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All SL's cars of ever - celebrating 30 years behind the wheel (Pt 9)


Spottedlaurel

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Is it possible EEL the 240k appeared in top gear magazine in 1995? It was an issue all about bangers/cheap cars. 4 of the team had £500 to buy a car and they variously ended up with a cx, wokseley, volvo 265 and a fiat uno. The reg rings a bell- I think it was viewed with a view to purchasing but can't be 100%

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Is it possible EEL the 240k appeared in top gear magazine in 1995? It was an issue all about bangers/cheap cars. 4 of the team had £500 to buy a car and they variously ended up with a cx, wokseley, volvo 265 and a fiat uno. The reg rings a bell- I think it was viewed with a view to purchasing but can't be 100%

 

July '95, issue 22. I have it somewhere in the attic. It's the issue in which they printed a letter In which I discussed painting my bedroom in BL Champagne. I was not awarded the star letter prize.

 

SL: You never told me you had a 300C estate. What a glorious machine. Or Cedricus, as it were.

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Is it possible EEL the 240k appeared in top gear magazine in 1995? It was an issue all about bangers/cheap cars. 4 of the team had £500 to buy a car and they variously ended up with a cx, wokseley, volvo 265 and a fiat uno. The reg rings a bell- I think it was viewed with a view to purchasing but can't be 100%

Just had a quick look there - the Skyline in that issue was HMJ500V, unfortunately. That's the only issue of Top Gear mag I kept!

 

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I've got that issue of TP on the garage, Top Gear magazines were real quality back in its early days, I was a massive fan of them.

 

This is a awesome thread Nigel, it's pornographic seeing all those Essex and Suffolk number plates! Obviously you peaked with the Acclaim but it's nice to see that it didn't put you off more inferior cars ;)

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Great to see that other 240K, it's not an article I've seen before. DVLA says it lasted until 2000, not bad going (unless that's when its last SORN expired?).

 

I have pic's of the 'FFJ' 180B from before Will did all the work on it, it was just a typical example near the end of its life.

 

And sorry Seth, as one of the old boys on here you may well have seen some of these photos before.......

 



SL: You never told me you had a 300C estate. What a glorious machine. Or Cedricus, as it were.

 

More of that sort of thing to come.......

 

After a year with the 300C estate this Laurel became available and I couldn't resist it for £200:

 

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1976 Datsun Laurel 200L 'Six' (C130) by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

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1976 Datsun 200L (C130) c.2000 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

I bought it without an MoT but I don't recall any significant issue getting it through. These things are very low-tech with a solid rear axle on car springs, carb-fed engine and no PAS or anything. Really nice drive though, the baby 2-litre '6' is a low capacity version of the 240Z etc engine and it revved really well, so the lack of 5th gear was no hardship.

 

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Dream Datsun Driveway? c.2000 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

It'd been owned for many years by a chap who operated several launderettes around Ipswich - I'd seen it in town once or twice and viewed it when it was for sale in 1995 (but he wanted more than I could afford).

 

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1976 Datsun Laurel 200L 'Six' (C130) by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

Fantastic rear light arrangement.

 

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Datsun Laurel (C130) Boltons of Ipswich ad 1976/77 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

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Datsun Laurel (C130) Boltons site 2001 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

Recreated this shot at Boltons Garage where mine was sold new.

 

Other Laurels started appearing.......

 

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1983 Datsun Laurel 2.4 (C31) c.2000 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

This one had been owned by the father of a former colleague. I'm not so enthusiastic about this model, with slightly plain styling looking a bit like a big Sunny, so I just took what I could off it, sold the spare pair of wings which were in the boot and scrapped it.

 

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1979 Datsun Laurel 240L (C230) c. 2000 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

Then I got a call about this one. Another Ipswich car, being sold by the widow of the chap who'd owned it from new. It had languished in a car port for some years but cleaned-up nicely and was pretty solid. However, with the 240K and older Laurel on the road it just sat on my driveway for a while.

 

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Datsun Laurel pair: 1976 200L + 1979 240L by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

It cost me £100, which seemed a lot for a non-MoTed example back then. I'd befriended some local banger racers and this was the first of a number of cars they helped me collect (without HIAB assistance).

 

Another year rolled by and I fancied a change again. Datman had got hold of a damaged 300C saloon, and luckily my racing friend had got one he was due to build. I stripped it for him and swapped the panels that I needed, giving it an almost invisible repair:

 

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1986 Nissan 300C 4dr (Y30) by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

I swapped my pair of Laurels with Datman for it. This thing was a hoot to drive, it had the same 3-litre V6 as the estate but with a 4-speed auto 'box. Steering and handling not great, but that added to its appeal. Even comparing it to the Laurels, let alone smaller stuff, there was a real sense of big car occasion about driving it. I liked it so much I part-ex'd it for another one, in better condition:

 

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1986 Nissan 300C (Y30) x2 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

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1986 Nissan 300C (Y30) x2 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

Within days of getting the new one the exhaust went and I had to splash out on a full stainless steel Powerflow system (cheaper than the standard one, and something I've had to do several times on my stuff over the years). I can't remember why I eventually sold this one, a lot of cars (and our first child) were coming and going at this time. I ended up buying it back from the subsequent owner and then I sold it complete with a spare engine to someone in Norway.

 

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1986 Nissan 300C 4dr (Y30) by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

The first saloon ended up like this.

 

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1989 Mazda 323F GT by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

In the meantime Mrs SL's Acclaim had been replaced by this G-reg 323 GT. What a great car, we both really liked this one. Nigh-on 140bhp made it usefully quick, but sadly it wasn't well-suited to family use so we got the Carina E instead for sensible stuff and I used the Mazda for a bit. The H-reg one was purchased for £50 when I needed a replacement radiator.

 

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1996 Toyota Carina E 1.8CD by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

The Toyota stayed with us for quite a few years and was then donated to father-in-law. As you may recall, he stopped driving it only last year and after trying to sell it here it went for export.

 

I can't remember the order but various other small cars came and went:

 

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1977 Datsun 100A FII estate (F10) by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

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1974 Datsun 100A 4dr (E10) in 2001 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

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1978 Datsun 100A FII Estate (F10) c.2001/02 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

Happily the last one is still around.

 

More to follow at some point soon.

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Superb thread, SL....I have never been a Jap-licker but most of my L-plate days were spent in a driving school 120Y and my Grandfather's brand new 160B which he put me on insurance for at 17 with a provisional!     Kind of regret that I missed the cheap affordable years of big Dats  - I should have tried one in my Granada decade!

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This is a fantastic thread! Cracking photos, fascinating backstories, and plenty of lust being generated... having only been familiar with many of the big 70's Datsuns through the smudgy thumbnail pics from Graham Robson's "A-Z of Cars of the 1970s", I can confirm that my levels of want for a C130 Laurel have just gone off the scale...

 

Echoing the sentiments above, thanks for taking the time to put all this together - it's very much appreciated!

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I love those Datsun 240Ks, dad had one briefly in the eighties when he was trading all sorts of interesting European/Japanese stuff. I did a thread about it many moons ago.

 

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That'd look great outside of my 70s bungalow. What a car!

 

I imagine these cost the earth now - from Malta.

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....The Japs didn’t half know how to build a good looking and reliable well made car back then.

 

....and that's how they sounded the death knell for British carmaking. Reasonably cheap, yet reliable. Production not prone to awkward squad / industrial action.

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I wonder if it was you Spottedlaurel who bought a silver 300C saloon off me around 1999/2000?  I'd bought one very cheap off the Peugeot dealership I worked for, smoked around in it for a few weeks then sold it to someone who I remember loved them and had at least one other.  I lived in Harefield, Middx at the time.

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Thanks everyone, your comments and interest are appreciated. This is a bit self-indulgent.....

 



I love those Datsun 240Ks, dad had one briefly in the eighties when he was trading all sorts of interesting European/Japanese stuff.  I did a thread about it many moons ago.

 

Aha, that's solved a mystery. I had the photos saved on my PC and now I know where they're from.

 

Those 240Ks are popular with Kuwaitis, my pockets wouldn't be deep enough to own one nowadays which is why it's a shame I let that solid yellow one go. There again, if I had that I probably wouldn't have gone through one or two other cars and ended up with what I have now.

 



I wonder if it was you Spottedlaurel who bought a silver 300C saloon off me around 1999/2000?  I'd bought one very cheap off the Peugeot dealership I worked for, smoked around in it for a few weeks then sold it to someone who I remember loved them and had at least one other.  I lived in Harefield, Middx at the time.

 

Not I, but maybe someone within the Datsun OC? Even though they weren't particularly old back then they were beginning to be appreciated.

 



We've not had the Starsky & Hutch Cherry yet have we? Also, you've appeared to not have aged a bit you jammy sod.

 

No, and thanks :-)

 

A few more:

 

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1979 Datsun 240K GT C210 (pic'd in 2000) by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

Should've added this local 240K to my collection, but the owner refused my generous offer of £10.......

 

2002 was a particularly fruitful year. Despite it being the year we got married and I had more than enough things to spend my time and money on, quite a few cars came and went. I was in the fortunate position of living in an ex-council house which didn't cost us too much and had plenty of space around it (along with non-complaining neighbours), and no children back then either.

 

I think this one will be familiar to a few of you:

 

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1989 Nissan Skyline 3.0SGL (R31, SA) by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

Found in a Colchester scrapyard when I was filling time whilst Mrs SL-to-be was trying on wedding dresses.

 

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1989 Nissan Skyline 3.0SGL + Transit recovery truck by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

For some reason I collected this one myself, I think the banger racers were busy that weekend (Swaffham Icebreaker maybe?).

 

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1989 Nissan Skyline 3.0SGL (R31, SA) by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

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1989 Nissan Skyline 3.0SGL (R31, SA) by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

Cost me £150, which seemed a bit much but the 3-litre RB engine would probably have sold for more as it could be used as the basis for a big-capacity GT-R upgrade. South African spec with lots of toys inside. I didn't get it on the road myself but it went to my friend in Holland after he'd replaced the water pump and done a bit of work on it here. I think he still has it, if so it's in the best possible hands.

 

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1972 Vauxhall Victor FE, Autobreak 2002 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

The yard offered me this for £100, but back then it would have been a bit of a liability and despite the FE being a model I'm very fond of I doubt I'd have done anything with it.

 

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1985 Nissan Laurel 2.4SGL (C32) c.2002 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

Another of the local banger racer/exporter boys tipped me off about this one. I ended up buying it for £50 off a council estate in Norwich, where it had shared an overgrown front garden with a Bedford CF ambulance. It was tidy enough, Ratdat ended up having it off me and found a buyer for it up his way.

 

When we went to collect it my friend bought a Sunny from around the corner for £300 that we happened to see, so it was a good evening for liberating older Japanese stuff.

 

I got a call from someone near Colchester offering this oddity:

 

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1992 Nissan Cedric 3.0 Y31 (2002) by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

Looks interesting.

 

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1992 Nissan Cedric 3.0 Y31 (2002) by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

Oh. I think it was rear-ended by a truck on the M11. Still drove very nicely, had some great features on it and certainly didn't deserve to be scrapped/raced. The boot floor was completely intact, as it was hit high-up all the damage was confined to softer panels. I got given it for free and just had to pay fuel for the truck to collect it. I thought it would be interesting to get an estate/hearse-type rear end cobbled-up for it, using some other big estate as a donor. As a genuine exclusive to this thread, here is my design:

 

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The reality is that I kept it on the driveway, enjoyed starting it up every so often then sold it for £50 to a Cedric enthusiast up north. He got it back on the road with a degree of ingenuity.....

 

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The result of all this was that sitting on my driveway when we got back from honeymoon I had all of this lot:

 

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My Cars Sept 2002 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

Apologies for the rubbish scan which I must re-do one day. All of these cars were V- or straight-6, and around the back of the house I had a couple of the 240K spares cars pictured earlier on. It may never get this good again?

 

Just noticed that my neighbour had a silver Audi coupe on his driveway. I recall that he bought this one as a spares car for the black one that'd been in his family for some years (can just be seen right at the back). Happy days.

 

That's 2002 out of the way. I need to have a bit of a think about 2003 and beyond, I think it was a bit of a quiet one car-wise - we had our first child, built an extension on the house and at work I designed and drew-up in great detail a new £1.3m Toyota showroom so other things were occupying me. This one made a brief appearance on the driveway however:

 

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1986/87 Ford Sierra XR4x4 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

My mum and stepdad had owned it some 10+ years previously then bought it back for its registration (which they still put on their cars to this day). My banger racing friend bought it and had it on the road for a bit. I used to enjoy driving it around every so often, had a solid, gutsy feel which I imagine to be quite at odds with normal Sierras.

 

Forgot about this one from the mid '90s, which I suppose qualifies as my first Toyota although I don't recall if it got put in my name:

 

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1980 Toyota Celica 1600ST c.1994/95 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

Bought for spares, all I had off it were the slotmags (traded with a local Datsun owner). A Toyota friend had a few bits in exchange for some Datsun parts which sold on at a useful profit. I'd always rather liked this generation of Celica as a 2dr but this one wasn't worth bothering with.

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I thought by the title this was thread about open top Mercedeses

 

Not disappointed though

 

Could also be 1960s/70s Vauxhall trim levels?

 

The styling of the 1973 Violet 140J looks bang on! Can't recall ever seeing one on the roads.

 

I don't remember many, but there was one I distinctly recall in 1986/87. It was in excellent condition and would have been no more than 10-12 years old yet it really stood out amongst the Sierras, Maestros and the like of the day with their integral colour-coded bumpers.

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