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| Old Datsun/Nissan films http://forums.ctzcc.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=5850 |
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| Author: | Frank T [ Wed Apr 06, 2011 10:27 am ] |
| Post subject: | Old Datsun/Nissan films |
Our NY member Tommy Sullivan discovered this cashe of old NICO films and wanted to share ~ THANKS, Tommy! Some good stuff here. I think I spy Colin the Elder in some of these clips, when he was younger! 
http://www.nissancommercials.com/datsun.htm#d240 Frank |
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| Author: | tr3hardtop [ Thu Apr 14, 2011 1:32 pm ] | ||
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Way younger Frank! Lot of cool stuff in that link. Before there was a Z there was a couple of Bugeyes. Photo of a younger elder and the younger Colin, Summer 1978. No the photo is not flipped, note the 2x4 bumper I used to get it through CT DMV! Colin the Elder.
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| Author: | Frank T [ Thu Apr 14, 2011 2:01 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
Haha!! Wonderful! 
Back in the '60s when I had my 100-4s, my best friend had a Bugeye. One night (fueled by sufficient quantities of hops and barley) we practiced hillclimbing up our local SCCA sponsored hillclimb road. Very near the top John hit a patch of black ice and spun the Sprite 780* into two very large trees and a very solid stone wall, which was higher than the car. Seeing it all coming, I dove 'into the cellar' and pushed up on the dashboard with all my strength (the SOP for racing crashes before seatbelts were mandatory). The car hit rear-first, flattening the entire rear "cave" against the rear wheels. It took us hours with tire irons and a farmer's crowbar to pry enough metal away from the rubber to make it roll again. Being broke teenagers, John drove the car that way for almost another year. He often joked about inverting the grille to make the car look sad. Sorry ~ every Sprite I see now brings that night back in vivid focus!
Frank |
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| Author: | tr3hardtop [ Thu Apr 14, 2011 7:51 pm ] | ||
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Those last split second reactions probably saved you from some serious bumps! Frank, my second Bugeye was an x-hill climb car, it had quite a successful history in the PA hill climb series. It ran Giants Despair, Duryea, Hershey, and Weatherly. Below photo on the trailer and auto-x. It ran D prepared, lot of trick stuff in it.
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| Author: | Frank T [ Thu Apr 14, 2011 10:56 pm ] |
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Oh, YEAH! It looks well-worked. Probably nothing left stock. Even your wheels are larger than John's, and your headlamps are air intakes. John's was a blast to work on and drive. We often disconnected the headlamps and removed the whole nose to work on stuff. It handled like a little GoKart (until he hit that speedbump at 35mph, then it was all over the place). He had a 'glass hardtop and a tonneau cover but no cloth top. We often got caught in the rain, at which time I snapped on the tonneau and hid under there, laughing at him getting soaked. Many many happy memories of these cars. The cost of them today is unbelievable. Of course, you can do wonders with the engines now. |
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| Author: | Kathy & Rick [ Fri Apr 15, 2011 7:46 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
I remember these tiny cars, even back to my high school days. A classmate of mine, Leland King, and his older brother Bob, always had Sprites (or were they Midgets?)  and MG-TCs, TDs, TFs.
Some for DD, some for competition. Part of my comment above alludes to the fact that the Austin Healey Sprites and MG Midgets were so hard to tell apart, except to a trained experienced eye, that we simply called them all "Spridgets."
Thanks for the memories. All Z Best,................................Kathy & Rick |
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| Author: | Frank T [ Fri Apr 15, 2011 9:11 am ] |
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And as we know from his stories, the Sprite was Bob Sharp's first car. 
You *might* be headed for greatness, Colin. On Halloween 1960, about 9 of us kids picked up a new Bugeye and lifted/walked/carried it from the curb to the front porch of a big guy's house who had yelled at us on the way home from school one day. One of us rang the bell and we all ran across the street and hid under the bushes, trying hard not to laugh out loud. The big guy came out, looked around, then lowered the car down the steps himself!  We didn't mess with him any more.
Frank |
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