1969 Datsun 2000: Perfect for vintage racing
By LARRY EDSALL
Bob Bondurant was lying in a hospital bed, having just had a doctor tell him
he had only a 1 percent chance of walking again after injuries sustained in a
Can-Am race at Watkins Glen in 1967.
b What am I going to do for a living?b wondered the driver who had helped
Carroll Shelby and Ford win the world manufacturersb championship, who had
been part of Fordbs famed assault at Le Mans and who had raced in Formula
One.
Bondurant had coached James Garner as the actor prepared for his role in the
movie Grand Prix, and had instructed at SCCA schools and at Shelbybs school
for Cobra drivers. Bondurant decided to start his own driving school, in part
for his own rehabilitation for a possible return to racing.
Bondurant built his school just as if he were building a racing team, with
sponsors
providing as many goods and services as possible. Hebd saved some money
while
racing and used much of it to get things started, and then used much more of
it to keep things going.
A half-hour into a meeting with the president of Nissanbs American
distribution arm, Yutaka Katayama, the famed b Mr. Kb asked Bondurant what
he
needed. On Feb. 14, 1968, the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance
Driving opened with three Datsunsba 510 sedan, a 1600 roadster and a 2000
roadsterband a Formula Vee racer.
Today, the Bondurant school fleet includes more than 200 cars from Nissan,
Ford, Chevrolet, Porsche and Cadillac. But the schoolbs museum has a 1969
Datsun 2000 roadster that replicates Bondurantbs original instructor car.
When the school began, Bondurant put students in the 1600 and followed them
around the track in the 2000, filming their lines for later critique
sessions.
Like Bondurantbs original car, the 2000 has a stock engine, five-speed
gearbox and brakes, though the suspension was tweaked for the track and a
short, speedster-style windshield was installed, as were Panasport Racing
wheels, a roll cage and four-point safety harnesses. There are no windshield
wipers. The exhaust exits just ahead of the left-rear wheel.
We made arrangements through the school staff to visit with Bondurant a few
days before the schoolbs anniversary celebration, and to do a short drive in
the Datsun 2000. We expected to give the car a brief run on the roads within
the Firebird International Raceway, where the Bondurant school is based. But
with the track empty while the students were on their lunch break, Bondurant
decided we should drive on the schoolbs racing circuit.
Helmets on our heads and racing gloves on Bondurantbs hands, we climbed in,
Bondurant at the wheel. There was no hesitation about the old carbs ability
as he hustled it for several fast laps around the track he knows so well.
Even with a full-face helmet, you could see the smile in his eyes and hear
the joy in his voice as he talked about the car and the schoolbs early days.
We returned to the pits and he climbed out, offering the driverbs seat with
a
warning that second gear was slipping and might require some double
clutching.
The car fires immediate-ly in response to an ignition key located to the left
of the steering wheel. The stock engine runs smoothly and strongly. Knowing
Bondurant was watching from the pit wall, we took it easy at first, but the
car was eager for the exercise and the track was ours, so while never pushing
near the edge, we still explored some of its potential.
Steering feels a little heavy by todaybs standards, and the brakes remind us
how much automotive technology has progressed in three decades. But the
2000b
s handling is terrific, and it leaves us thinking what a great ride it would
make for a vintage race.
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