1959 Datsun roadster

[beandip]

has any one even seen a '59 S-211 roadster ? my friend just found one in a field and the vin # is 00016 . He says that in 59 they went to 00024 . Wondering if this is good information ?? Going to see it on tuesday. I have never heard of a S-211 , has any one out there any knowledge in this area to share ??:classic:

[26th-Z]

I refer to Brian Long's; "Datsun Z - Fairlady to 280Z", for this information.

The S 211 debuted at the Fifth Tokyo Show in October 1958 as a four-seater open sports car. Designed by Yuichi Ohta, the car featured a fiberglass body shell powered by the Type C, 988cc over-head valve engine. It was the car that launched Nissan into the sports car market. Put on sale to the public in June 1959, the S 211 was built to order by Tonouchi Industries of Yokohama. It competed against the British Austin's and MG's in the American market and did not sell well due to the small engine; only 20 were built. A right-hand drive version of the 211 appeared at the Los Angeles Imported Car show in March 1959. It weighed 810kg, produced 34bhp with a top speed of 70mph. Ahh... four wheel drums with semi-elliptic leaf springs all around. Sold for 795,000 yen.

The SPL 212 debuted in 1960 with an uprated 1.2 liter engine and was the first Fairlady. S - sports, P - Bluebird chassis, L - left hand drive. All were left hand drive and all were specifically produced for the United States market

There you go - everything I know about the 211. Good luck! Restore that mother!

[Victor Laury]

We've got a fellow in our roadster club with 2 SPL212's

Visit his Web Site

I've had the pleasure to drive his running show car (around the parking lot). It drives exactly like my 1965 320 pickup. Ha! some sports car! But it's pretty.

[beandip]

victor and 26thz My friend dident say anything about right or left hand drive but he did say it was a 4 seater. the '59 could be the production date but be a '60 model year. If it is not towable he is supposed to give me a call . I have access to a flat bed trailer. This could be a real find indeed . I hope so , this young man is a real nice guy. :classic:

[sblake01]

For information on these cars go to http://www.spl212.com. Edgar Gonzales who runs this site has one of the cleanest examples of this car that you will ever see.

[Marty Rogan]

When I was in CA last year, I visited Les at Classic Datsun Motorsports. He showed me a body shell of one of the earliest roadsters that he was restoring for Nissan. I can't recall which model. If your friend doesn't want to do anything with the car, maybe Les could use some of the parts.

Marty