When we bought this little 1200 coupe back in 1998 it had a paltry 28,000 miles on the clock and was in absolutely lovely condition. At the time we paid what was then considered to be pretty strong money for a Datsun, £1300! A lot considering that even now, ten years later, it’s only the best cars that fetch that would much although now they are incredibly rare here. Possibly the only criticism that could be made of it’s condition when we got it was the rear panel which had at some time been replaced, no doubt due to previous accident damage. It wasn’t the tidiest repair and certainly not up to my standards but the car looked perfectly presentable so I left it alone. The coupe originally ran the registration SYD18M but the seller wanted to keep the plate which was a shame.
As a life long car nut, some of my earliest memories involve the cars my parents had when I was a kid. Travelling at very naughty speeds in my mum’s temperamental and perpetually rusting Alfetta GTV and my Dad’s beautiful black Renault 30TS, long cold winter journeys from Cumbria to the South coast in the back of my mums ancient Mini van and my Dad tinkering with his Mk2 Cortina. But the first car to get etched onto my subconscious was our white Renault 16TS. We lived in Cape Town, South Africa at the time and I would have been about 4 or 5 years old. The 16TS wasn’t all that old when my parents owned it but it was space age looking compared to most cars on the road and by the standards of the day it was fast too. It was probably the first car I thought of as being ‘cool’. Of course back in the mid 1970’s, at that age, I couldn’t appreciate that the Renault 16 was in fact very cool, and a pioneering car of it’s day. Over the years, I’ve hankered after one of my own but have never dared take the plunge, fearing the dreaded rust for which they are renowned and the unorthodox mechanical design. But now that the sale of my AMC Javelin has given me the funds to go for a good one, I’ve finally got myself a lovely 1968 Renault 16TS so I can finally see for myself if the car really is as good as I thought it was when I was five.
It’s a sad day to finally see my Javelin roll off in the hands of it’s new owner. To be honest, I’ve never really got to enjoy the Javelin much in the time I have owned it as it’s engine expired fairly early on and it’s just been sat unused since. Now with a replacement 5.9L engine to replaced the dead 6.4L, it’s back up and running and also has the benefit of power steering, a luxury it desperately needed. After some recommissioning, it actually passed it’s MOT quite easily, just requiring a pair of bottom ball joints on the front. It’ll need a little tinkering by the new owner to get a few of the electrics working again such as the clock, heater blower and fuel gauge, (the latter being rather essential!) but it’s generally up together and working. It’s new owner will be giving it a make over with fresh paint so I think it’s in good hands. Video clip of it departing after the jump…
If ever there was an essentialy read for Datsun 510 enthusiasts this is it. The Dime Quarterly is a long running US based newsletter, mainly technical in focus, concentrating purely on the 1967-1973 Datsun 510. The magazine is printed in black and white in A4 format and as the name suggest comes out four times a year. Every issue of the Dime Quarterly is packed with useful technical articles and features which makes it excellent value for money. The standard of photography and the editorial content are both highly proffesional. Subscription is a very reasonable $20 for overseas readers ($15 for those in the States) or you can save a couple of dollars by going for a two year subscription. To get a taster of the magazines content you can take a look at some previous articles online on the Dime Quarterly website and from there you can also subscribe using Paypal. Back issues are also available from the website for $4.50 each.
