Story and Photography by Zachary Mayne
John Lorio admits to being a Datsun fan through and through. “I’m usually restoring Datsuns,” he quips.
He ain’t kidding, either. Parked next to this 1968 BMW 1600 is the bare frame of a 1969 Datsun 2000 roadster. He’s painstakingly reassembling and installing newly restored suspension and brake components on it in his …
The one everyone always forgets is the BMW 1800, which a friend successfully slalomed in the early 1970s. My next door neighbours also owned a Karmann bodied 2000 CS, which was a rather decent looking car.
These early BMWs have become quite collectable today.
In reply to wspohn :
Very true about the 1800.
By 1968 I was getting pretty tired of my first car, a 1963 VW bug with 40 hp. I loved the BMW 1800, but they were pretty rare and expensive. Then the 2002 and 1600 were introduced. I subscribed to Car & Driver at the time, and read that road test. 2002s were popular, and selling for just about list price, well beyond my college-student means. But the 1600 was seen by customers as the stripper version--at least in the snobby NYC suburbs of Long Island--and dealers were discounting them to about $2100. Problem was, in order to buy one I had to get my father father to co-sign for a loan or lend me a good chunk of the money, and he wouldn't do either.
I ended up with a used cherry-red 1966 Buick Gran Sport convertible with a "Wildcat 445 nailhead and four-speed. Nobody knew what that was, so the dealer was having trouble moving it. That Buick was scary-fast in a staight line, great at burning rubber, but couldn't turn or stop. Just not the same. . . .
nice car - but I am in two minds about the 'subtle' engine mods - subtle they are not. I also wonder if the tyre (tire) size and rims are right for this car - I could be wrong as my 1971 1602 with round tail lights (bought new, collected from Munich, still own it) was built for Australian design requirements. Might also explain why my car never over heats even during the Aussie summer (except twice during the past 50 years when the water pump failed) - perhaps it was fitted with a larger radiator ? I played with some mods (primarily suspension as I hated the inside tyre spinning in corners when driven hard) but over the past 3 years its been semi-restored back to full original spec.
agree with wspohn re the 2000 CS - in my case I had the follow-on (3.0 CS) and I bitterly regret selling it 40 years ago !
Great story about a very neat little coupe. Kudos to owner Lorio's vision for the car and the Love he has laid over it. Heck, I want a story about his DATSUNS too!! I owned (and sold, with Life-long regret) a 70 Mazda R100 coupe, the first rotary "peoples" car from Mazda, with a similar legacy: unknown but leading the way for generations of rotary sports cars. I satisfied my longing for it with a 1980 RX7 which I own to this day, with great pleasure.
Thanks for sharing, John!
Stu A
Sedona, AZ
Beautiful car. I had a black 1968 1600 that I bought for $125 in 1979. It was super rusted and beyond restoration as I lived in Michigan at the time and the salt ate the car. It did however run great and I did a lot of upgrade work to make it a fun driver. The cars came with a 410 rear end so it was actually faster then the 1970 2002 I acquired a few years later. It also averaged 30 mpg which for a college student was a great bonus. I always wished for a body that could have been restored.
One concern I always had on these cars (and the 2002's) was the fuel tank- it was the exact same design as the Ford Pinto hatchback. They were dropped into the bottom of the trunk and formed part of the trunk floor pan. Any minor rear impact would cause the rest of the trunk floor pan to split the tank open like a grape being cut with scissors. Has anyone found an upgrade to this very dangerous design?
Thanks for sharing such a beautiful restoration.
Brian
Dallas, TX
Damn, I wish they still made cars like this.
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