For all the interesting cars I've spotted around here in the last few years, this one grabbed me as much as any other, in part because of its and my history. Japanese cars came to central Canada relatively late compared to BC and Alberta - I imagine this one was brought in from elsewhere.
In the summer of '74 I worked as a busboy at a steak restaurant in Alberta. I had just started driving a few months earlier, and my interest in cars, dormant since early childhood, had taken off like wildfire.
One of my coworkers, a fellow high-school student, let's call him "John", had bought a '69 Datsun 1000 from "Nothing over 999", a used-car dealer which, if still around, has no doubt undergone a few name changes.
Anyway, I was driving a '62 Chevy II at the time. It had a 194 inline-6 engine coupled to a Powerglide. John challenged me to a one-block race late one night. I had no expectations, knowing little about cars. I knew my car was heavier, but also had an engine over three times as large.
The light turned green, and John's Datsun took off leaving me in the dust. He was half a block ahead after a block. What a revelation!
After a while John let me drive the little Datsun, and it was a joy. My previous manual transmission experience involved my driver's ed car (a newish Hornet with a 3-speed on the floor), a '63 Biscayne 3-in-the-tree with no synchro into 1st, and a very decrepit '68 Vauxhall Viva with a dying 4-on-the-floor.
The Datsun was incredible - smooth as butter, and way peppier than the small engine would have led one to imagine. I only drove it around town; I imagine it would have been working hard on the highway.
Anyway, good memories from a long time ago ...
In the summer of '74 I worked as a busboy at a steak restaurant in Alberta. I had just started driving a few months earlier, and my interest in cars, dormant since early childhood, had taken off like wildfire.
One of my coworkers, a fellow high-school student, let's call him "John", had bought a '69 Datsun 1000 from "Nothing over 999", a used-car dealer which, if still around, has no doubt undergone a few name changes.
Anyway, I was driving a '62 Chevy II at the time. It had a 194 inline-6 engine coupled to a Powerglide. John challenged me to a one-block race late one night. I had no expectations, knowing little about cars. I knew my car was heavier, but also had an engine over three times as large.
The light turned green, and John's Datsun took off leaving me in the dust. He was half a block ahead after a block. What a revelation!
After a while John let me drive the little Datsun, and it was a joy. My previous manual transmission experience involved my driver's ed car (a newish Hornet with a 3-speed on the floor), a '63 Biscayne 3-in-the-tree with no synchro into 1st, and a very decrepit '68 Vauxhall Viva with a dying 4-on-the-floor.
The Datsun was incredible - smooth as butter, and way peppier than the small engine would have led one to imagine. I only drove it around town; I imagine it would have been working hard on the highway.
Anyway, good memories from a long time ago ...
