As some may know, I already have one Datsun Stanza.....
forum.retro-rides.org/thread/197068/1983-datsun-stanza-t11?page=1
The fruits of a 20 year search for another after having one as my second car back in 1990, loving it, selling it and regretting selling it.
As some may also know, I have a coffee shop which takes up lots of money, lots of time and lots of my energy....
forum.retro-rides.org/thread/200052/time-jump-off
So the first one, the four door saloon, needs work. Welding to sills, possibly replacement doors, maybe other bodywork stuff. Mechanically it's great, as I sourced and fitted loads of new parts, but at the minute, it's just a project too far. Perhaps I know I'll not get it done any time soon.
Right, the reason(s) for the new thread. Recently, out of the blue, a five door hatchback appeared on social media. Low miles, one lady owner for most of it's life. MOT'd and on the road The interest was pricked for sure. Contact was made with the seller. Conversations were had, and we found out that despite being an Essex lad from Romford, he had a Grandma who lived in South Shields, the land of my birth, and used to spend family summer holidays up in Geordieland. Such a small world. A rapport was built, and, well, a deal just had to be struck.
The car....
1982 Datsun Stanza, only 34k miles. It has a backstory. It was owned by one lady owner, in Essex, from new for 31 years. In 2013, she was flashed by a speed camera doing 36mph in a 30, got fined and received points on her license, and was so mortified by the whole sordid affair that she gave up driving there and then. It was basically parked up after that, apart from getting an MOT every year or two, until earlier this year.
Mileage check:
2010 = 33,908
2019 = 34,431
That's 523 miles in 9 years.
Got to love a train/road trip to collect an old car. This collection day involved the train from Saltburn to Darlington...
Darlington to Kings Cross....
a 'lunch transportation device' malfunction...
then a Tube ride to Liverpool Street...with lots of sad London based faces...
Then a final train to Romford...
To sunny Romford, and the car...
A couple of drive home pics. First, Stansted services....
and Peterborough...
Still light when I got home at 1930hrs. Bonus. I have to say, it drove brilliantly. Sat between 60mph and 70mph all the way. 261 miles. All good to, apart from an intermittent slipping fan belt when accelerating from lower speeds.
Two original keys with dealer key rings
The worst bits. Lacquer peel and a dent...
Original plates too...
The bodywork is pretty solid. The worst bits are the crusty small rear under-light panels...
and the lacquer peel on the bonnet and front wing (with dent)...
Lovely brown and beige (cappuccino?) interior. These 80's velour interiors seem to be much more hardwearing than later interiors....
Original flappage...
All original radio...which is absolutely rubbish..but staying...
Original, but ridiculously crusty Datsun mats...
Comforts for the back seat smokers...
Front flappage...
The mighty CA16
Ok, so something quite odd happened. I got a message from a mate on Easter Sunday morning with a photograph of a car at a show in Sunderland. Another Stanza. Another 5 door hatch. In blue.....and it was for sale! I was at work, but I had an extra body in expecting a super busy easter. Well, it was busy, but due to the red hot weather, a lot of people were staying down on the beach or in their own back gardens with a can in hand. So, it gave me an opportunity to nip 45 minutes up the road to Sunderland to see the car and chat to the owner.
Wow. Stunner.....and a big dilemma for me....
Chatted to the owner. Lovely fella, going through some health issues at the minute too. I left the show without making a deal, as I was completely in two minds with picking the brown one up in London four days later. However, mulling it over on the drive back down to work on the same day, I concluded that I just couldn't miss out on this one as well, and rang George to say I'd have it! I arranged to collect it from him from Darlington on Friday, the day after I collected the brown one. Mad, isn't it? Two super rare Stanzas in two days. What's the chances?!
So, the blue one. Friday morning came pretty soon after returning with the brown one on Thursday evening. I arranged to meet George near his unit. He would meet us at the end of the estate and drive us in. In his 1968 Vauxhall Victor...
and there it was....
George told me there was a running issue with it. The carb needs setting up, and it shoed on the journey home. Lumpy, bumpy and jerky. It won't idle unless the revs are kept high. I actually felt lucky that it got me the 30 miles home. But anyway, I went from two....
to three just like that....
There's another story behind this one too. It was bought new in 1984 by a fella, and engineer. He drove it for 3 years, put 33k miles on the clock, then serviced it and put it away in his garage.....where it remained for 31 years. The owner passed away about 5 years ago, whence the house and belongings, car included, went to his daughter. A single lady, she passed away without a will at the end of 2018. The car was found in the garage, covered in black bin bags, and stuffed full of bin bags containing all manner of stuff from clothing, to toys, to Christmas decorations. Like I said, it hadn't moved an inch for 31 years. It was 34 years old in 2018, and yet had only been used for 3 of those. Amazing. These 5 pics were the car on the day it was uncovered, although it's a shame there were no pics taken of it covered over by the bin bags...
As a lover of Primeras, and a maker of Primera seats for 8 years, it had a great key ring too...
Love this pic...
Time for some bubbles. Love a first wash. Brown one first...
Going back to black...
The original badge was a bit powdery and crumbly...
so much so that I felt it better to remove....
and a new-old stock badge went on...
over on the other side, the 1.6GL badge was almost as bad...
so off that came as well. Much cleaner. Pics further down.
Here's a few interior pics of the blue one...
Really clean boot, carpet and floor....
Finished washing the blue one...
I don't think I've mentioned that the blue one is a Jubilee edition, produced to celebrate Nissan's 50th anniversary, hence the red grille badge.
50/50 split folding rear seats (in both cars)
A few more of the brown one......now without the crusty 1.6GL badge...
A job to do....boot struts are a bit tired...
Boot not as sparkling as in the blue one, but very creditable, considering it's lived in London for 37 years....
Comparisons....
To round this one up (well done for reaching the bottom, if indeed you have...), I took the brown one (as it drives better) to it's first show today, where it received lots of interest....
And there we have it. I started the week with 1 Stanza. Ended it with 3. Amazing.
forum.retro-rides.org/thread/197068/1983-datsun-stanza-t11?page=1
The fruits of a 20 year search for another after having one as my second car back in 1990, loving it, selling it and regretting selling it.
As some may also know, I have a coffee shop which takes up lots of money, lots of time and lots of my energy....
forum.retro-rides.org/thread/200052/time-jump-off
So the first one, the four door saloon, needs work. Welding to sills, possibly replacement doors, maybe other bodywork stuff. Mechanically it's great, as I sourced and fitted loads of new parts, but at the minute, it's just a project too far. Perhaps I know I'll not get it done any time soon.
Right, the reason(s) for the new thread. Recently, out of the blue, a five door hatchback appeared on social media. Low miles, one lady owner for most of it's life. MOT'd and on the road The interest was pricked for sure. Contact was made with the seller. Conversations were had, and we found out that despite being an Essex lad from Romford, he had a Grandma who lived in South Shields, the land of my birth, and used to spend family summer holidays up in Geordieland. Such a small world. A rapport was built, and, well, a deal just had to be struck.
The car....
1982 Datsun Stanza, only 34k miles. It has a backstory. It was owned by one lady owner, in Essex, from new for 31 years. In 2013, she was flashed by a speed camera doing 36mph in a 30, got fined and received points on her license, and was so mortified by the whole sordid affair that she gave up driving there and then. It was basically parked up after that, apart from getting an MOT every year or two, until earlier this year.
Mileage check:
2010 = 33,908
2019 = 34,431
That's 523 miles in 9 years.
Got to love a train/road trip to collect an old car. This collection day involved the train from Saltburn to Darlington...
Darlington to Kings Cross....
a 'lunch transportation device' malfunction...
then a Tube ride to Liverpool Street...with lots of sad London based faces...
Then a final train to Romford...
To sunny Romford, and the car...
A couple of drive home pics. First, Stansted services....
and Peterborough...
Still light when I got home at 1930hrs. Bonus. I have to say, it drove brilliantly. Sat between 60mph and 70mph all the way. 261 miles. All good to, apart from an intermittent slipping fan belt when accelerating from lower speeds.
Two original keys with dealer key rings
The worst bits. Lacquer peel and a dent...
Original plates too...
The bodywork is pretty solid. The worst bits are the crusty small rear under-light panels...
and the lacquer peel on the bonnet and front wing (with dent)...
Lovely brown and beige (cappuccino?) interior. These 80's velour interiors seem to be much more hardwearing than later interiors....
Original flappage...
All original radio...which is absolutely rubbish..but staying...
Original, but ridiculously crusty Datsun mats...
Comforts for the back seat smokers...
Front flappage...
The mighty CA16
Ok, so something quite odd happened. I got a message from a mate on Easter Sunday morning with a photograph of a car at a show in Sunderland. Another Stanza. Another 5 door hatch. In blue.....and it was for sale! I was at work, but I had an extra body in expecting a super busy easter. Well, it was busy, but due to the red hot weather, a lot of people were staying down on the beach or in their own back gardens with a can in hand. So, it gave me an opportunity to nip 45 minutes up the road to Sunderland to see the car and chat to the owner.
Wow. Stunner.....and a big dilemma for me....
Chatted to the owner. Lovely fella, going through some health issues at the minute too. I left the show without making a deal, as I was completely in two minds with picking the brown one up in London four days later. However, mulling it over on the drive back down to work on the same day, I concluded that I just couldn't miss out on this one as well, and rang George to say I'd have it! I arranged to collect it from him from Darlington on Friday, the day after I collected the brown one. Mad, isn't it? Two super rare Stanzas in two days. What's the chances?!
So, the blue one. Friday morning came pretty soon after returning with the brown one on Thursday evening. I arranged to meet George near his unit. He would meet us at the end of the estate and drive us in. In his 1968 Vauxhall Victor...
and there it was....
George told me there was a running issue with it. The carb needs setting up, and it shoed on the journey home. Lumpy, bumpy and jerky. It won't idle unless the revs are kept high. I actually felt lucky that it got me the 30 miles home. But anyway, I went from two....
to three just like that....
There's another story behind this one too. It was bought new in 1984 by a fella, and engineer. He drove it for 3 years, put 33k miles on the clock, then serviced it and put it away in his garage.....where it remained for 31 years. The owner passed away about 5 years ago, whence the house and belongings, car included, went to his daughter. A single lady, she passed away without a will at the end of 2018. The car was found in the garage, covered in black bin bags, and stuffed full of bin bags containing all manner of stuff from clothing, to toys, to Christmas decorations. Like I said, it hadn't moved an inch for 31 years. It was 34 years old in 2018, and yet had only been used for 3 of those. Amazing. These 5 pics were the car on the day it was uncovered, although it's a shame there were no pics taken of it covered over by the bin bags...
As a lover of Primeras, and a maker of Primera seats for 8 years, it had a great key ring too...
Love this pic...
Time for some bubbles. Love a first wash. Brown one first...
Going back to black...
The original badge was a bit powdery and crumbly...
so much so that I felt it better to remove....
and a new-old stock badge went on...
over on the other side, the 1.6GL badge was almost as bad...
so off that came as well. Much cleaner. Pics further down.
Here's a few interior pics of the blue one...
Really clean boot, carpet and floor....
Finished washing the blue one...
I don't think I've mentioned that the blue one is a Jubilee edition, produced to celebrate Nissan's 50th anniversary, hence the red grille badge.
50/50 split folding rear seats (in both cars)
A few more of the brown one......now without the crusty 1.6GL badge...
A job to do....boot struts are a bit tired...
Boot not as sparkling as in the blue one, but very creditable, considering it's lived in London for 37 years....
Comparisons....
To round this one up (well done for reaching the bottom, if indeed you have...), I took the brown one (as it drives better) to it's first show today, where it received lots of interest....
And there we have it. I started the week with 1 Stanza. Ended it with 3. Amazing.
