I just got the December issue of Car & Driver today; cover "HEAVY 100; A
wacky, year-early tribute to the automotive century." Moment #34, on page
53, :
Quoth the raven, 'Stout as a Buddha! C/Ds first road test of a Japanese
production car may be found in our June 1964 issue. Three whole pages were
devoted to the Datsun P410-U, about which we remarked; "Japan's cars are
getting prettier and better all the time!" My, my. The little four-door
Datsun had a pushrod, 60-hp, 1189cc four-cylinder, and a 0-to-60 time of
20.8 seconds. Price from the New Jersey distributor: $1696, not cheap.
Thumbs down on the boxy design; When the Japanese are building "brilliantly
conceived" motorcycles, we wrote, why are the cars so derivative? We're
critical even then: "We throw up our hands." Quality gets a thumps up: "All
parts are as 'stout as a Buddha.'"
Moment #52 mentions Datsun again with the introduction of the 240Z.
Paul
OROC
BTW, I looked at the '69 ( really 68 ) 1600 for sale here in Cleveland,
Ohio. I'm thinking about it as a future project. If any one is interested,
write for details.
|