a datsun tale

[dual20b]

When i was in college i had a 620; that sadly i had to sell because i was not in a finacial position to under take a restoration of any sort. The truck belonged to a soon to be retired autobody teacher outside of cleveland ohio; i was told what it was, and where. Immediatly I inquired; all the original parts were there but; not in the most ideal of conditions the L series had long been discarded, in its place a chevrolet small block sat; (which oddly enough had spent part of its life as jaguar 12cyl replacement) long story short the truck needed original parts and plenty of autobody materials dedicated to it;(which i could not afford, call it an impulse buy).

 

 

Now nearly 3 years later; myself and a freind started on the complete restoration of his 1980 vw cabriolet. Through out the process of this project from time to time we get side tracked when other freinds stop by, then work stalls and BS starts. On one of these tangents between the group we started reliving vehicles we've enjoyed, missed, destroyed ect.. My friend with the vw brought up the memory of his 84 720 4x4 and "how tuff of a truck it had been for him" as a young off road enthusiast lets say. Thats when the short lived memory of my 620 purchase came to mind; my description of the truck must have had an udertone of depression; because almost immediatly a freind standing in the shop blurted his knowledge of just the vehicle that would fill the datsun void. I turned with overwhelming joy, and bombarded him with every question under the sun; the final being "would the guy sell it, and how much?" then everyone in the room scolded me;" you have too many cars as it is; what do need that for?" The joy faded, but the idea of purchase did not leave my head. After some time had past (about 5 days to be exact) i could no longer stand it," i had to see it". My friend reluctantly set up a day to meet with the owner of the imfamous datsun. After meeting the gentleman with the truck, my friend took me down the road to a near by farm that the gentleman also owned. The barn he took me to looked like your every day run of the mill 100 year old dairy barn surronded by overgrown weeds, and small trees, it seemed as though the door had not been opened in some time i really was'nt sure what to expect,(to be honest in a situation like this its best to expect the worst; so i did). After cutting away at the weeds that had entangled themselves over the lock and handle of the door my friend started to slide the door open it move about an inch and stopped dead; at this point my patience was nonexistant so like a maniac i ripped and tore at the overgrown grass around the track; together we pushed, the door pushed back so we pushed harder. The struggle ended, i felt like a kid at christmas gleaming in front of me was the sight i had been hoping for, a complete datsun truck together and unmolested. After squeezing past parts of other cars tractors and what looked to be scrap i was able to get a closer look, "i had to have it". We closed the barn up, and went back to talk to the owner, i asked him the same questions i had asked my friend a week before, to my dismay he told me "it doesnt run one of my farm hands had to get it towed back one day and its been parked there since".(1997 to be exact) I didnt care, i said and then asked how much did he want for it; "$300" he said i didnt even think about hageling i wanted it; (impulse?).

 

A month past and after selling some vehicles to make room, we pulled the 720 out of the barn, i gave him the cash, and restoration has begun. i will soon add a couple photos of the resurected; And if you actually read my story, i hope it was somewhat enjoyable thank you.

[datzenmike]

I thought you described a 620 to your friend. Figured the one in the barn would be the 620 you always wanted.

[Laecaon]

I thought you described a 620 to your friend. Figured the one in the barn would be the 620 you always wanted.

 

Kinda what I thought... Typo? nope, 720 dually if its the same car...