Okay, so it's been a crazy week or two for me (what's new). I figured most of
the old-timers on the list know me, but there a lot of new poeple here now, so
I'd better do it.
I'm 54 and I've been a gear-head since I was 12. I still have the first two car
magazines I ever bought (Aug 1960 Hot Rod and Sept 1960 Road & Track) along with
about a million others. Talked my father into going out to the drags in 1962 and
we both loved it. But since my father was a professional photographer, we wound
up being track photogs rather than racers, which explains a lot about my Web
site.
My plan was to go into Mech. Engineering and design engines in Detroit, but
somewhere along the line I started hearing about computers and how they wouldn't
need engineers any more (wrong!). Anyway, I wound up going into programming for
a living and currently I'm a Database Architect for a company called Highwire,
Inc. that provides a corporate travel management software service. But I'm still
a bit of an engineer wannabe at heart.
I've never owned a lot of different cars, but I did have a couple of '55 Chevys
early on when I was still into rods. Shortly after high school I got interested
in going around corners, and by 1969 I had decided I wanted a Datsun 2000. First
close encounter with one was that year while I was stationed in the Bay Area. I
tried to follow one down a windy road on the crest of the peninsula in my 1963
Plymouth. That wasn't as totally silly as it sounds, since I had diddled with
the suspension quite a bit, but nonetheless he lost me in about three corners.
That convinced me.
By 1971 I was back home in Seattle and in community college and shopping for a
roadster. I was riding around one night with some friends (still in the
Plymouth) trying to tell them what a Datsun roadster was, when one pulled up
next to us at a light. I rolled down the window and called, "Hey, you wanna sell
your car?"
He said "Yeah!" Two days later I bought my 1976 2000, SRL311-00430. It turned
out to be a worn-out former race car and I was the 4th owner. Over the next few
years I had to rebuild almost every mechanical part on the car. It came Solexes,
the big pan, a roll bar (still in it), comp front springs, Konis and a 4.68
diff. 1st gear was useless, you'd go about 30 ft and have to shift.
It gradually morphed into a fairly serious performance car with full comp
suspension, rebuilt engine with Racer Brown cam, about 11:1 compression,
balanced everything, etc. and a 4.11 LSD. I broke the 4.11 after too many
stoplight drag races (I could beat Porsche 911's through the first two gears -
really pissed 'em off!). This was the only car I owned for 10 years.
When I started autocrossing in 1978 I put in a 4.38 LSD and kicked ass for two
years, winning about 50% of the time. By the end of that time the engine was
tired and the car was pretty beat up anyway, so I embarked on a little "over the
winter clean up the rust and dents" project with a body man friend of mine. That
project got a little out of hand, and three years later it came out looking like
it does on my Web site. Thanks to a recent accident, it will soon look a little
bit different, but that's another story.
Along the way I helped found Northwest Datsun Enthusiasts (in 1978) and I'm
still a member. One of our later members was Dave Coleman, who is now
Engineering Editor for Sport Compact Car. That helps explain why older Datsuns
and newer Nissans keep turning up in there.
For a long time I didn't know any other roadster owners. Then I met Dan and
Susan Garrison out at the track and found out there was a whole big roadster
community out there. Through them I met Ross Mullen, joined the Datsun Roadster
Association and found out about the Mt. Shasta meet (which Ross started). 1990
was the first year I went to that. I only managed to make it every other year
for a while, but that jinx seems to be broken now.
Meeting Dan and Susan also led to meeting Dennis Peters, who had been racing a
1600 up here. When he bought a 2000 race car that I knew, I offered to crew for
him and we did that for three years, with quite a bit of success.
I met my wife Joanne in 1981. Since I was in the middle of the resto project at
the time, she knew what she was getting into, and she's turned into quite a car
nut herself. She and I both autocrossed our 1991 Sentra SE-R for a couple of
years. Now she drives a 2001 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS and talks cars with all the
gearheads at her high school (she's the fastest librarian in the district, if
not the state).
At first we weren't going to have any kids, then decided that was a poor
decision, but by then it was getting too late, so we wound up with two foster
kids instead. Both are grown now, one in college in Virginia, the other in the
Army in Georgia.
My life hasn't gone like I thought it would, but it sure has been an interesting
ride!
Gordon Glasgow
Renton, WA
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