Memoirs of your past Datsuns

[sblake01]

sblake02 - I believe you may also be a Datsunholic.

Probably a typo but it's 01....if I am a Datsunholic, I must be into the recovey phase because I haven't bought one in over 5 years.

[26th-Z]

Here's what 26th looked like when I bought her. I also had a Datsun pick-up at the time. It had a camper top. Drove it for years and into the ground.

[george71z]

As I posted last month, my first new car was a 72 Datsun 1200 coupe, purchased at Queens Datsun in Howard Beach, Queens, N.Y.C. in August of 1972. Total price out the door was $2,426.55. (I still have the invoice) 4 cyl., 1200 cc fastback coupe. This was and always will be, my baby. Had her for 14 yrs. as a daily driver. She let me down only once, when a set of aftermarket points broke, and I had to leave her on the side of the road till I could diagnose and fix the problem. I learned how to work on a car and not be afraid to get greasy and dirty. I still have my first set of J.C. Penney metric tools that my Mom bought me to work on the car with. All 3 of my sons came home from the hospital in her. I about cried the day I sold her, because I was moving to Fla. and she wouldn't make the trip. However, the buyer drove her away. Lord, how I miss that car.

[Danglybanger]

Haha, great pics Stephen... I think I can pinpoint the day that the pic of the J30 was taken, iirc I had the street to myself that day as no one else wanted to drive in the snow

I thought you mentioned having a 200SX of the prior generation than the one pictured, as it is I think the 510 is my favorite, love the color

My car tally: 98 Camaro V6 (sold), 55 Chevy (still owned), 86 Lotus Esprit (for sale , 1980 Triumph TR7 (still owned), and the Z (only Datsun, my favorite )

[sblake01]

No, I never owned a S10 200SX though I helped a friend with one. The blue 510 was basically a stock L18/200Sx 5 speed that I used to drive back and forth to work from La Verne to Whittier and later Upland to Whittier 5 days a week. It was painted 'Earl Schieb' blue and it was actually a 71. I once owned a white 70 510 2dr with an L20B, Webbers, a Z 5spd, American Libre wheels, etc. That was a much more enjoyable car to drive.

[Mike B]

I bought my first Z in Sacramento in 1990 and sold it in 1995. Here it is in Hawaii in 1992 at the Navy base I lived on.

-Mike

[Nota280]

This is my first Fairlady Z and my only surviving picture. This photo was taken just before getting on the transport ship to Oakland California. I purchased it for 30,000 Yen in Okinawa Japan durring my stay in 1986. My friend Sugio put the red coat on for me. The G-Nose and flares were purchased in a local junk yard.

Upon registering in California I had personalized plates that said N0TA240. The Fairlady Z was my daily driver till I let someone drive it in 1992. They bounced it off a center curb divider into oncoming traffic. A truck ran over the front end. Fortunetly no one was hurt.

Fast forward to 2003. I had a thought of building a Fairlady Z 2+2 like the one my friend Don built in 1986. These were taken in front of the squadron dorms on Okinawa in 1986.

This Z was shipped to the East Coast in early 1987. A few years ago it was on ebay. I learned Don had passed away suddenly.

Now I have two Fairlady Z 2+2 project cars.

[Sailor Bob]

Typo it was.

Five years - I think there's a button for that

[sblake01]

Well these days there's also another factor involved. If I were to buy another Datsun, I'd likely end up having to sleep with it instead of my wife!

[Bonzi Lon]

My first Datsun is still my first Datsun. The first photo was taken in 1979, the only one I have found. The car behind is my brother's "55 Nomad", white over "Tweety Bird" yellow laquer with lots of clear. On the right is my "68 Harley Sprotster", (piglet) that I nearly lost my left leg on.

Second photo (my first avitar) is how it looked after spending 26 years in storage. Two years later, its much improved.

In April of 08 I aquired this very nice "68 Datsun 1600 Roadster". Then in late August I ran across this "70 HLS30-00110", manufactured 12-69.

The madness has bugun.

Bonzi Lon

[Ttiger]

Wow!

I'll have to go back in the albums to try and find pictures, but here goes, in rough order of ownership (I owned several at once):

1969 510 Wagon - Red

1971 240-Z - Orange

1981 280ZXT - Black (Still around)

1967 Roadster - Red

1972 240-Z - Orange

1972 240-Z - Lime green (Still around)

1987 Maxima SE - Silver (Still have it)

1987 Pathfinder SE V6 - Blue

1990 Pathfinder 4 door SE V6 - Blue

1993 Quest XE - Red (Still around)

2001 Maxima SE 20th - Blue (Daily driver)

1971 240-Z - Orange (my son's car)

1981 280ZXT - Black (totalled after I finished it)

1985 300ZXT - Black (my other son's car)

1973 240-Z - Green (my toy)

Edited September 16, 2008 by Ttiger

[blue 72]

I think that I'm the first Datsun owner in the family. Some of our old family cars did include Japanese goodness, like a RX-3 4 door, and a '69 Toyota Crown wagon. My father, on the other hand, has been a mechanic longer than I have been on the earth, and has plenty of stories of his own about fixing Datsuns.

He told me once about having a 240Z in the shop he was working at. He'd repaired something on it, and had to test drive it to make sure everything was working properly. He decided to gun the thing down a fairly busy street with a center divider down the middle. He claims to have been doing over eighty (iirc) when he saw lights flash on across the median. Evasive maneuvers brought him through the adjacent neighborhood while the officer was turning around. He managed to sneak his way back to the shop unscathed.

So there is some history there, but I'm just now making my own with my Z.