Maybe it’s the color, maybe it’s the stance, maybe it’s the little rotary engine and the manual transmission. No matter what it is, we’re loving this little 1973 Datsun truck that is raced down in Australia. Doing things seemingly the hardest way possible, you have a rotary engine under the hood. Not some billet, bad ass, 100% custom job, but a rotary engine that actually uses stock 12A housings! Yes, those little bitty factory ones. It also uses a single 76mm turbocharger to shove boost in like the Japanese shove people on passenger trains in.
Hooked to a G-Force transmission and rolling on 28×9 drag radials, this light little truck is a hellion on the strip. You are going to see it make a few runs here and the best part is that the last one you’ll see is perfection. The ladder bar rear suspension goes to work, the nose comes up and the truck tracks straight, dangling the front end through the first two gears. When it lands the driver snicks off the shifts and the seven second time comes up on the boards. There is much rejoicing.
Why does this thing sit like it does? Well it was built for a drag racing class that no longer exists and that class required stock wheel wells. The tiny Datsun ones meant that to get any sort of tire under the car, it needed to basically sit over them. The ladder bar setup helps this program and as you can see, it may look a little unconventional but hot damn does it work!
The rear axle, for those of you playing at home is a sheet metal fabricated Ford 9″ style unit that runs some steep ass 5.0 gears in it. Hey, with the little rotary engine you have to keep the revs up, right? We love this truck!
The only way to achieve happiness is to cherish what you have and forget what you don’t have