I’ve got no childhood stories to relate to this one, but I’ve had a fascination for these tiny Hondas for the last 15 years or so. Price-wise, they used to be the poor man’s Mini, but it seems that solid examples are going up in price, especially coupes in the style of this one featured today. Even the later first-generation Civics seem to run about $4000 – $5000 for a nice example, which I’m guessing is thanks to the recent interest in 1960s and 1970s Japanese cars, as well as our recent $4/gallon fuel “crisis”. It would be amusing if these were displacing the big American boats in people’s classic car parking spot!
Archive for the ‘Feature’ Category
1972 Honda AZ 600 coupe
June 1, 2009
1974 Jensen Healey
May 29, 2009Here’s another oddball car I’d one day like to have – a Jensen Healey. One of my father’s colleague/friends had one of these in white with 1970s-style black Jensen-Healey lettering above the rockers (his other car was an International Scout… cool). While that was not my first sportscar experience (that “honor” went to a dark blue C3 Corvette one of my parents’ friends owned), I think it was my first ride in a European open-top car. At the time, I had no idea what the engine was about in these cars, but it’s now one of the reasons I’m fascinated with this – the Lotus 907 16 valve twincam four with 140hp, also used in the Esprit, Elite, and Eclat. Apparently most of the early reliability woes have been overcome with this engine, and if you’re feeling spendy, you can also do several upgrades that will give you another 40-50hp without spoiling driveability.
Anyway, stepping back from the lottery-winning fantasies, you’re not going to find much on the market without losing sight of affordability. I would recommend staying away from cars that have been off the road for years, 2-into-1 project cars, and the like since you’ll wind up putting more into getting it going than you would buying a decent runner in the first place. So in LaPine, OR for $3000, we have the subject of this post:
1962 Datsun Bluebird 312 Station Wagon
May 26, 2009Here’s a car that closer fits the oddball category than some of the other cars I’ve featured recently – a 1962 Datsun Bluebird 312 Station Wagon for $2650 in Calistoga, CA. I know, generally Japanese cars and oddball don’t go that well together. But they do when you reach this far back! I can’t honestly say I’ve ever seen one of these in person – if anything, I’ve seen its pickup brother on the road, which has a similar front end with a pickup tail. While the build quality of Japanese cars was not up to the European or American competition, my understanding is that even the older cars scored pretty well with reliability. This little car, while probably not so powerful, would still be a fun and unique ride to run around town.
Rusty But Trusty 