Maybe we have a tie. My father bought my roadster new in 1966 (I was
only two at the time).
It was his second roadster. He bought a used '63 1500 with the third
seat when he was stationed in Okinawa. He drove it for a couple years,
but was worried about rust with all the salt spray on the island, so he
sold it just before he came back to the states and bought a new 1966.
The whole family has lots of fond memories of the car. I can still
remember when I was 5 or 6 sitting on the tray behind the two seats with
my mother and sister sitting up front, wind blowing in my face. We all
loved the car.
My parents, my older brother, and my older sister drove it regularly
until the late seventies. My brother was side swiped on his way home
from trade school. Repairing the body turned into "now would be a good
time to work on the engine", etc. The car then sat in our garage for
about ten years. In the late eighties, I had finally learned enough
about mechanical work to take on the task of reviving our Fairlady. I
got her up and running for my last year in college. She was kind of ugly
with her faded green paint job (My dad had it painted British Racing
Green in the early seventies, but they didn't get the color right),
transplanted red door, and no window top (My brother tried some type of
chemical cleaner on the plastic windows. The windows turned red,
brittle, and then shattered into little pieces. I busted out the
remaining pieces. The top didn't do much in rain, but it sure kept the
heat down on those hot days in the desert.) The Fairlady may have been
ugly, but she sure was fun to drive.
Then came graduation and my first job, 800 miles from home. I was afraid
to take the Datsun. Every time I needed parts I had to order them and
wait. I left the Datsun in my parent's garage and drove my '66 Chevelle
to my new job. The Datsun stayed in my parent's garage for another ten
years until I finally bought my first house. I towed her home as soon as
I could. Now, I work on the car as often as I can, but I spend quite a
bit of time on the road with my job and don't get as much done as I would
like. It's been 5 years now, but every day I'm a little closer.
My father passed away many years ago, but I still feel a connection with
him when I'm working on that old car. My older sister got a real kick
out of driving the car again when I got it running in the late eighties.
My other sister still complains that she's the only one in the family
that hasn't driven the car. Especially, since I'm the baby of the
family. I can hardly wait to get the car on the road again. I was
fortunate enough to see my family all in one place at Christmas this
year. Next year, I hope we can all be there again, but I want to be
driving the Datsun next time I see them. Then I'm going to let them all
take turns driving it and let them re-live one of those old memories.
On Wed, 9 Jan 2002 00:51:28 EST Geegc@aol.com writes:
> I may be the earliest continuous owner with a new 1966 still owned
> and
> running (most of the time).
>
> Gary C
>
> In a message dated 1/8/02 9:09:42 PM Pacific Standard Time,
> jhatfield@zianet.com writes:
>
>
> > Sorry Gary, but I bought mine new in the summer of 67 and still
> got
> > her. Bill 66&67 spls in NM
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: <BARTERDUDE@aol.com>
> > To: <datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net>
> > Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2002 4:33 PM
> > Subject: Re: Do you remember your first Datsun Roadster
>
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