Thread: sad,

OK, done some digging and found a shot of my old girl as well as a couple of "action" shots of Jon's (a mate) 510. The parked up shot of my "72-510" was taken in '84 ? outside my place in Darwin.

The B&W shot was taken during a rally in the NT about the same era. It is interesting to note the the "route instruction" at this time was "turn right before fence, CAUTION- do not over shoot".

The "Yump" shot was taken during a prologue at the Hidden Valley Motorsport Complex in Darwin long before they sealed the autocross track for the tintops (V8 supercars)

Pedro, you mentioned the NSW State Rally titles. It will involve some more digging, but I will try and find some more pics of a mate in Sydney's RS2000 Escort which got the 1984 Group "A" state title. Most of my motorsport on dirt (Group "G" rally and Grand National speedway) was done in the Territory although I did navigate for Ken (RS2000) for a couple of the NSW state rounds. Jon's 510 and (an incarnation of) Ken's RS2000 went onto compete in the original Sydney to Darwin "Wynn's Safari. Both non-finishers unfortunately.

paul

Seems there are a few of us with a Datto history. Here's my evolution.

Starting with ... the 120Y! ... Did quite a few motorkhanas in this beast!



Then on to the 1600. As it was purchased for the sum of $50



Built to rally ...





Then it evolved into a tarmac car ...





Then all the good stuff out of the 1600 went into the 1200 ...







The 1200 is still with me but the others have gone. The 1600 was bought by a mechanical engineer who still uses it from time to time and has done many more mods to it (the ones that involve the money that I never have)

I even fired up the 1200 this afternoon ... filled the shed with av-gas fumes ... mmmmmm


Paul

yeah that 3rd photo is a ripper, if thats queensland then it was a dry year i am guessing.

Originally Posted by pop058

OK, done some digging and found a shot of my old girl as well as a couple of "action" shots of Jon's (a mate) 510. The parked up shot of my "72-510" was taken in '84 ? outside my place in Darwin.

The B&W shot was taken during a rally in the NT about the same era. It is interesting to note the the "route instruction" at this time was "turn right before fence, CAUTION- do not over shoot".

The "Yump" shot was taken during a prologue at the Hidden Valley Motorsport Complex in Darwin long before they sealed the autocross track for the tintops (V8 supercars)

Pedro, you mentioned the NSW State Rally titles. It will involve some more digging, but I will try and find some more pics of a mate in Sydney's RS2000 Escort which got the 1984 Group "A" state title. Most of my motorsport on dirt (Group "G" rally and Grand National speedway) was done in the Territory although I did navigate for Ken (RS2000) for a couple of the NSW state rounds. Jon's 510 and (an incarnation of) Ken's RS2000 went onto compete in the original Sydney to Darwin "Wynn's Safari. Both non-finishers unfortunately.

paul

i soooooo shouldnt be looking at this thread..... slowly working on a pair of V8 falcons, one to turn into a daily driver/tow car, the other to turn into a hillclimb/short circuit sprint car......

now i'm thinking a datto would be a LOT cheaper, simpler and more fun

dag nabbit, redneck bush boys like me shouldnt be tempted away from V8's!

It does seem like there are a few closest Dato fans amongst us. Paul (awibbit6), your 1200 looks so nice. They are just a classic shape. Never been a real fan of the utes, but the coupes are different story.

My mate, Jon's 510 (the one in the air and doing the fencing) was a real piece of work. Just over 200 horsies from the mid mounted 2.4 (engine set back about 23 inches IIRC) , option 1 box, R200 diff, fully adjustable suspension and discs all round. Nothing quite sounds like a Dato at full noise in the forest at night sucking through a couple of DellOrto's

Sprint, The dato's are definately fun, but so is cubic inches. What falcons are you playing with, and great idea to build one and race another one. Learnt the hard way many years ago, never race your street car. Before and after shots from a club meeting at Oran Park in Sydney 30 years ago. Damm, this is getting nostalgic

paul

Sorry to hear Pedro.
I know one of my old cars is still being looked after as a Hillclimber.
Now sports big wings, big slicks and a supercharged 4AG-E
I don't know how the poor little Hewland copes.
The owner tracked me down a few years ago and sent me pics.

Originally Posted by pop058

Sprint, The dato's are definately fun, but so is cubic inches. What falcons are you playing with, and great idea to build one and race another one. Learnt the hard way many years ago, never race your street car. Before and after shots from a club meeting at Oran Park in Sydney 30 years ago. Damm, this is getting nostalgic

paul

plan is for a 347 stroker in the EB Ghia, rebuild everything and keep it as an auto so its a halfway sensible daily driver/tow car

plan for my ED XR8 Sprint is a 289 with a centrifugal supercharger, richmond 5 speed and make it rev a bit......

as for the whole combined daily driver/race car plan..... yea, the enforcers seem to take a dim view of it, and the number of commodore driving wannabe's trying to egg you into a race gets tiring after a while!

edit: ouch! what on earth happened to that poor XA???????

Originally Posted by rick130

Sorry to hear Pedro.
I know one of my old cars is still being looked after as a Hillclimber.
Now sports big wings, big slicks and a supercharged 4AG-E
I don't know how the poor little Hewland copes.
The owner tracked me down a few years ago and sent me pics.

Did you say PICS?