Jalopnik: Bluebird

PCH, Japanese Nostalgia Edition: 1969 Toyota Crown or 1959 Datsun 1000?

Murilee Martin — Wed, 28 May 2008 17:20:00 EDT

It would appear that our readers are Lamborghini purists, given the 82/18 shellacking the V12-powered Espada issued to the Chevy-powered Espada in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll. Either way, who would have imagined owning a genuine, almost-running Lamborghini for the price of a new base Camry? Project Car Hell beckons! As we say so often here: what could go wrong? Today we're going to leave PCH Superpower Italy and head to a nation not so well known for maddeningly difficult Hell Projects; yes, we're feeling so inspired by the vintage Japanese steel at the Motoring J Style show that we have no choice but to descend into the fiery furnace of Vintage Japanese Car Hell.

The Japanese have been building super-reliable, easy-to-repair vehicles with good parts availability for so long now that we tend to forget that at one time they built crazy cars. Cars that rusted to nothingness before your eyes, full of components and designs from Britain and Italy... while at the same time boasting amazing styling and features that fill us with yearning. Perfect PCH material, eh? Got to say, if this '69 Toyota Crown (go here if the ad disappears) lived a little closer than Florida... well, with a $1,750 price tag, we wouldn't be sharing this super steal with you readers! Now, for that sweet price tag you figure there's some work in store for you, and we'd be remiss if we didn't mention the pushrod Land Cruiser engine that's replaced the original SOHC 2M unit. There's nothing wrong with the Toyota F, mind you... but a truck engine in this fine luxury sedan? The good news is that the junkyard is chock-full of Supras and Cressidas with M engines, and you'll have no problem adding entire stables of extra ponies, what with the vast assortment of aftermarket go-fast gear out there. The seller says "Body is good, interior needs love," but how hard can it be to find 40-year-old Crown interior components?

That Crown would make you feel like an early-70s Yakuza enforcer, for sure, but wouldn't it be cool to own one of the very first Bluebirds? Based on the Austin Cambridge and powered by an Austin-licensed engine, this 1959 Datsun 1000 (go here if the ad disappears) clearly shows its British ancestry. Come on now, a half-century-old orphaned Austin/Datsun from Fresno? You can't say no! And you shouldn't say no, in spite of the somewhat disconcerting statement "Car is in 'ruff' condition (yes it barks for attention). " It's "Mostly a complete car," and we're sure you'll manage to find a big stash of '59 Datsun parts without having to go to Japan, because that's how serious you'll be about this project! And, hell, might as well drop in an SR20DET while you're at it, right?

Duct Tape Saves The Day For Vintage Racer's Datsun 510

Murilee Martin — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:00:00 EDT

A '68 Datsun 510 race car is a pretty good handling machine, but when you race in the sleet, rain, and snow of a Pacific Northwest springtime (as VintageRacer does) sometimes your car ends up taking an unscheduled detour off the track. Make the jump for VintageRacer's story.

Well, hopefully you'll have a better day at the 24hrs than we did (though we did finish up by running fastest lap in our group Sunday afternoon).

Saturday was a mix of rain, sleet, snow, wrong tire choice, and too much throttle in the wrong place....

A liberal application of dead blow hammer and duct tape later.....from a distance - you can't even tell... (but I've got a couple of weeks of sheetmetal and paint ahead. Fortunately no suspension damage) Gotta have it looking real good for the Under 2 litre Trans Am revival for next month.

What Is Your Ideal Pair Of Vehicles?

Matt Hardigree — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:40:00 EST

BRABUS got us thinking about pairs with their SLR McLaren and Smart package deal. How great would it be to get vehicles custom matched to fill various needs in your life? Even better, what about cars matched to fulfill your various automotive desires? One of our favorite actual pairings has to be the Bluebird RV with matching Mercedes SLK (now that's a bail out vehicle). It's not something automakers or tuners do very often, given the implicit cost. I think our ideal combination would be the Unimog-based Unicat paired with a roof-mounted Rinspeed Bedouin. But that's us.

What's your ideal pair of vehicles? Real or imagined.

The Bluebird of Vintage Racing Happiness

Murilee Martin — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 14:00:00 EDT

Since we all enjoyed the shots of VintageRacer's Datsun 510 in action so much, he's sent in some more quality racing photos. This time the subject is a right-hand-drive Bluebird, which has made the move from Japan to the racetracks of the Pacific Northwest. Once again, thanks for sharing this stuff, VintageRacer!

1966 Datsun 411

Murilee Martin — Wed, 23 May 2007 10:30:39 EDT

Alameda is a great town for spotting daily-driven old cars- not much rust, lots of weird single-interest obsessos who stick with some obscure car model for decades (and who will knock out all your teeth with a wrench if you diss that model), and a chronic shortage of off-street parking that puts all the vintage iron out where we can admire it. Today I've captured this rare Bluebird on film...

This '66 is a bit rough, but still looks good. The vintage mags really suit the car.

The original Datsun 411 was never very common on these shores, so seeing one that's still rolling every day is quite a treat. The taped headlights are on the lame side, but forgivable.

Yes, it still has the original yellow-on-black California plates.

– Murilee Martin

SUPER FUTURE MODERN AMUSEMENT! 1968 Datsun Bluebird

Mike Bumbeck — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 14:00:00 EST

If the scientific windbags of our youth were actually worth their salt we were all by now supposed to be flying our cars, taking weekends on the moon, and not even having to toil away eighty-plus-hours-a-week to pay the bills. Technology was the answer, and was supposed to be doing the work for us. All this talk was evidently a intellectual farce of boozy cocktail party banter. The Jalopnik helper robot is perpetually broken. Datsun, however, had a car ready for the supersonic future back in 1968. This future was called Bluebird. – Mike Bumbeck

Related:
Moller Skycar on eBay! [internal]

Spy Photos: 2008 Suzuki SX4 Sedan

Ray Wert — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 15:28:34 EDT

The spy photogs paid by the Road that is not straight snapped some great pictures of what's purported to be the sedan version of the hatchback Suzuki SX4 that'll be hitting stores across the US in just under a month's time. The sedan version appears to share with the five-door the same random quarter window next to the side mirrors — but the rear end, according to the vehicular spy photogs of KGP is "reminiscent of the original Nissan Altima." Oh boy, we can't wait to see another Japanese manufacturer take a run down the ol' Bluebird lane with rear ends — cause that worked so well for Nissan the first time around. Although incidentally, with the SX4 five-door expected to arrive with a 2.0-liter, 16-valve DOHC rated at 143 horsepower and 136 pound-feet of torque, if this sedan comes to market with the same engine — the Bluebird will have it beat by 7 hp. Not bad for '93.

Spied: Suzuki SX4 Sedan! [Winding Road]

Related:
New Suzuki Models to Show up in New York [internal]