I bought my first roadster in the fall of 1972. At that time, my uncle
was installing a/c units on the 240Z cars because they didn't come
from the factory with the units installed. Think about that one,
dealer installed factory options.....
Having crashed the new hot bike of the time, a 750 honda, I was
looking for some wheels and with my uncle being good friends with the
head mechanic, the head mechanic promised he would put the little
roadster sitting in the back of the lot back together for me so I
bought it for $1500. At the time of purchase, my recovering broken
leg wouldn't bend far enough to work the clutch. The roadster turned
out to be the best car I ever owned, except maybe for the one I have
now :)
daveS
----- Original Message -----
From: Ronnie Day <ronday@home.com>
To: Roadster List <datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net>
Sent: Sunday, February 18, 2001 4:23 PM
Subject: Re: roadster interior changes
> >The day/night mirror was avaliable as a Factory option,
> >I have 2, one is on my 67.5 2000, the was a car owned
> >by Spencer Low (He Raced for factory Nissan- Offroad truck)
> >Anyways his father owned Bob Low Motors a datun
> >dealership in Cal. and this car has that mirror.
> >When I bought it, I was told this was a very rare item,
> >I've yet see one on another car.
>
> I really don't intend to start anything here about factory options
and
> such, but I doubt many folks realize that in the late '60's and the
early
> '70's Datsun/Nissan - USA was a relatively small and simple
operation,
> certainly compared to what it is today. How low key were things? I
was at
> BRE in January of '73, in route to Hawaii, when Dick Roberts walked
in,
> set a new L-series head on the counter, and waited very politely
while
> Pete Brock finished writing up the parts order I was having him drop
ship
> to me in the Islands. I knew Pete of course, but I had no idea until
> sometime later that the slight quiet gentleman in the gray three
piece
> was head of Datsun Competition. Maybe if the company had retained
some of
> that simplicity, and the responsiveness that this can offer, they
> wouldn't have made some of the dumb automotive and financial
decisions
> they have since those days. Cloning Mr. K wouldn't hurt, either. ;>)
>
> My experience may have been different from other's during the
period,
> particularly those on the west coast, but there were few, if any,
real
> factory options. We first got to know the folks at Earl Hughes
Datsun,
> here in Fort Worth, in '69. It was a small, almost hole in the wall,
> dealership next to the much larger Overseas Motors (who handled the
Brit
> cars). Earl also had a small place in (what was then) south
Arlington. I
> stopped by there one day to look at a red '66 1600. Didn't get the
1600,
> but did buy a '70 2000 a few months later. I don't remember any
factory
> options for the roadsters, except paint color. Our 2000 even came
with
> bias ply tires.
>
> You could a hardtop, made in California. In those days, Datsun
offered a
> few models, in a few colors, all equipped (within a model line) the
same.
> Options, consisting primarily of a choice of radios, A/C in the
sedans
> and maybe alloy wheels with radial tires, were dealer installed
items.
> I'm not saying that individual dealers weren't ordering non-US items
from
> Japan and adding them, but Air freight back then was very expensive
and
> sea borne shipping took a couple of months and was pricey, too.
>
> It was actually easier to get Japanese parts in Hawaii back then.
Von
> Hamm/Young - Datsun of Hawaii imported their cars directly, not via
the
> mainland, and there were some equipment differences. None of the
sedans
> imported into Hawaii earlier than the 610's came with reclining
seats or
> heater/defrosters, unlike Mainland cars. There were probably detail
> differences on carts imported into Canada, too. For instance, the
only US
> 510 that ever came with a rear window defroster was the '73 2-door,
but
> I'm fairly certain that it was available (probably standard
equipment) on
> earlier Canadian 4 doors.
>
> Bottom line, I think that a lot of urban legend type tales have
grown
> over the past 30 plus years about all manner of factory options,
probably
> fostered by pictures and references in the imported and poorly
translated
> factory service manuals of true domestic Japanese features and
options.
> More legends have developed about the comp cars built by Sharp, BRE
and
> others. If all of the cars the supposedly built by BRE and Sharp
were
> gathered in one place along with all of the "secret factory cars",
you
> could probably fill the starting grid at a major race.
>
> FWIW
>
>
> Ronnie Day
> ronday@home.com
> Dallas/Ft. Worth
> '71 510 2-dr (Prepared Class Autocrosser)
> '73 510 2-dr (Street Toy)
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