lot of 510s. I know one was wrecked, one went to Fitzgerald and one sold to Newman. The Fitzy car is for sale for over $100k.

[redroadster]

Here's the story
A tech at the Datsun dealership I worked named Bob got this 72 blue 510 2Dhe lived out of town was having trouble with it running and missed some work so I bought it from him.
A different hitachi carb,doubling a intake gasket did wonders I pulled the check ball on the secondary and it flew.
it had the spindle camber inner adjuster sat low like a race version.

This Datsun dealer had a day in mid April & mid Oct.set aside for the IMSA race teams to display their cars ,they came E in mid April &W in mid Oct., our DSM set it up , they had a problem ,that the smaller teams could park their hauling trucks at a big older motels ,but the top teams with the long ,heavy semi had trouble . there was a good motel behind the dealership. I started in 76 as a tech , so in 77 we had them but it was rag tag teams primarily ,they beat the top teams and personnel at the dealer put them in the best spots , so in 78 the DSM ,,was there when I arrived at work , flagged me to stop wanted my 510 to be cleaned by our guy , and it was then it was placed below where the race teams display cars were. so people could see a datsun they could drive , another tech had a kool 1200 they did the same too.
We had some reg customers to near 10am but then us techs would put the race cars on our lifts if they wanted .
I did 3 alignments and other minor tweaks assisted their guys .
At 10:20 I alone went to see the display cars ,I was tucking my uniform shirt in as the GM hated it not.a guy with the convoy is leaning against a team car watching me some I walked up and asked if I could look at them and he says sure ...just don't touch .
There were 4 men in team uniforms talking to the same number in that teams clothes , aways away .
Sharp team had a 240 Z as the 1at car. Spectators would see then a 510 then a 610 , then I looked at the other teams cars ,not sure whom that was , those teams briefly asked me a few things a older big guy with the Sharp team , I thought was Bob Sharp
Then I headed came past that same lone guy , I asked are you with the Sharp team ? With a grin and holding back a bigger smile he says , ya
I started away then he asked if that 2 door 510 was a customer car , I said huh no ...it's mine , he came towards me asked if I'd sell it , I hadn't got that much driving on it from last yr was only driving it after good weather returned so gave a no ,I was wondering what the offer would be ,but he never did that .
About 1:20 the DSM,SM and the Trans tech Steve ( he was a Army Ranger in Nam ,a tunnel rat ) and this guy and the big older team outfit man go over to a bar in a strip mall next to there called the Santa fe Inn ,bar & restaurant at 3 pm they come back
Steve comes over and slurring a. bit wants the keys to my 510.
He gets in driving with the lone Sharp guy that wanted to buy it ,along .
Every one in the shop other techs other race team guys came over to the garage doors and were staring at the 510 and them , that's when some sales guy asked what you looking at hot girl? one of the race team guys says No, Bobs going for a test ride .
without hesitation one of our techs and another Sharp's guy grabbed a custs 76 280 and the convoy was off , down this 35 mph straight but sloppy road ., doing 55-60 the last I could see .18 min later ,I'm hoping this ends well
My 510 is returning like a missle, 80-85 mph ? Bob Sharp driving it , then slows turns in . Steve gets out looks white ,weak and he was a tough dude for sure , the 2 in the 280z came in 4 min later looking like the ran a 100 yd dash I gathered they raced them a bit ...in one spot the 510 was doing 50 and a foot or more off the ground over a swale in the side st.25 mph road .
Again he wanted to buy it I was thinking , but Steve answered I think he likes it too much right now I should have asked him that 1st time
You want to Drive it ?

[Mike Unger]

Interesting fun story but that car would just be worth what a street 510 is worth today. Like roadsters, 510s have become pretty valuable but race cars with known period history are worth a premium.

[redroadster]

Maybe if I took a pic of Bob S in it huh
I was going to keep it forever ,usually you get tired of most cars want something else , but in 80 the L shock tower frame gave way , I had a body guy put it on there frame machine to look at ,I thought rust did it in as there was some. He said looks like it tore away from 1st ,how extreme have you been driving it ? ....Bob Sharp comes to mind ...
says it's gota come apart to.fix that .it might be done for the $$$ to fix , it was 1/2"
higher than normal I ended up selling it to.another Datsun employee who asked me if he could buy it once a week , told him the frame needs fixed before any real milage . I saw him cornering at high speeds though, he was doing it and it broke it was run over half way by a 2.5 ton box truck he trapped in it they cut the top off ... I probably should have called Sharp racing

[spriso]

Some random Bob Sharp roadster racing images that I have found and saved over the years-- I do not have photo credits for them:

[drieseck]

exceptional, thanks for sharing.

[Gregs672000]

Ya, those were great. I love old photos... we take photography for granted these days, but in the history of humans the ability to capture an actual moment in time is truly amazing... there's no staging here, just what was there at that very moment.

In the first Pic I love the captured look of the young man looking into the car... wonder what he's thinking, how this moment may or may not have influenced his life, hobbies, career, experiences, choices... ripples on a pond...

I'm hoping some mag like Hagerty Drivers Club will do an article on Bob... such an icon. RIP Bob... well done, well done...

[redroadster]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Sha ... ng_driver)
shows his race top finishes ,& car
I didn't know he owned a Datsun dealership likely in 62, when it was buy 2 cars ,a truck and 500 in parts and you could be a Datsun dealer .

[DAC21]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Sha ... ng_driver)
shows his race top finishes ,& car

Guessing the 1966 result is a typo, not SRL, but SPL? Looks like a 1st and 2nd in a 1600. Not much success with a 2000 but he only ran it in 1969. I'm guessing there were a lot of strong finishes just to get to the nationals?

[Mike Unger]

[/quote]
Guessing the 1966 result is a typo, not SRL, but SPL? Looks like a 1st and 2nd in a 1600. Not much success with a 2000 but he only ran it in 1969. I'm guessing there were a lot of strong finishes just to get to the nationals?
[/quote]

Yes, typo on the ‘66 1600. He raced the 2000 in 67, 68, 69 and a bit in 70 until they had the 240Z ready. Plenty of first places in races with the 2000 but not at the Runoffs. I have specific race results if there is any interest.

[DAC21]

Guessing the 1966 result is a typo, not SRL, but SPL? Looks like a 1st and 2nd in a 1600. Not much success with a 2000 but he only ran it in 1969. I'm guessing there were a lot of strong finishes just to get to the nationals?
[/quote]

Yes, typo on the ‘66 1600. He raced the 2000 in 67, 68, 69 and a bit in 70 until they had the 240Z ready. Plenty of first places in races with the 2000 but not at the Runoffs. I have specific race results if there is any interest.
[/quote]

I would!