I just finished doing a restoration/rebuild of a '71 BMW 2800 and was
planning on showing it at the Monterey Historics back in.... 1996 I think.
Well, two days fresh out of the paint booth I went for a drive and a kid runs
a red and totals out my Bimmer. I think I cried. ;>)
I received a settlement from AAA for over 12K and went car shopping. By this
point I was very upset with the whole rebuilding thing so I decided to by a
"beater" convertable to drive around the City and use the rest of the $$$ to
pay off bills. While sitting in the firehouse a buddy showed my a used car
paper called the Diablo Dealer. In there was a picture of a 1966 Datsun. It
had stripes and a rollbar. The price was 3,000.00. I made a call and went
to look at this car located near U.C. Berkeley.
There it was, a faded red Datsun with a wornout top and a box of parts
sitting in the rear shelf area. But it also had this huge hood scoop. The
owner said it had a L18 motor transplant and that it ran great. It started
up and idled rough. I gave him $1500 and drove it home. It was wonderful!
All of the looks from all of the other drivers on the road. And it was so
loud too.
I parked in the garage waiting for Mary to come home so that I could give her
a ride in my new toy. "...and sweetheart, it only cost my $1500.00" Well,
it wouldnt restart so I called for a tow truck to haul it to my buddys shop
hoping that I could get it out of there before Mary got home from work.
Well, she got home before the truck and gave the car a look over. She
thought it was okay and asked for a ride. Then I told her it wouldnt start
and without a word she went into the house.
I eventually replaced the motor back to stock. Then I repainted to 1600 to a
bright orange. I remember driving into my first Solvang Datsun Meet. I
arrived late and as I drove in everyone loked at my car as if it was
something special. I realized shortly after that my bright orange 1600 didnt
come stock with a HUGE hood scoop. Dah!
But I did take 3rd place that day in the modified category. ;>) I
eventually sold the 1600 and bought a 2000.
Michael "Calspeed" Carion
1967.5 SRL311 Solex
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