Every so often, you come across a car that looks and sounds pretty much perfect. This is one of those cars, a New Zealand new 1974 Datsun 240K GT. I first came across this car while at a local car club meeting a few weeks ago and just had to organise a review.
This awesome automobile belongs to Leighton Hamlin, who has had the car for around 13 years. He originally used to own a Nissan Skyline R32 GTS but decided that he wanted something to work on as the R32 never broke. Thus he sold the R32 and bought the 240K.
It wasn't all plain sailing from there though, the Datsun used six batteries to get back home and had to be left in Waiouru for a while and catch a lift back home. It was also a bit terrible to drive, with the old L24 Overhead Cam Straight Six and Three Speed Automatic, the car used to cruise at 100 KMH on the motorway at 3500 RPM in top gear. But through all this, Leighton saw potential in it and after many years of hard work, the 240K looks stunning.
The overall styling of the car has resulted in a period style appearance, which complements the cars various lines and shapes. Many hours were spent fabricating the flair guards, which were hand made out of metal as opposed to the numerous fibreglass GT-R style bolt on flairs that are normally fitted to C110 Skylines.
Now
most of you are probably thinking "That's an old Skyline" and you would
be right. The Datsun 240K GT was a New Zealand market version of the
C110 generation Nissan Skyline, and shares the same chassis as the
second generation GT-R. The only real differences between the GT-R and the 240K GT is of course the Drivetrain, as the GT-R came with the incredibly rare Twin Cam S20 Straight Six, whereas the 240K had the L24 Single Cam Straight Six, the rear lights operated differently, the grilles were different and the GT-R had bolt on Flair Guards. Surprisingly, if you peel off the factory simulated wood panelling from the Gauge cluster, it is the exact same Aluminium item found in the GT-R.
Because the 240K/C110 Skyline is incredibly rare in NZ, trim pieces were hard to source. One piece was even located as far away as Kuwait!
The Datsun rolls on Rota RBX Wheels which are reminiscent of the classic RS Watanabe/Minilite design, but come in better sizing to match this particular car.
Leighton ditched the asthmatic L24 and three speed auto for a forged RB30DET that was bought out of an unfinished project. The RB is backed up by a S2 R33 GTS25t Skyline 5 speed Manual gearbox with a Twin plate Exedy clutch and a long nose R200 LSD.
Boost is provided through a monster Garrett T72 Turbocharger and front mount Intercooler combo, leading into a 6 - 1 Exhaust manifold and out through a 3" straight through exhaust with a single Adrenalin R resonator. This results in a nice RB growl and flows quite nicely.
This RB30 is built to last. It sports CP Forged Pistons, Carillo I Beam Conrods, balanced crank and other goodies (see list below). The head is from an R32 GT-R RB26DETT and houses a nice pair of HKS Step 2 Cams and rocks a shiny Tomei Cam cover.
The interior has largely remained stock, with recovered factory seats and recovered dashboard plus some period style additions such as a Wood Grain Steering Wheel and Gearknob.
To fully appreciate the RB30DET, here is a quick flyby of the Datsun on a private road.
Overall, this classic Japanese cruiser is pretty much perfect. There is nothing that I would personally change about it as everything just seems to fit and work perfectly. I would like to thank Leighton for taking time out of his day to let me review his excellent and pristine example of a car few people have ever seen or even heard of.
Specifications
Car: 1974 Datsun 240K GT (C110)
Engine: Nissan RB30DET: RB30 3.0-liter block; RB26 DOHC 24-valve cylinder head, Nismo N1
oil pump, oil restrictors fitted to block, standard crank with Ross
harmonic balancer, Carrillo I-beam connecting rods, CP forged pistons, HKS Step 2 272/10.2mm camshafts, adjustable cam gears, fuel rail,
ported/polished, 90-pound valve springs, 1mm oversized intake valves, K&N air filter, 3" intercooler piping, modified Garrett T72
turbocharger, 6-1 exhaust manifold, 3" exhaust with Adrenalin R muffler,
Turbosmart Power-Gate60 60mm external wastegate, T-Reg Pro fuel
pressure regulator, Trust blow-off valve, front-mount intercooler,
R.I.P.S front-facing plenum, 90mm throttle body, Carter high-volume lift
pump, surge tank, twin Bosch Motorsport 044 fuel pumps, braided fuel
lines, AN fittings, Link G4 Xtreme engine management system, MAP sensor,
shaved and wire-tucked bay, Nitto cam gear cover, thermo electric fan,
aftermarket radiator
Drivetrain: RB25DET S2 5 Speed Manual, Exedy Twin plate clutch, long nose R200 LSD
While trawling the internet for information on classic Toyota's, I stumbled upon what could possibly be one of the greatest automotive websites ever, the 75 years of Toyota official website.
For example, here is a screenshot of a Toyota Corolla Coupe. There are tabs that show vehicle specifications, description, the manufacturing plant they were built at and even the meaning of the vehicles name. Even better still, almost every single model represented in this database also carries a fully readable sales catalog, including every model variant, color combination and even factory approved dealer options!
Here's the "Sports Package" options for the Toyota Levin 1600GT Apex (more popularly known as the AE86). I wonder how many cars were actually optioned with these parts from the factory?
I would like to thank Toyota Japan for making this content available to everyone. Without manufacturers keeping a database of all their vehicles that were sold over many generations, this information and history could be lost forever.
If you wish to check out this awesome website, please click here.
Here's some cool RB goodness, with this scary sounding Nissan Skyline GTS-t. It is running twin 60MM Blast Pipes off of a Nissan Skyline GTS-R Exhaust Manifold, connected to a mildly modified RB20DET Turbo Straight Six.
When a car is sent to a junkyard, there normally isn't any hope left for them. They are usually sent overseas and turned into tin cans or other miscellaneous items, but not this car. This is the tale of the Peugeot 106 that could.
Not too
long ago, this wee Peugeot 106 was sitting in a paddock, looking rather
sorry and minus a driver's side window. Covered in dents, scrapes and
the worst coat of enamel paint ever applied by man combined with an
interior that resembled a nightclub's bathroom, death was certain for
this little car.
However, a budding young racing team had a plan and a deal was struck with the owner of the car.
As part of the deal, a second parts car was acquired at no extra cost, after it had to be pulled out of a blackberry bush that it had been "resting" in for a year.
This parts car proved very fruitful, giving up it's radiator, driver's seat, left front brake caliper, fuel cap and two wheels two the "red" car. The team spent many long hours preparing, modifying and painting the "red" car in order to get it into tip top shape for the BOS (Bucket Of S*%T) class at the Trentham Autocross track.
And here is the result! The car was given a completely new lease of life thanks to a lot of hard work and determination to get a once "dead" car back up and running as a cheap, fun and reliable racing car. In it's inaugural run, the pocket rocket managed to make it into the top 32 of the autocross competition, which is incredibly impressive considering that the car is still running standard running gear and came out of a paddock. This proves that you don't need much money to build a competitive autocross machine.
While surfing the net looking for cool car vids, I came across this awesome video of a Nissan Skyline GTS-t that is fitted with an RB25DET out of an R33, going insanely fast up a hill climb track in Australia. It has been filmed using a binaural audio recorder, which means the sound is of incredibly high quality. It works best with headphones, so chuck a set on and enjoy!
Recently, the MTA reached the milestone of 100 years old and to celebrate this occasion, they decided to hold a big auto show in Wellington, the capital city of NZ.
After a wee bit of travelling, we made it to the first hall of cars called "Great Kiwis, Great Cars". The first car that stood out was this classic Mclaren Formula 1 car, which is powered by the formidable Cosworth DFV Quad Cam V8 which was a highly successful motor of that period.
This particular car was raced all over the place and has also raced at the Leadfoot Festival, an invite only festival of speed.
This Maserati 250F looked pretty scary to drive, with it's big straight six motor and thin tyres.
Next up was this accurate replica of Burt Munro's "World's Fastest Indian" land speed record motorcycle. It gave me an insight as to how freaky it would have been to ride at high speed as most of the bike looked like it shared more components with a bicycle rather than a motorbike! Nevertheless, it got the job done and Burt was able to set multiple records on the Bonneville Salt Flats. This was truly in the spirit of "Home Built".
Some of our international readers may not know what this car is. It's called the Hulme F1 and was built to compete with supercars such as Ferrari's and Lamborghini's.
New Zealand's Land Rover, the Trekka.
This is currently the world's fastest Mini. It recently set records at Bonneville and achieved 156 MPH.
The Mini is running a highly modified A Series with a Twin Cam BMW motorbike head and Turbo induction.
Here is one of the legendary Britten motorbikes that were built to compete at a world class level. It is a very stunning motorcycle and the engineering work that has gone into the bike is astounding.
Now we head into "The Future Today" hall. This new Mclaren sported a very crisp and very deep metallic orange paint job. The shape of these cars are out of this world and are very aerodynamically efficient.
Carbon!
The Rinspeed Budii, strangest vehicle I have ever seen. I couldn't get any shots of the interior but I can assure you, it is very strange. The steering wheel and column dance around and there are screens everywhere.
Now we head down to the underground car park section dubbed "For the love of cars". The Matt Gaskin Motorsport Nissan Skyline R32 V8 was there and looking very flash in it's gold and orange colour scheme.
This pair of Datsun 240Z's was a pleasant surprise as there are barely any of them around anymore. Both looked excellent and sported period correct modifications.
Very low and very evil!
Another surprise was this Mazda RX3 rally car which looked like it was a very straight car and would probably fly along the numerous rally stages in NZ.
Anyone remember the classic movie Goodbye Pork Pie? This Mini is a replica of the heavily lightweighted version in the movie and has been made road legal through the use of plexiglass doors and headlight supports.
A very tidy Porsche 356 coupe.
Here's a legendary piece of Japanese automotive history. A prince Skyline 2000GT-B. This car is technically the first Skyline GT-R before the GT-R name existed.
The 2.0L Straight 6, called the G-7, is fed through triple Weber Carburretors and produces 127 BHP from the factory.
A period correct Ford Falcon XA Coupe running classic 5 spoke wheels and a very swish purple and black colour combination.
A needle in a haystack: This 1973 Mazda RX3 is completely original and is a numbers matching vehicle. It still runs it's factory 10A motor and has had a meticulous restoration a few years ago.
When's the last time you have seen a Honda NSX? This example of Honda's breakthrough supercar was very tidy and looked superb in it's factory red colour.
Last but not least is this stunning Datsun Bluebird SSS. There are virtually zero of these around anymore and this example was immaculately presented. From a distance, it reminded me of the original Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R, but a more scaled down version.
That concludes our feature on the superb MTA100 Auto Show. The event was well run and there were plenty of nice cars to look around and admire.
While trawling Trade Me for specialist cars, I came across this neat little toy, a miniature Toyota Hilux Golf Cart!
The Cart was made using genuine Toyota Hilux panels but have been modified to suit the size of the golf cart. It's powered by a 400CC Subaru engine and is apparently quite fast. The cart is also functional as it is a ute and is claimed to be able to carry 600KGs easily.
It rolls on some very cool JDM style wheels and also comes with a trailer, so you can tow it to and from events.
Overall, a very cool little toy which would be perfect as a promotional vehicle or a pit car. Click Here to check out the full Trade Me Listing.
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more posts in the future :)
