a Datsun dealership demo stand so new car buyers could expericence the difference between the factory optional radios... and it still works!

Seen Sunday morning

what a great condition Datsun

72 Datsun spotted on the walk today

 cool looking rims. Nice guy too, by the look on his face, he was surprised to see me taking a photo. After that I went over and talked to him about it, because I thought he was driving off, and wanted to make sure I got the photo. I was on this street last week, and this wasn't there, indicating to me that at this time of day, it's not likely to be there. 

seen today on the hour of walking about the neighborhood

1969 Datsun 521 (Thank you PonchoTrain Sailor!)

Joan Jett with a jet engine car, one of the few rock stars to get photographed with a dragster thank you Marc!

https://www.instagram.com/creemmag/

It's Walt Arfons' Green Monster!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157791132624160&set=p.10157791132624160&type=3

great action shot of an SCCA Datsun 1200

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1415452333916219&set=a.749601763834616

This moredoor Datsun must be a hell of a racer to get to the finals of the Optima Challenge

I rarely see mini trucks around anymore, but this late 70s or early 80s Datsun also is carrying a Honda Ruckus

unbelievable.... this was driven by Pete Brock and Bob Lyon in the 1969 Baja 1000, where it finished 4th in class behind James Garner’s ’69 Olds Cutlass

The struts in the car kept failing every 100 miles and a BRE airplane would land and two Japanese mechanics would replace the struts. 

That worked during the day, but at night the planes couldn’t fly so the drivers just crept along at speeds slow enough that the struts would last till dawn, which they did.

https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/g69010656/coolest-cars-at-20th-japanese-classic-car-show/

Pete Brock drove this in the 1973 Baja 500, and at one point, on a flat paved section, he even lead Parnelli Jones’ Big Oly Bronco. But a stone through the radiator slowed him down.

 https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/g69010656/coolest-cars-at-20th-japanese-classic-car-show/

Kenny Ueda, standing beside the Datsun 240Z he inherited from his mom, who was the personal secretary to Mr. K, who, when he retired and returned to Japan, gave the car to his secretary. Some people are simply born lucky

 

https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/g69010656/coolest-cars-at-20th-japanese-classic-car-show/

In 1977, for example, Datsun introduced the “ZZZAP Edition” on its 280Z to capitalize on it's arcade game “Datsun 280 ZZZAP by Midway Manufacturing”

a “special decor package” that used ZZZAP nomenclature with Bright Sunburst Yellow paint, black stripes led by yellow/orange/red chevrons, racing mirrors, and rear window louvers

https://www.hagerty.com/media/market-trends/hagerty-insider/8-options-and-editions-that-make-a-massive-difference-in-collector-car-value

a Datsun with an LS... that must be a rocket

 

it didn't take much for this late 70s Datsun truck to upgrade from dull to good looking

Keith sent me photo of the Orlando TurboDatsunGP-CamperRama5000 ! Thank you Keith! That got me started looking online for other photos of it

on the chin splitter it says Vague, so that's a good place to start, and that turned out to be something known as Vague Industries

https://www.instagram.com/vagueindustries/

https://www.facebook.com/vagueIndustries

Origin of the Nissan car model name Fair Lady:

Takiko Mizunoe, an extremely popular actress was so beautiful that she was nicknamed the ‘fair lady in men’s attire’. 

Katayama stunned the audience when he introduced 10 Datsun cars with Takiko Mizunoe on the stage of the Shochiku Girls Revue Company at the height of the latter’s popularity in 1935.

https://www.nissan-global.com/EN/HERITAGE/LEGENDS/LEGEND_02

Mr. K and the 1958 Australian Mobilgas Trial-winning, 10,000+ mile-surviving Datsun 210, part of two-car team he managed. Both finished.

in 1958 at the Mobilgas Trial—Round Australia, where two Datsun 210s were entered, the Fuji and the Sakura. Prior to the full-scale export of Datsun cars, the company wanted to test their performance and potential by entering them in the world’s most gruelling automobile race, covering 16,000 km of unpaved roads in the harsh Australian outback over the course of 19 days.

He recalled, ‘At the time, the Datsun 210 was powered by a 988cc OHV engine with a maximum output of 34ps. If you loaded it up with enough spare parts to handle the worst-case scenario on that route, it wasn’t much different from squishing eight people into this four-passenger car. Honestly, even though I was the team manager, I didn’t think we would win.’

Against all odds, however, the Fuji won the race in the class up to 1,000cc.

Yutaka Katayama was not a racecar driver like James Garner. He did not own a shop like Carroll Shelby that churned out neither hot-rods or limited-edition sportscars. Neither was he a pop-culture icon like Leonard Nimoy that had a taste for cars. He was, to put it bluntly, a salesman (he specialized in advertisement early in his career at Nissan). But not just any salesman, he was a salesman who was also a car guy.

https://www.nissan-global.com/EN/HERITAGE/LEGENDS/LEGEND_02/

https://itrolls.wordpress.com/2019/02/19/rip-yutaka-katayama-mr-k/#more-8522

Nissan had a cool comparison between the original and the latest in their SEMA booth

A BIG thank you to Gary, who is one of the 3 people to ever help me share the interesting cars from other parts of the world, by simply taking a handful of photos while out walking about, so the rest of us can see what ordinary commuters are like in other countries

Cuenca is the 3rd largest city in Ecuador with a population of around 750,000 of which are approximately 10,000 North American and European expats. 

It is the cultural capital of Ecuador - art, music, textiles, jewelry, and literature 

 It is also a world heritage site, located in a valley in the Andes mountains at an elevation of 8500 feet, 30 miles from the pacific coast.

Year round daytime temperatures ranges between 55 and 75. No snow, furnaces, or a/c. 

 We walk everywhere and my vehicular observations are based on that. I’ve written all that because the result is that the only vehicular rust comes from broken paint due to accidents. 

 At least 3/4 the vehicles have standard transmission. - I see maybe 2 ford f-150’s a day. 

About 20% of cars are “A” size (think Chevy Spark.) - Stillantis has a good presence with Peugeot and Citroen brands 

Chevrolet has a ton of D-Max smallish 4 door pickups and seems to dominate that segment. A lot of Aveo’s cars here too

I see about 3 of the 1970’s miniature pickups a day. 

 Misc:

 I’ve seen maybe two Mercedes Benz a week, one each Tesla and BMW. 

-Also saw an either Land Cruiser or Land Rover stake truck in a neighboring town and the rear of another original Mini as it zipped down the street from our apartment. 

 Now the bad news: about 15% of the new vehicles are Chinese- mainly pick-up trucks and SUV’s. Many brands, mostly all ICE power. An Ecuadorian friend who just bought a Citroen said people are buying Chinese because they are cheaper but they depreciate quickly and the quality is less than the competition.

thank you Gary! 

about a dozen years ago, I had a girlfriend that could afford to vacation in Jamaica, for the diving, and she sprung to pay for me to vacation with her, and I was fascinated by the cars and mini vans that are not found in the USA at all.

I am intrigued by the variety of the way different countries arrive at the same goal, daily drivers, but from different ways, which I will suppose are subjected to importing, tariffs, taxes based on the size and cost of the vehicles (Europe had that high tax on 4 wheel vehicles that prompted the manufacturing of Piaggo Apes, Morgan 3 wheelers, Isettas, and other motorcycle engine powered cycle cars) and not having the high level of federal crash safety testing etc. 

Darryl in Australia sent me a LOT of terrific photos, dozens of them, of all the late 60s and early 70s Australian cars that are interesting, and Nik in Brazil shared a lot of Brazilian cars and trucks. I can't recall the nice guys in Budapest by name, but they had a cool website that shared a lot too.