Vehicle Description
Very rare early Japanese two seat sports car available now in this
1969 Datsun 2000. Back in the 1960s this model won many SCCA races,
helping to put Datsun on the map as a sports car marque. Also known
as the SP311 or SPL311, this 1.6 liter droptop roadster was a force
to be reckoned with in the right hands. It led directly to the
creation of the Datsun 240Z, and the Z car series that remains in
production to the current day. This particular example is dressed
in red and white racing tribute livery with a black interior and
black convertible top. As stated by the previous owner, this 1600
has 88,809 original miles and includes a recent rebuild of the
engine, transmission, and rear differential all within the last
year. This Datsun is powered by 1.6L Inline 4 packing a whopping 96
HP (70.656 KW) @ 6000 RPM; Torque: 103 Ft-Lbs (140 NM) @ 4000 RPM.
Power is put to the ground through a 4-speed manual gear box. While
the vehicle runs very well, we would recommend a brake service
before being completely roadworthy. Datsun originally started out
as the Kwaishinsha (Kaishinsha) Motor Car Works in 1911. Three
years later in 1914 the company released their first car, a very
simple design that used many locally-produced components �€" they
called it the DAT. The name came from taking the first letter of
each of the company's investor's surnames: Kenjiro Den, Rokuro
Aoyama, Meitaro Takeuchi. The company formally changed its name to
DAT Jidosha & Co. in 1925, by this time they were making small
trucks almost exclusively, due to the fact that local demand for
automobiles was so low. In 1931 the company came out with a new car
named the Type 11 but better known as the Datson, as in son of DAT.
The Type 11 was near clone of the popular British Austin 7, funnily
enough around the same time a company over in Germany was producing
their own (licensed) copy of the Austin 7 called the BMW Dixi. From
1934 onwards DAT began building Austin 7s officially under license.
The company continued to grow, offering a vast array of models, and
by the 1960s they were making concerted efforts to enter the
lucrative Western markets in Europe and the United States. 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.
