Buy It! Japan's Best Kept Secret

Alex Reid
by Alex Reid

The Datsun Roadster is the British sports car that Britain couldn’t make.

Built right before the famed 240z, the Datsun Roadster is the Japan-built beauty that gave every British marque a run for their money. Impeccably reliable and fast, they were raced for many years in Japan throughout their entire production run (1963-1970) in the Japanese Grand Prix, where it won many times.

Only 40,000 or so were ever built. This particular example is a 1970 model, the last year of production, and what enthusiasts would call a “high windshield” model, meaning the windshield is different than cars made before 1968. Most of these cars fell victim to the rust monster, which makes a car with original paint and minimal rust like this one extremely rare, the interior has been re-upholstered with a factory correct kit, and the engine runs smoothly. Included are a number of spares including the original 14” wheels, rare “Smoothline” hard top, various brake parts and a soft top frame.

Find this weirdo here on Bring a Trailer

Alex Reid
Alex Reid

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