What is it about Datsun Roadsters and seemingly always turning up as barn finds? Despite being a thoroughly competent vintage sports cars, I would guess among Japanese classics, the Roadster in its various forms appears the most frequently covered in dust and wearing original California black plates, like this example listed here on Facebook Marketplace and located in Weaverville, California. The seller doesn’t know much about this 1600 spec Roadster, other than noting it’s been parked in a barn for 30 years. The asking price is $6,000 or best offer.
You’re going to have to use your imagination in terms of understanding the health of this Roadster, but looking down the sides and seeing the OEM-style steel wheels with center hubcaps still visible gives some hope it hasn’t been messed with too much. The Datsun comes with a soft top still installed, which doesn’t appear to be torn. The OEM hardtop is a nice accessory to find, and I’m still kicking myself for not grabbing one off of a junked car at a salvage yard in Vermont years ago. Anyway, no mention is made as to whether this one will come with the hardtop, but it seems unlikely given it isn’t pictured.
The 1600 offered just about 100 horsepower and left the factory with twin SU carburetors. The transmission was a four-speed manual, and the 1600 era seemed to usher the Roadster into the U.S. as a real-deal sports car, beginning a golden era of sorts for Datsun and its reputation for building desirable sports car, with the Series 1 Z-car soon to follow. The 1600, in some ways, built sufficient interest in the car in order to make the next iteration, known by its larger displacement as the 2000, the most desirable version yet. The later cars came with a five-speed manual gearbox and more power, making a healthy 135 b.h.p.
Followers of vintage motorsports likely know how legendary racers like Bob Sharp and Paul Newman began building their careers around Datsun Roadsters, so they really do check all the boxes as it relates to having both pedigree and performance on board. The seller’s car is an interesting one, especially with that license plate frame – an American Psycho fan, perhaps, or an attendee at the riots in 1988? Either way, if it’s been in California all of its life, rust should be minimal and this Roadster will hopefully ride again. Whether you keep the plate frame is up to you.
Omg!
A Datsun 1600 with black plates!
Black plates!
Yes, a true survivor!
This is an incredible find!
LOVE the license plate frame!
BTW, will we ever run out of ‘barn finds’?
My dad bought a new 1969 1600 at a bargain price of $2,200. Seems nobody in Massachusetts knew squat diddly about Datsun back then. Truly a fun car, as reliable as a car could ever be. Unfortunately in 1975, my stepmother backed her 1975 Lincoln Continental Town Coupe (we called that car “The Blue Whale”), into our 1600, which then compacted itself into our concrete garage wall. Consequently our Datsun took on the shape of a coke bottle. The “Blue Whale” suffered two scratches on the rear bumper and a broken number plate frame, (that said: “Vote for Nixon”). By the way the engine had two side draft Hatachi Zosen carburetors from the factory, not SU’s, could have been the result of a mid production change?
Looks like a blue plate on the rear, with the front plate being so rusty and dirty it appears to be black.
But it is Blue..matched the rear plate sequence..Given the CSY suffix, which is how they were issued by alphabet, .this is a plate issued sometime after Jan 1 1970. My former original Cali P car was a BSW suffx…licensed in March I think of 1970. Yes its just rusted.
On the issue of black/yellow or early blue/yellow plates in Cali for us car nuts, it used to be an indicator of a car that had not be through many hands…..or at least if the letter sequence matched the year of the car more or less, that the plates had been with the car from the git go and ergo it was a California car.
By 1980 if memory serves me correctly blue yellow plates wents to seven digits/.letters…..indicating the increased number of cars registered.and thus more folks moving to California.
For perspective consider that in 1978 there were approximately 19 million folks in California.Today we’re cruising in on 40 million.
Oh well…..there goes the neighborhood :)
Weaverville is a cozy little town in the far northern part of California. It’s supported by the logging industry and has a Mediterranean climate. I’ve visited there on many occasions in my teenage years with my Dad while he was working on some construction job. This little Datsun seems a bit out of place where most people drive trucks. Towns like this don’t change much through the years with the exception of the many marijuana farms that have cropped up. I can almost smell the smoke from the fireplaces and wood burning heating stoves throughout the community. It has great hunting and fishing all around. Chainsaws and logging trucks are to heard from early mornings to mid afternoons as workers go through their daily rituals earning a fair living. Women still bake homemade bread and prepare great meals for their families. Children run amuck playing and riding their bicycles to the parks or school grounds. It’s a laid back life style, where people attend church services and everybody knows everyone else.
We’ll, that’s how I remember Weaverville, and I hope it hasn’t changed much.
God bless America
Bad fires around Weaverville … sheriff’s dept issued evacuation orders due to the Monument fire … Dixie fire has burned area almost the size of Rhode Island … happens every year somewhere around here due to poor forest management … many of those quaint old gold mining towns are composed of older wooden homes, which burn like kindling … sad
I’d pay 50.00 bucks for plate frame. Maybe even 100. Being the Yuppie scum that I am, I can’t help it.
Now THAT is quality humor!
Looks like dartboard pricing again. Dont know much about the car but I want six grand. How bout working for the money…get it started or take decent pictures. Sheesh…if I wasnt at the opposite end of this great state I’d like to look at it. Come on folks if you want to sell a car you know nothing about make a little effort!
I’m losing my faith in humanity………..oh wait……
Google plate frames you can have a set made in any color and say anything for a lot less than fifty bucks.
An old friend of mine had one of these. He was the backstage chef for the concert promoter we both worked for. His was white with a red interior. Pretty decent handling and power. It looked quite small in my recollection. Perhaps around MGB size. Whatever that special “something” about that car was, it probably influenced me to buy a 280ZX later….