The go-to small-bore vintage chassis for the GRM forum? Perhaps it’s the Datsun 1200.
Here’s your chance to join the cool kids as this 1973 Datsun 1200 is billed as race-ready and prepped to the SCCA’s GT4, GT5 and C Sedan regs. In addition to race history dating back to at least 1972, the Datsun also comes with SCCA, MCSCC …
I used to have one and set it up for track use, but that was nearly 40 years ago. I wonder what parts availability is these days, suspecting it's both thin and expensive. I'm sure that a certain someone here will let me know :)
The 1200's used to be throw-away cars even though they were raced by numerous people back in the day. They are great little cars and can be hot rodded, such as installing an L18 SSS which was available in the 1980's at least. The front engine, rear-wheel drive set up and clean body lines makes them desirable in my opinion. I continually look around Craigslist to see if any pop up from time to time. I can't say that a genuine track car like the one presented isn't worth the price.
As someone racing one of these since 1989 I highly recommend them.
They only weigh 1600lbs and are sporting about 90-100 horsepower at the wheels.
If you don't car about keeping it vintage legal turbo A-series engines will put out between 175-230whp depending on what kind of maintenance intervals you want.
They are an absolute scream to drive; you can chuck them into corners with great abandon as they are really user friendly.
The other plus is you won't see a whole lot of them at track events so, if like me, you like to be a little different they check that box as well.
Should any of the hive buy it, I'd be happy to share my knowledge.
At first I thought that Datsun 1200 guy always on the forum is selling his Datsun 1200 but I see now that there are other Datsun 1200 guys racing Datsun 1200's.
Who knew about all these Datsun 1200's except for out Datsun 1200 guy Tom?
Yes, there is more than one!
Also, I have always loved those little “vents” on the rear fenders.
My biggest regret is selling my 1200 40+ years ago. It was a ICSCC C Sedan. Back in the day a SCCA C Sedan would be classed as Improved Sedan, so mine was far less modified and was streetable.
Very, very cool! 1600 lbs and rear drive pushed my buttons!
Datsun240ZGuy said:At first I thought that Datsun 1200 guy always on the forum is selling his Datsun 1200 but I see now that there are other Datsun 1200 guys racing Datsun 1200's.
Who knew about all these Datsun 1200's except for out Datsun 1200 guy Tom?
There are 4 or 5 guys on here who raced 1200s.......and they all say they regret selling theirs.
This month makes 40 years since we bought ours.
It has an awful lot of sentimental value to me now. With any luck I will be able to post on here about having it for 50 years.
CyberEric said:Very, very cool! 1600 lbs and rear drive pushed my buttons!
They are tremendous fun to drive.
This is mine on soaking wet track.......ignore the horrendous misfire. We managed to fix it later.
This quick shot is a representation of how fun these cars are.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/EsGrZhrtZXkUfR4m/?mibextid=oFDknk
Back in the 1980s I test drove one on a used car lot. The PO had the air dam, rear spoiler and then-cool wheels on it so it looked the business. But OMG was it slow... Did not purchase.
In reply to ddavidv :
Reminds me of the time I checked out a Fiat X1/9 for sale.
In reply to ddavidv :
They had 68hp stock. Mine is sporting about 80hp at the wheels (95 at the crank??)
It accelerates at the same rate as a 1.6 Miata.........so yes it's slow but it only has an 1171cc engine.
When I ran the A15 (1508cc) motor it made 99hp at the wheels and it would slightly out accelerate a friend's stock 99 Miata. That's still slow but not as painful.
My new 1220cc motor should make around 90hp at the wheels; I fully expect it will bend time and space.
What makes them fun is you can four wheel drift them everywhere. The driving experience is similar to a classic Mini.
I owned an 850 Mini for awhile, so I get it. At the time (this would have been probably around 1987) I was driving Mk1 Fiestas with a vastly superior power to weight ratio. The disappointment with the Datsun was that it looked the business, but failed to deliver. I think if the PO had not added all the cool spoilers I wouldn't have expected so much. I knew zero about Datsuns at the time.
I also looked at, but never drove, the piston version of the Mazda RX-2 (616?). Sort of lament not having tried that, as it had a 1.6 engine.
I was into European cars back then. The Japanese could make cars that looked cool, but the performance was...often weak in comparison. Their focus was typically on frugality, which was fine for most buyers. I was also enamored by a Corolla SR5 I saw that had sexy fender flares. But it was hopelessly an economy car. Hard to find a photo of one for reference; this is about as close as I could get:
Here in the east, the 510s had all rusted away already by this time and Z cars were too expensive for my teenage self. RX-7s were 'exotica' and also pretty pricey even as used cars. All these cars would be fun platforms today if any still existed. The oldest thing I've seen here locally in recent history is an 80s Celica.
In reply to ddavidv :
The thing about 1200s is that in stock trim they are rather underwhelming but they are a fantastic platform.
The advertised car is likely right on 1600lbs and 100hp at the wheels. That is really decent performance for a 52 year old car.
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