Datsun Racing Team Book

[dat2kman]

Ask Peter about the Mingay/Carter Datsun 2000, and the Porter Brothers car.

Peter punted his 2000 pretty hard!

[1600dave]

My copy was waiting in the mailbox when I got home this evening, I'm already well into it 

 

It reminds me very much of all the stories my uncle (who raced motorbikes from the 50's through to the late 60's) used to tell - stories of oxy welding up the lands on a busted piston, filing it to shape and getting underway again, of sleeping on the sideboard of the tow car to save on motel costs, and dicing with top Australian and international riders. I wish he had recorded some of his tales in writing.

 

Anyway, back to reading !

Edited June 5, 2017 by 1600dave

[Cozza]

Just collected my copy from the post office. Now just have to find a couple spare hours.

Thanks Gordon, I'm looking forward to it.

 

Mick

[HS30-H]

I sent a request to order this book two weeks ago, but no reply to my e-mail.

 

Perhaps not wiling to deal with international postage?

[mossy]

If not Alan I'm fine if you get it sent to me and I can post it to you.

[HS30-H]

If not Alan I'm fine if you get it sent to me and I can post it to you.

 

That's very kind and much appreciated, but I can't do anything if nobody is willing to answer my e-mails. 

[MichaelT]

He may not have received it.... I've always had a reply within 48 hours.

[HS30-H]

If you wish to obtain a copy of 'RACING FOR FUN' please email Gordon: datcar54 (at) hotmail dot com or ring: zero four zero nine zero two eight one eight one

 

That's the e-mail address I sent it to. Not much to get wrong there.

[Cozza]

Great read, thanks Gordon ?

[Gordon Dobie]

I sent a request to order this book two weeks ago, but no reply to my e-mail.

 

Perhaps not wiling to deal with international postage?

Hi Alan

Sorry about that. I don't know what happened there, I have no record of your email. The cost of the book is $30. I will check the cost of postage.

Please contact me again by email: datcar54@hotmail.com and I will let you know the total cost.

I will be in the UK in late July and August in Kent, Norfolk and Cheshire. I could take some books with me and save you the postage cost if that suits.

Best regards

Gordon Dobie

Edited June 17, 2017 by Gordon Dobie

[Gordon Dobie]

Ask Peter about the Mingay/Carter Datsun 2000, and the Porter Brothers car.

Peter punted his 2000 pretty hard!

The sydney cars ran under a different set of rules. They didn't comply with group D due to having oversize engines. They also had wider wheels and guard flairs than allowed under the group D rules. Never the less when I took our car to Warwick Farm in the late 60s Doug was able to beat them in our group D car. Edited June 17, 2017 by Gordon Dobie

[Gordon Dobie]

I sent a request to order this book two weeks ago, but no reply to my e-mail.

 

Perhaps not wiling to deal with international postage?

HI Alan

Sorry about the delayed response. I have only been made aware of the problem in the last 24 hours.

My email address is: datcar54@hotmail.com

I will be in the UK in late July and August. I will be staying in Kent, Norfolk and Cheshire if that is any help. The cost of the book is $30. If you wish me to post a book let me know and I will check the cost of postage.

 

Regards

Gordon Dobie

[Gordon Dobie]

That's the e-mail address I sent it to. Not much to get wrong there.

Hi Alan

The email address you quoted is incorrect.

My email address is : datcar54@hotmail.com

 

Sorry about the confusion all I can do is claim innocence. Some websites will not allow email addresses, websites etc to be posted and I suspect you have been given incorrect information for that reason.

Cheers

Gordon Dobie

[Gordon Dobie]

 If you wish to obtain a copy of 'RACING FOR FUN' please email Gordon: datcar54 (at) hotmail dot com or ring: zero four zero nine zero two eight one eight one

Hi Lurch

The email format shown in your post will not work. Anyone wishing to contact me should use:

datcar54@hotmail.com

Phone: 0409028181

Cheers

Gordon Dobie

[Gordon Dobie]

Yes the photo was taken in front of my original workshop at 54 Beach Road Hampton

The photo shows the building after I converted it to domestic use.

Cheers

Gordon

datcar54@hotmail.com

[HS30-H]

Hi Alan

Sorry about that. I don't know what happened there, I have no record of your email. The cost of the book is $30. I will check the cost of postage.

Please contact me again by email: datcar54@hotmail.com and I will let you know the total cost.

I will be in the UK in late July and August in Kent, Norfolk and Cheshire. I could take some books with me and save you the postage cost if that suits.

Best regards

Gordon Dobie

 

Thanks Gordon,

That's actually the e-mail address I used twice (I'm sure Lurch will have formatted it the way he did in order to mitigate against web-trawling robots seeing it and using it for who knows what) so I don't know why you're not receiving?

 

Please don't go to the trouble of bringing books on long-haul flights. Travelling by air these days is hard enough without adding extra weight.

 

I'm more than happy to pay for the full cost of international postage, so if you can tell me how much to pay I'll do it straight away.

 

Many thanks,

Alan T.

[gav240z]

I just wanted to reply back to this thread and let Gordon know I read his book. I was on a long haul flight last night and it took me about 2 hours to get from cover to cover, it was the kind of book that once I started I didn't want to put it down.

It really helped fill in some of the gaps for me, having not lived through these era's and only read about bits and pieces over the years and heard stories from others - word of mouth etc..

The ingenuity of the early racing car drivers (many of whom were farmers) and the dedication and love / passion for the sport etc..

I will certainly look at the early Datsun Fairlady's in a different light now, having read about the exploits of the old U20 powered cars and the fact that AU delievered cars got all the fruit (unlike in North American markets).

I also found the racing history of the Datsun 1000's and 1200's really interesting.

I liked the stories about John (Rockerbox) Roxburgh, and his overzealous head bolt tightening technique. More details about him and the racing team shared in this thread.

 

The story about Peter Janson and his starting grid shenanigans was a good laugh indeed. I actually stumbled across Peter a while ago, looking at warehouses and stumbled across his inner city Warehouse conversion - which inspired "The Bunker" at 6 Kirks Lane.

 

 

Anyway I thought it was worth giving this a bit of a bump up and possibly a few others will want to have a read and enjoy the stories like I did.

 

1 thing to note however is that I was hoping there might be some more details on the works team rally effort for the 240z in Australia, or even the old Prince Skyline's that were raced at Bathurst etc.. Perhaps not something you were too involved with Gordon?

 

It also seems that S30Z's never got the full factory support needed to really give them an opportunity to shine in racing here back in the day, which is a real shame.

[260DET]

Don't get me started on the lack of factory belief in the S30 and it's consequential misplaced emphasis on the Skyline which continues to this day. Only in the US did the S30 and subsequent Z's get the support they needed to successfully compete, Nissan US managed quite well in sales without the Skyline.

[HS30-H]

Don't get me started on the lack of factory belief in the S30 and it's consequential misplaced emphasis on the Skyline which continues to this day. Only in the US did the S30 and subsequent Z's get the support they needed to successfully compete, Nissan US managed quite well in sales without the Skyline.

 

"Lack of factory belief in the S30"? That would be news to Nissan.

 

It'd be ideal to put you in a time machine and transport you back to Japan in - let's pick a date - say roughly October 1973, so that you could get an oops upside your head on the zeitgeist. Maybe you could look at a few newspapers or watch the TV news there so that you could get a reality check on Japan's situation then as a net importer of raw materials and - perhaps most importantly - oil. If the media was a bit difficult to understand you could have gone and stood outside a 'Gasoline Stando' and counted the cars in the queue... 

 

After that hits home we could discuss the Gold Standard, the end of the Bretton-Woods Agreement and the Floating Currency.  

[260DET]

Firstly Alan, obviously, I'm coming with an Australian perspective and my comment is certainly relevant here. As for Japan, from your posts alone over the years I'm aware to some degree of the Japanese situation but my point applies to what Nissan Japan did overseas other than some rallys which is not racing. The rest of it is pretty obvious, just look at the emphasis Japan has placed on the Skyline compared with the neglected 370Z and it's non existent successor.

[gav240z]

Belief and local support and investment are different things. For example with the SR311 and P510's there was Nissan factory built race cars. But Nissan never brought a factory built race S30Z to these shores (apart from the works rally cars - to my knowledge). So it was left to privateers to go out and race them, but often without the budgets to buy all the fruit in the Sports Option Catalogs.

 

It just seems a shame they didn't get an opportunity to really shine here in terms of racing, like they did in the US.

[HS30-H]

I'm not sure I really understand where you are coming from with this. If you think the S30 "shone" in the US racing scene, I'd come back with the counter argument that it was - essentially - superannuated club racing. Essentially private teams supported by sponsorship, no great level of factory support and rather 'local' rule sets and class structures. Some of the teams running 'Datsun' branded product got money and a few parts from Nissan USA, but it was not a factory effort was it? I often see our American friends happily stating that Datsun 'beat' Porsche in SCCA racing. Meanwhile Porsche was wrapping up the Sports Car World Championship of Makes in 1970 and 1971 and the International Cup for GT Cars in 1970, 1971, 1972 & 1973.  

 

I've said it many times but I'll say it again. Nissan's single most important market has always been its home market in Japan, and that's where you can expect its priorities have always been. Racing and rallying activities have had to be framed in the context of brand and product promotion. The 'Oil Shock' of 1973 had a huge effect and Nissan - along with the other Japanese manufacturers - had to rethink their plans and try not to fall foul of popular opinion (where racing and rallying suddenly became seen as frivolous and wasteful) and it had a lasting effect. It should be no surprise that this had an effect on their international racing and rallying plans or that most of the satellite operations outside Japan were left to look after their own local sporting ambitions. 

 

The situation for Nissan today is just as difficult. We are fast approaching a state of mind in the majority of people that sporting cars are somehow decadent, gauche, selfish and bad for the planet. Here in London there is a very militant minority taking control of local government and they are determined to restrict and ultimately ban private car use and - by extension - ownership. We know where this is going. A manufacturer like Nissan (they are not Porsche...) has to be seen to be promoting products like the LEAF. For some years now they haven't really been able to tell us what the successor to the Z34 will look like or how it will be powered, but I don't blame them. They are between a rock and a hard place there.

 

I certainly don't understand the comment about the Skyline. There was a time where the Skyline brand was one of Nissan's flagships, but now it has been divested of its premium model (the GT-R) it seems almost doomed to middle-aged bloat. It always was a Japanese domestic phenomenon - its export sales effort being minimal - but it is being crowded off the road by hateful mini vans and faux hybrid boxes which have more in common with white goods. NO FUTURE.       

[HS30-H]

Back on topic: I've never had a response to any of my direct e-mails and attempts to purchase this book.

 

Anybody got a second hand copy they want to sell?

[260DET]

Seeing we are talking about racing and Nissan, I could talk/rant on forever. Particularly about Porsche, the S30 and missed opportunities. For the sake of brevity take just one current example, NISMO and the 370Z . Bring out a NISMO version of the 370Z, basically a good idea that is decades overdue, still better late than never you may think.  So what power increase do we get with our competition orientated NISMO, wait for it, a single Kw figure increase over stock is what we get. Seriously.

[gav240z]

Back on topic: I've never had a response to any of my direct e-mails and attempts to purchase this book.

 

Anybody got a second hand copy they want to sell?

Alan if you're still having trouble getting a copy I'll try and get 1 and post it to you.