The sport of autocross pushes a lot of boundaries. At its top level, the competition is so close that competitors dig and scratch to find even a .001-second advantage. Championships have been won and lost by that small a margin, so it’s no surprise to see the lengths to which competitors go for the slightest advantage.
It’s also no surprise …
I remember that article. Reminds me that I really wanted to help George and Dee Schweilke make the best legal Alfa motor possible for his Spider.
And maybe a few tweaks to his set up.
But it was a long time ago I last saw them, and a little less long ago that I last autocrossed.
Just goes to show you the importance of having a well-sorted car. After all this time, I think these guys have pretty well got all the bugs out.
Great article about the DATSUN 2000 and its owners/drivers. Certainly amazing reliability and performance from a then 46 year old sports car. Success in an Auto-X is more a matter of having both a car and driver melded together as one at the peak of their performance.
A really good driver in a less well developed car - can usually beat a poor driver in a really well developed car. At the National Level - most of the drivers are running well developed cars - and a few thousandths of second come down to the Driver that is best integrated with his machine. It is really hard to beat decades of consistent winning experience.
I had one... Loved to drive it, looked great in red, unique, fairly reliable...
And then there was working on it - apparently Datsun had yet to make their cars easy to work on and learned on this one. This was the first car where I found myself throwing parts across the yard with a lot of cursing, only to have to go get it after I cooled off. Oh, and by the mid-1980s, parts were already getting expensive.
I've owned and enjoyed Datsun Roadsters since 1972. My first was a rare Fairlady 1500 twin-carb. My current car is a (white) SRL-311 1970 2000. Perhaps the last one imported. Great and fun cars even 48 years later. Thanks for the article!!
Scott Z.
I too liked this article when it came out. I'm building a 69 Datsun Roadster now and just wish the article had more information on the suspension setup, particularly how they "keep (the rear axle) flat and get as much power to the ground"
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