BUYERS GUIDE
DATSUN 1600 THE GAME CHANGER
Prior to 1968, the dominant force in Australia’s medium car market was the Ford Cortina. In Mark 2 form, the Cortina had a 1.6-litre engine with overhead valves, a live rear axle and (unless you bought the GT version) drum brakes front and rear. In typical 440 (four door) form, the Cortina cost $2120 and Australians were happy enough with that.
Then the medium car segment and its dominance by Brit-sourced models was altered forever by a ground-breaking design from Nissan.
The Datsun 1600 was a four-door sedan with bucket seats where most had a bench and through-flow ventilation like the Cortina. In place of overhead valves, the Datsun came with a grunty single overhead-camshaft engine delivering 71.5kW. Front disc front brakes and independent rear suspension, as fitted to upmarket Brit models like the Triumph 2000, were standard equipment.
Early 1600s had distinctive ‘clap hands’ windscreen wipers (the wiper pivots were towards the edges of the windscreen, not in the centre) and a tall final-drive ratio. Acceleration was ordinary but those Datsuns when revved past 6000rpm on long a downhill run – such as Conrod Straight on Bathurst’s Mt Panorama – easily hit speeds above 100mph (161km/h).
With a straight-line advantage over its Class B rivals, classy handling and exceptional reliability, Datsun scored a string of Bathurst 500 class wins until being forced to compete in a new category against Escort Twin Cams and Mazda’s RX-2 rotary.
Dirt rally roads allowed the light but strong 1600 to write itself into the annals of motor-sport. Only
"THE 1970 AMPOL TRIAL SAW A LONE 1600SSS FINISH LEVEL WITH A FACTORY-BACKED CITROEN AND AHEAD OF THE MORE FANCIED HOLDEN MONARO AND FALCON GT TEAMS"
the arrival of Holden’s potent XU-1 Torana stopped it winning at Australian Rally Championship level, but in State events and at Club level the story was different.
Also helping build the legend was a dogged performance in the 1970 Ampol Trial that saw a lone 1600SSS finish level on points lost with a factory-backed Citroen and ahead of the more fancied Holden Monaro and Falcon GT teams.
Minor changes for 1969 shifted the position of the wiper posts, changed the grille and improved the interior. Power output remained unchanged but the final drive ratio was altered to improve acceleration and top speed of road-going cars diminished to 148km/h. The Bathurst runners remained quick though.
Three-speed automatic transmission became an option in 1970, adding $250 to the cost of a basic 1600. Auto-tranny cars sold well but survivors like our photo car have become scarce because so many have been converted to manual using the later five-speed gearbox.
Australia missed out on SSS versions of the 1600 sedan, as seen in the Ampol Trial, and also the sleek and lovely SSS Coupe. These do pop up for sale occasionally thanks to private imports.
Aussies do love a family station wagon and in 1971 Datsun gave us a 1600
version. However, due to engineering considerations, the independent rear-end that endeared so many to the 1600 sedan couldn’t be carried across, so the wagon made do with conventional ‘cart’ springs at the back. Lots of room for its size and worth a look if you want a family classic.
1973 brought the 1600’s reign to an end; its replacement the heavier, better equipped but less durable 180B.
ON THE ROAD
Lots of this country’s best rally runners found early success behind the wheel of a Datsun 1600. Among them was national and international rally star Ed Ordynski whose successes include the 1990 Australian Rally Championship, multiple Group N category wins at Rally Australia and the 1995 Repco Round Australia Trial in a Commodore.
“I already had a Datsun that I bought in the late 1970s as my everyday car,” Ed revealed. “When I got my rally 1600 in 1982 it was built along established lines with a 2.0-litre motor, twin Webers, a 240K five-speed gearbox, 4.8:1 limited slip diff and heavy-duty suspension.”
“What I did next was compare how well the road car and rally car dealt with rough surfaces and in a lot of circumstances the road car was better, leading us to a rethink on our suspension settings.”
“The best thing about the Datsuns was they were light but so overengineered they could take a fearful pounding and stay together,” he commented. “Riding in one when I was still a kid of about 12 I was amazed how comfortable it was. You would have thought you were in a Peugeot.”
Ed was competing at a time when South Australian rallying was dominated by the Datsuns of Barry Lowe and Jim Conaghty; both powered
by Mazda rotary engines and nicknamed ‘Dazdas'.
“I had been running a hot RX-2 before building the 1600, so I knew the kind of power those guys had available,” Ed recalled. “However in events where the roads were tighter, where you couldn't fully exploit a powerful car I could still take stages off Jim and Barry and win events.”
“In three years of rallying in that car I never had a DNF and was pretty much in the top three at every event. That's pretty good for a car that didn't have a big budget and was built and run largely on a teacher's wage.”
Ed's rally Datsun is long gone but his road-going version – a rare 1968-build with cross-over wipers – is still in the shed on his semi-rural block.
“The last time I drove it I think was the 1990s to a Datsun event at the National Motor Museum,” he said. “It's still in decent condition though it's been up on blocks; it's not rusty and wouldn't take much to get it going again. I'll let you know when I do.”
The writer's 1600 was bought in the late-1980s from a bloke in a loud jacket down the ‘budget' end of Sydney's Parramatta Road. Two minute walk around, five minute test-drive, no REVS check (no such thing in those days), she'll be right.
The journey home was more than 100 kilometres; half of it on dark, unforgiving rural roads and I hadn't even checked if the lights worked. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, nothing really. More concerned about encountering a suicidal Skippy than whether a $1550 Datsun was going to self-destruct under me, the speedometer wasn't a priority. Luckily, Mr Plod wasn't lurking, because when I finally found time for a scan of the dash I was
"LOTS OF THIS COUNTRY'S BEST RALLY RUNNERS FOUND EARLY SUCCESS BEHIND THE WHEEL OF A DATSUN 1600"