History
Well after an enthusiastic buy this car was turning into a bottomless pit financially so it was sold to someone who had a bigger pit than me...:)
Modifications
Drum brakes at front reduced replaced with discs
Memories
The story of the beloved Datsun 1200 sedan began when my son turned 18. As is the case around this time the conversation quickly switched to “Dad I need a car”. “Sure son what are you thinking of getting?” I responded. “I want a Datsun 1200” was the reply. Well I nearly fell out of my chair. “ Ah.....like a 1970’s Datsun?” “Yeah thats right. I want an old school car” was his reply. So the search started but finding a sedan proved to be quite a task. Plenty of 1200 utes. But not much in the way of sedans. We eventually found one some 350klm away from our home in country Porepunkah near Bright. We drove up one weekend for the first inspection. As soon as we drove into the driveway and my son had a first look he’s eyes lit up and he was in the cars spell....”Dad lets buy it”. On closer inspection all I could see was the dollar signs $$$$$. We took the car to the local mechanic who said “No worries mate, she’s good” Now this didn’t fill me with a great deal of confidence given that everyone in small towns know each other and I felt sure the mechanic would have had a few beers at the local watering hole with the car’s owner on numerous occasions. So you could understand my insecurity at his comment regarding the car. Anyway I wasn’t convinced so I told the owner we’d think about it and drove back down to Melbourne. My son was devastated. Didn’t utter a word for 3 and half hours. Well during the next week there was a concerted effort by my son to turn me around.....and you guessed it the following weekend we were on our way to Porepunkah again for the big purchase with the whole family in tow this time.
After some discussion it was obvious the owner was not going to come down in price so we parted with $1,650 and the deal was done. As we opened the door I asked the owner if he was confident we would make it to Melbourne. “Yeah no worries” he said....” just had the brakes done, she’ll be right”. I had a sense of déjà vu and it took me back the motor mechanics in depth summary of the car. Needless to say I was not filled with confidence. We set off with my son driving and although we stopped along the Hume to top up the radiator we got to Melbourne, all be it an hour longer than normal as my son wanted to take it easy so as not to stress out the old girl.
Well then the open wallet started, $1,500 for the roadworthy, 1,000 for the new head when it blew , $ 1,200 to replace the front drums with discs, $450 for new carpets......and we hadn’t done a thing to the body or paintwork yet. What I thought initially would be a good father and son bonding project soon turned into a money pit. I quickly realised that unless you can do the labour yourself on an old car the cost quickly mounts up.
Even so there was an appeal to the Datsun. The uncomplicated nature of these older cars and the simple yet appealing design lines of the old Japanese cars. It was not unusual for instance to be driving down the freeway and a car would slow down beside you and give you the thumbs up. Or parking the car in the strip shopping area and someone out of the blue just coming up to you and starting a conversation up about it. How his parents had the same car and the fond memories they have of their youth in the car. It just gave the car a sense of importance, of uniqueness. It was like a time capsule of many people’s memories.
We had our own memories of our two years of ownership. Like the time the police rocked up to my door at 11pm on a Saturday night. I was a little concerned when they asked if my son lived at this address and if he owned an old white Datsun. “Yes officer I said. Whats the problem?” “We have had a call that suggests that your son’s car has been stolen”. A local resident reported seeing two youths pushing the car down the street and then jumping in. Well I was concerned at first but then I remembered that my sons battery was on the way out and for the last 2 weeks he had been push starting it to get anywhere......ah yes how quaint. Try doing that with our modern cars now days.
Well it soon became evident that the body work and respray were beyond the budget and my son needed a more reliable car to get him to and from a new apprenticeship he started so it was with much regret that we sold the Datsun to a friend of my son. He has subsequently had the body work and paint job done and it looks great.
We still have fond memories of that first car and although it wasn’t in great condition externally it still had a charm about it that made the drive a pleasurable and special experience.
