In summer, the classic car market blossoms and people are reminded, either by new acquisitions or just the good weather, that they really should get around to selling that old thing in the driveway. Of course, sunny weather is also a good time to sell a roadster since it’s the time when you want to drive with the top down, although with near-100-degree temperatures in western Oregon right now, that may be a stretch, and your modern car with air conditioning and cloth seats doesn’t look so bad. Either way, it does keep the cars dry, and perhaps you’ll want to wait out the hot temperatures by fixing up the interior of today’s feature. Check out this 1969 Datsun 1600 Roadster for sale for $3000 in Medford, OR.
This car looks like it’s had a good dose of California sun, for better and worse. Though the front overriders are in the trunk, the bumper itself seems to be missing. All the other trim is present on this late-production roadster, and while it looks baked, it also looks fairly solid. Just a cut and buff away from shiny new paint, right? The roof looks decent, and even the windows aren’t as opaque as you’d expect. Wheels from a later 280ZX are nice enough; hopefully the benefit is a better selection of tires, assuming they’re bigger than the original (likely 14″) wheels.
Here’s this car’s strongest card – a rebuilt engine with 500 miles on it, hopefully documented in some way. Running through a 4-speed manual transmission, it’s also said to have a new clutch. Unfortunately, the seller doesn’t say anything about how it runs, or whether any further mechanical work is needed. Though many of the engine parts appear to be clean and new, there is some surface corrosion, and no battery is present in the tray, so it’s worth asking when the work was done.
There’s nothing to say here, other than the interior color is nice. As the seller says, full restoration of the interior is needed, but those parts are readily available, and a full interior kit should run you under $1000. If the body is pretty solid, this is probably the place to start since you spend most of your time (hopefully) on the inside while the car is on the road.
This is the only shot that gets close to the right or rear of the car, but it does have some useful details. Notice the expired California plate – though the year is hard to make it, it looks to be 200x, so the registration has been expired for at least 6 years. Also interesting is the likely original black plate in the trunk, along with a center console, the aforementioned front overriders, and a metal piece that’s presumably a lid for the console. Assuming the engine runs properly, this should be a very usable candidate for some back roads fun – little rust, decent mechanicals, and some room for you to improve it to your taste.
Rusty But Trusty 
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