The Daddo Period

 

     So, what's the attraction to Datsun 1600s you may ask. Well I don't know of any other Japanese car that his such a widespread appeal as the good old Daddo 1600. I reckon if a poll was conducted, it would win hands down. Even the staunchest Toyota or Mazda lovers would concede this.

      My attraction came by pure chance. You see my wife ( Marg ) never learnt to drive. So at the age of  31, with two young boys, 6 and 1 years old, she was virtually house bound. Now I did try and teach her a few years earlier in the Cortina, but she thought it was too big and hard to drive. The only solution was a smaller car that she wouldn't be nervous about and wouldn't freak out if she happened to bend it. I looked through the paper and saw an ad for a Datsun 1600 automatic. It was just out of rego and the price was right. When I laid eyes on it I knew it was the right car. It literally had dents all over it, even on the roof. The poor little car was a hand me down through a family of girls. It seems like they all learnt to drive in it and its usefulness was over....perfect!

    I drove it home and parked it in the driveway and summoned Marg to come and check out her new wheels. She was less than impressed to say the least. I got it registered without much fuss and began the process of  teaching Marg to drive. The first obstacle was getting her permit. Every night for a month we went over and over the questions and answers. When she finally got the courage to go for the permit I didn't think she would get it first time. You see, Marg is rather a nervous person and lacked confidence. Even though she knew all the answers I thought she would crumble ...but she surprised me and herself and got it first time. That's the first hurdle over.

   Next was driving. Every night after dinner we would all go driving around with Marg at the wheel. The 2 boys thought it was great to see their mum behind the wheel, even though the youngest quickly fell asleep as babies all seem to do in cars. We had our moments, as any husband that has tried to teach his wife will tell you, but we kept plodding along. So, after a many months and a lot of encouragement and coaxing, I booked her in for the test. Now, if nerves affect most of us, it is magnified 10 times over with Marg. I was bracing myself for a few return trips. So off she goes in the little Daddo with the testing officer clinching his clip board. I really felt for her as she turned onto the Hume Highway. After about 20 minutes they returned in one piece. She stops the car, he gets out and walks right past me without any expression. I looked at Marg and gestured " Well how did you go" and she just shrugged her shoulders. Just at the same time the testing officer turned around and said " Oh yeah, she went well". She had got it first time.......geez it took me 3 times!..I guess he liked Daddos too.

 

 

This is Daddo number one. This picture was taken after a few years. I had straightened the body a bit and squirted some paint on it. Working within time restraints between day to day duties such as supermarkets, schools and the boys' sporting functions the Daddo got a bit of a face lift. I also fitted a Japanese big block ..that's an 1800 engine. Complete with a weber carby off a 2 litre Escort. The little car went like the clappers. It even chirped the tyres as it changed into second gear. Marg loved leaving the young guys in her wake from the lights. We even went on family holidays in it.

So, what happened to the Daddo?....We sold it around 1991 to friends. Why?...cause Marg thought she was too old to have a car like that any more . She wanted something with a hatch...So what did I get her?.....A Toyota Liftback..and what did Marg think of it?...She hated it. Probably cause it was a slug compared to the Daddo and she was losing traffic light derbies I think.  She put up with it for only 3 months before she asked for another Daddo. I had 8 months before the rego ran out on the Toyota. Plenty time to track down a good one and do it up a bit I thought. 3 months on and I finally tracked one down. It had been sitting in a yard for a few years but it was straight and only a bit of rust in the rear quarter and sills. The only snag was the young guy that owned it wanted to also sell his registered Datsun and the deal was take both or no sale. At first I thought it was no good, but looking at the other Daddo it soon came clear that there was my parts car. It was a little hotty with a bad body. It had a worked 1800 engine, twin 40mm Dellorto carbies, a 5 speed Stanza box, a new sports exhaust, mag wheels, gauges, sports steering wheel and 6 months rego. I done some sums in my head and stuck a deal. I drove the hotty home while the project Daddo got a free ride on a tilt truck.

 

 

So this is what I dragged home. Date is around September1991.The speedo indicated 86,000 miles, and I had no reason to doubt that. It also had a Stanza 1600 engine. It looks like it was going to be a project sooner or later. I didn't waste much time getting it under way. The little red donor car was stripped within hours of getting it home. I had a pile of stuff to keep and one to sell. The stuff for sale included the carbies with manifold, the 5 speed gearbox and a lot of panels.

This is a very stock Daddo. Nothing was altered from original apart from the Stanza engine. It still had the Borg Warner 35 auto.

 

Seems like the back seat was used as a storage area. Even scored another guard.

 

Time to get it stripped down to bare bones. I really should have removed the glass but my past experience in removing them without breaking was a bit  worrying so I decided to work around them. Its surprising how light a car body is when its stripped this far. I managed to flip it over by myself. Resting it on some old tyres stopped any damage.

Not much left under there. Note the rust in the rear quarter. That is the only picture that shows a glimpse of the rust.

 

 

 

 

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