1961 Fairlady Roadster. Photos by Bruce Sweetman, courtesy Carlisle Events.
Nissan North America’s Heritage Collection typically resides in the basement of the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, Tennessee. Off-limits to the general public, the vehicles are kept under cover, parked for storage and not display, and only occasionally shown at events in North America. This May, six vehicles from the Nissan North American Heritage Collection will be displayed at the Carlisle Import and Kit Car Nationals, giving fans of the brand a rare opportunity to see the cars up close.
Perhaps the rarest Nissan or Datsun to be displayed is a 1961 Fairlady roadster, one of just 217 manufactured. Sold in the United States through a network of just 60 dealers, the compact four-seat roadster was powered by a 1.2-liter four-cylinder engine rated at 60 horsepower and 67.3 pound-feet of torque. Shifted through a four-speed manual transmission, the Fairlady roadster could deliver a top speed of 82 miles per hour, though likely not with four passengers in the cabin.
Roadsters remained an important part of the brand’s product line, so Nissan is also bringing out a 1969 Datsun 1600 Roadster, marked for the Heritage Collection on the assembly line. It’s seen just 789 miles in 45 years, meaning the 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine likely produces the exact same 96 horsepower and 103 pound-feet of torque specified by the factory. The 1600 Roadster and its larger brother, the 2000 Roadster, helped to set the stage for Datsun (and later, Nissan) sports car to come.
Without a doubt, the most significant of these was the Datsun 240Z, a two-seat sport coupe that put the brand on the radar of driving enthusiasts from coast to coast. So significant was this car to Nissan that in 1998, following the 2006 departure of the 300ZX from the U.S. Market, Nissan began to sell remanufactured 240Zs through its dealer network, just to keep interest in the model alive. The silver 1972 240Z to be shown at Carlisle is one of these remanufactured cars, retired to the Heritage Collection after serving duty as a press fleet test car.
Other Datsun models to be displayed at the event include a 1972 Datsun 510 sedan and a 1977 Datsun B210 GX, both of which proved to be best sellers for the brand during the fuel crisis years of the 1970s. Meant as an affordable family car, the Datsun 510 quickly earned a reputation as a giant killer on the race track, particularly when prepared by Peter Brock and his company, Brock Racing Enterprises. Tuners would continue to have an impact on the Japanese brand over the years, as evidenced by the final car to be displayed from the Heritage Collection, a Steve Millen-tuned 1995 Nissan 300ZX SMZ.
Cars in the Heritage Collection come from a variety of sources. Some, like the 1969 1600 Roadster, are pulled directly from the production line, set aside specifically for preservation. Others are donated to or purchased by Nissan, often in exceptional condition. The 1972 Datsun 510 was acquired from its second owner in 2013, with just 48,000 original miles on the odometer. The 1977 B210 GX, also a two-owner car, was purchased by Nissan with less than 60,000 miles on the odometer. Though nothing has been announced yet, Nissan is reportedly in discussion with the Lane Motor Museum to open a Heritage Collection exhibit, giving Nissan fans more opportunities to see the brand’s most historically significant vehicles.
Ed Buczeskie, manager of the Import & Kit Show, said that arranging for the display grew out of contacts he made with Nissan USA last year, when Peter Brock’s Datsun 510 BRE was at Carlisle. “I have a long history with Datsun and Nissan vehicles, from restoring Datsun Zs to rebuilding wrecked Nissan trucks, so this display is very exciting to me,” he said.
The Datsun/Nissan display is just the tip of the Import Carlisle iceberg. More than 1,200 imported vehicles are expected, with the cars of Britain taking the spotlight. The autocross returns, as do the vendor fields and the car corral
The Carlisle Import and Kit Car Nationals will run from May 16-18, 2014. For additional details, visit CarlisleEvents.com.
(Additional reporting on this story by David LaChance.)
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