Vehicle Description
The Datsun was designed very much in-keeping with the visual cues
of these European sports cars, possibly because German automobile
designer Albrecht Goertz had a hand in the final styling. Under the
attractive body everything was fairly normal by the standards of
the era, the 1600 Roadster has independent front suspension on coil
springs, a live axle rear on leaf springs, and a front mounted
inline-four sending power to the rear wheels via a manual
transmission. There were a few things that set the little Datsun
apart from its European peers, firstly and perhaps most importantly
it was cheaper. Secondly it showed great promise on the race track,
it would eventually win some SCCA races and claim some hard fought
podiums. The 1600 Roadster was sold alongside the 2000 Roadster,
the latter car had the larger 2.0 liter U20 engine, and together
they were a common sight in SCCA competition in the mid-to-late
1960s. Once Datsun's Roadsters had proven their mettle the Japanese
automaker released the Datsun 240Z, a car that became an icon in
its own right, and gave rise to the Z series cars still being built
today by Nissan.
