Everyone talks about the Japanese interpretation of a British roadster being the Miata… copied the Lotus Elan, all the fun and drips less oil, blah blah blah. But back in 1963 when Tom Matano was only a teenager and the Miata wasn’t even a glint in his eye, Datsun released a roadster to compete with the British, Italians, and the odd German or French. And the Datsun SPL3xx roadsters, built from 1963 to 1970, were really pretty competent cars, even if they weren’t widely recognized as such when they were in production. Overshadowed by hits like the 510 and the 240Z, it’s only in the last few years they’ve come out of the shadows of their more famous siblings. Check out this 1970 Datsun 1600 SPL311 Roadster for sale for $3900 in Portland, OR.
Rusty But Trusty 