Automotive Art: The OS Giken TC24-B1Z
Dovetailing nicely with my recent post about Nissan/Datsun L-series tuning lore, I came across this page featuring the OS Giken TC24-B1Z, a stroked 3.2l, 420-hp L-series topped with the legendary OS Giken DOHC, 24-valve cylinder head.
While it’s perhaps not the most romantic piece of machinery out there, the engine exudes a kind of precise beauty, sort of like an immensely powerful Seiko watch. The gear-driven cam arrangement, chosen for durability at the engine’s 10,000 (!) rpm redline, reinforces that analogy. Fuel injection is optional; the TC24-B1Z leaves the craftman’s bench with a lovely set of triple Webers, shown above.
The beauty comes at a price, though: Only nine have been built, and if the cylinder head alone is worth over $30,000, it’s not a stretch to imagine the whole package costs perilously close to 6 figures, if not more. Still, as the Bugatti Veyron of naturally-aspirated L-series engines, it’s a stunning sight to behold, and as a vintage Datsun owner, it’s affirming to know the platform is receiving such attention.
Image credits: Dino Dalle Carbonare for speedhunters.com
Absolutely beautiful. Love the custom headers, gear driven cams, and the slightly top-heavy and angular look overall. Just gorgeous in its functionality.
Nissan / Datsun engineering got to this point in the sixties, a fact not mentioned in your text. It is a fact that in about 1963 the MITI, a Japanese entity modeled after Mussolini’s government / public sector combine, initiated the merger of the Prince company into the larger Nissan firm. The intent was to make the sophisticated engineering of the former available to the latter who were still making beam front axle imitations of Austins under licence. From that merger came the hardware of the Skyline (originally a Prince model name) and the domestic DOHC Fairlady (the 240Z “Datsun” albeit without the twin cams). The original Prince GR8 was a gear drive DOHC 2 liter in a car that closely copied the GT40 and was only two years behind it, That engine begat the chain driven Nissan derivative called the S20, which was and is a superb engine, although better suited to being a taller decked 2.5 liter in road applications.