Comments: 1-15, 16-21
Car is great for a thirty year old roadster.
Has chronic problems with weak brakes, and the brakes wear out much too fast. Don't hope for good panic stop performance.
Radio failed in 85. Replaced with same recycled and continues today.
Top needs replaced every decade. Again, perhaps you won't be amazed to hear that (garaged, barely driven in winter, so top lasts longer than the one on my Miata).
Too bad they dumped the roadster for the 240Z. The roadster is a lot of fun. Now old, so it draws a lot of comments. Not fast, not luxurious, but still decent transportation. As much fun with the top down as my Miata. And, since I bought it for less than $1000 in '73, it is a great deal.
Very economical. Doesn't burn oil and easy on gas.
No power top or other "modern" amenities, but still very nice. Datsun used cheap paints in the seventies, so it needs a new paint job, and rust can be a problem on this car if you drive it in winter snow and don't rinse it afterwards.
My first boyfriend had a 1966 Roadster. I think it was a 1600. He rebuilt the entire car and let me drive it around when I was 16. Boy was it fun!! Had some spunk for a little car too. I wouldn't have wanted to get in a wreck in it, but it ran so well and sounded like a hot rod even with that four cylinder. It was a manual and I would love to own one now. I never see them on the roads anymore, but with all of the people in such a hurry nowadays, I don't blame roadster owners for just leaving them in the garage. What a cool and beautiful little convertible!
The Datsun Roadster was the car of my dreams back when I was a child the the seventies. I finally bought one a few years ago from a kid at the University of Arizona. He was unable to make it run because he had replaced the carbs with a set of worn out 240z carbs. He told me that he had bought it from a junk yard and I gave him $525. I tried to drive it home, but I didn't get very far and had to tow it for 80 miles. I replaced the carbs with the originals and replaced the fuel line which was completely constricted. The car has been running now for over six years. This is a great car!
I drove a 2000 in the early seventies while at college. The girls loved it and it sure was fun dusting off MG B's. It was also a great time to load up the tent and go to Road Atlanta and watch my car race in and win the D production class at the annual SCCA Championships. Ah the good old days!
I had a 1970 Datsun 2000 back in '75. What a great car. It had two 45mm Webers and the 150hp cam, and straight thru exhaust. It could blow away anything in its class and a lot of other things too. I have a Corvette now, and am thinking of looking for a Roadster, because they were real fun to drive.
I bought a 2000 in September 1968. What a piece of junk!! Within 500 miles, it developed a problem that I was sure was a broken sprocket. The dealership, Scappy-Peck on Long Island, was not so sure and tore the entire engine down. It was a sprocket.
After that, the car never ran right. It went through a clutch in 6000 miles and overheated regularly. It ties my Porsche 928 as the all time garage queen that I have owned (and I have owned a Jag, two Triumphs and an MGB as well as a couple of Corvettes and numerous BMW's).
The girls did like the car, but other than that I have not missed it.
My new Aston Martin Vantage will be delivered in June. Maybe another garage queen?
I had an Austin Healey and a Triumph TR3 before the 1969 Datsun 2000. When I bought it new, it was fast, but peaked out at 6200 rpm. Changed the timing and carb settings and air pump connections and it never peaked again freely running up to 7800 rpm and beyond in 3rd gear. The redline was 7000 which was 140 in 4th and would leave rubber going into 5th. Scared me so much I only speed shifted from 4th to 5th that one time. I never found another car that would compete with it above 100 mph. My next car was a 1970 Porsche 911 that put out 25 more horses than the stock 1970 911S. The Porsche could have beat the Datsun 0-60 but over 100 mph the Datsun would have left it in the dust. Most people made the mistake of losing 30-40% of the HP by going for a non-stock loud exhaust. The Datsun 2000 needed the restriction of the stock exhaust. Oh, it would make 34 mpg while averaging 120 mph, but only 26 mpg at 70.
Purchased a brand new Datsun 2000 in 1970, I believe for $3,500, the last year before they replaced it with the 240Z. It was a wonderful car, fast and quick. I drove the car to Florida twice from New Jersey and than out to Colorado, packed with camping equipment and snacks for the road. The only problem I ever had with the car was the headlights had a habit of going off at 120 mph, which I can tell is scary. They would come back on after dropping back to 105, but I never was able to resolve the issue. It was an easy car to work on; having pulled the engine myself to replace the clutch, though somehow always winding up with spare bolts and nuts, but none the worse for wear.
As a fast car, it routinely beat MG B's, Big Dodges and a Triumph or two. While not supplied with radial tires, a set of Michelin X tires worked wonders for the handling on sharp curves.
The most annoying thing about the car was the roof, which even after the third replacement, the rear window quickly yellowed badly. However, all in all, it was one of the finest cars ever built. There was nothing that could compare with a top down, girlfriend in the passenger seat and a warm summer night, drive in the hills.
I sold it in 1981 for $1,000, it was a sad moment.
I have owned my datsun roadster 2000 for 10 years now and what a joy it is to see the response from others. With the classic roadster design and peppy little 2 litre, it's been one of the most fun cars to drive. It's basically a 4 cylinder version of a Z car with the Z size dual carbs, and with minor mods, it's a runner that shames the brit counterparts in performance. 5 speed to boot for a car that's 37 years old, way ahead of their competition for it's time.
I currently own a 1969 datun 2000. this car is fast and capable of cruising at 100 mph at will. I have ran up against many bmw 3-series, mustangs witout any problems. I have had many pocket rockets with loud exhuasts that sounded good and looked good and enjoyed my shadow. this car is a joy to drive I could only amagine what it was capable of brand new.
The 1969 2000 I purchased new in 1970, was my first new car. And I loved it. I never found any other (4 banger) (any brand) that could match her for performance. Red line shifts out of second gear would leave even most small V-8's behind.
With a list of about $3200. a good deal for a sports car. I would have purchased another one, but Datsun stopped making the roadsters. In the days of American muscle cars, everyone did some street racing. And the 2000 could hold her own.
I bought my Datsun 2000 brand new in 1969. I loved it! It was fast, looked good, and didn't cost too much. Replaced the stock skinny tires with some radials, and it held the turns really well. The gearbox had a short throw and was smooth as silk. Only complaint was the fit and finish. Paint was poor, and it was prone to rust very quickly. Good points outnumbered the bad though, and I really liked it.
I bought my 1970 Datsun 2000 in 1971. I was 19 years old and was coming out of a 1965 OLDS 442 that had met disaster on an overpass in Fort Worth during a freak sleet storm. I thought the 442 was fast and fun. I discovered real fast and fun with the roadster. I had it until 1973 when I sold it after having an accident with a curb during a blizzard in Odessa. I have often regretted the decision to sell it, even though I did go on to a GTO with a 455 OLDs with a Hurst slap-stick and a zero to 100 time in less seconds than is possible. The 2000 would go 140 miles an hour. The head gaskets needed to be replaced occasionally. It looked stupid with the top up. But it was fast and fun.
I drove a 1970 Datsun 2000 all through college (1974-1978). I spent many Friday evenings on the open road in New Mexico de-compressing from school in that beautiful little silver with black leather upholstery roadster. Five gears, the top down, the open road: ah, bliss! I had the rag top convertable, a hard top, and a tanneau. What a great car. No matter how I abused her, she always came through for me. Big fat Michelin radials made her hug the curves and my mechanic would adjust the carbs for free, if I let him drive her. A cop once waived a speeding ticket when I said he could drive her. I always got many admiring looks, even from the frat boys that drove new TransAms and Cougars. The timing chain tensioner was problematic and the Datsun dealership was unreliable, but independent mechanics would bid to work on my car. I reluctantly sold her to finance graduate school in Manhattan. I miss her to this day.
I have owned 4 roadsters, all 1600's, three when they were just used cars and recently (May 2006) bought another one (now they are somewhat collectible).
I love it, they have always been reliable and fun to drive. Now that I have 14' Panasports and 200mm tyres on the car, I haven't got the nerve to make it slide in corners - man is it ever sticky.
Sure there are a lot of cars that can outrun my 96HP beauty, but there aren't as many that are as fun to drive. Top down, engine winding up to 5000 rpm, whizzing through the curves on the Iron Bottom Tour - nothing like it.
I just purchased a 1970 Datsun 2000 Roadster, let the restoration begin.. she runs great and is in wonderful condition. What a blast to drive!