primotipo…

The victorious Nissan/Datsun R380-3 of Kunimutsu Takahashi and Yoshikayo Sunago during the 2 November 1969 Surfers Paradise Six-Hour enduro…

Unfortunately this event had run out of puff by 1969, the entry was decidedly skinny but that shouldn’t diminish Datsun’s achievement in winning and placing second in cars the original variant of which was built by Prince prior to its 1966 acquisition by Nissan.

David McKay’s Scuderia Veloce had a mortgage on this race, or rather his Ferrari 250 LM #6321 did. It won thrice on the trot with Jackie Stewart and Andy Buchanan aboard in 1966, Bill Brown and Greg Cusack in 1967 and the brothers Geoghegan, Leo and Pete in 1968.

The first two events were 12 hours, the latter two, 1968-69  6 hours. Into 1970 the Twelve Hour was run for Series Production or Group E showroom stock sedans, this class of racing boomed in Australia at the time and was much easier for the punters to understand than sports prototypes.

Datsun (the name was dropped in favour of Nissan in March 1986) very cleverly used motor racing to build their brand in Australia. The Melbourne based Datsun Racing Team ran cars in Series Production touring car events, Rallies and Production Sportscar racing with Doug Whiteford their name driver, a former tree-time Australian Grand Prix winner.

Whilst Datsun’s prominence in Australia dates from the mid-1960s it is reported that some of its Austin 7 like products were imported to Australia in completely-knocked-down form circa 1937. I am intrigued to hear from old cars folks who have ever tripped over one of these, they would be as rare as hens teeth. In 1958 a Datsun 1000 won the under 1000cc class of the Mobilgas Around Australia Trial won outright by Eddie (father of Larry) Perkins’ VW Beetle.

It’s interesting to reflect on the growth of Japanese cars in the Australian market in the 1960s given the dominance which followed. It was entirely product driven as there was some animosity, particularly by those of a certain age, towards the products of The Japs and The Krauts given the war was only twenty years before. Everybody had relatives who died in theatres of war in which the folks of the above countries fought, let alone the atrocities committed.

It very quickly became clear just what great cars they were, the Mazda 1500, Toyota Corolla and Datsun 1600 to name three. All were vastly superior to the British equivalents. I was a small Ford guy at university, my car was a Mk 2 Cortina GT. A mate and I useter wreck Mk1s, they were a popular student car at the time, so we pulled ’em to bits and advertised the clobber on the Monash University Union noticeboard.

Lots of my Uni mates had Datsun 1200s 1600s and Corollas all with heaps of miles on them. I drove them and considered them vastly superior to the small Fords or the Morris 1100/1500, Austin 1800, poverty level Holden Toranas and the like. The first Honda Civic, circa 1972, was a revelation, I couldn’t believe how good it was compared to the competitor set.

So, it was no surprise why, at the price point, prejudices were put aside by our parents a decade before as they bailed out of BMC, VW, Holden and Ford products into stuff made in the Land of The Rising Sun.

They were put together rather well, some had a flash overhead camshaft, let alone rear ends (sometimes) using other than cart springs, and had carpets and car radios as standard equipment for chrissakes!

By the time Datsun raced in the 1969 Chevron Paradise 6 Hour the brand was well known in Australia. Amongst enthusiasts Datsun went up two gears in perception with the release of the 240Z in 1969. Ok, it owed a nod or three to the E-Type but what a stunning car it was. Never did quite buy one but drove several and was amazed at how good for how little they were.

The first R380 was borne of Prince’s failure to win the 1964 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka with its modified S54 Prince Skyline GT. A Porsche 904 took the win, but Prince came first in the Touring Car class however.

To go one better in 1965, engineering head Shinichiro Sakurai resolved to build a sports-prototype. Given no-one in the company had any experience of this type of car a used Brabham BT8 open sportscar was acquired which enabled the team to unlock Ron Tauranac’s secrets and reverse engineer them.

A multi-tubular spaceframe chassis was constructed and curvaceous aluminium coupe body, a Hewland 5-speed transaxle was a key component and a bespoke racing engine built. The GR-8 six cylinder, DOHC, four-valve engine was an oversquare aluminium design with a bore/stroke of 82x63mm giving a capacity of 1996cc. Fed by three 42DCOE Webers, the unit produced 200bhp @ 8000rpm. Brakes were Girling, the car weighed a relatively hefty 615 Kg.

See below at the end of the article a Nissan factory table with detailed specifications of the R380 design as it evolved from 1965-1969.

The first R380, as the car was designated, was finished in October 1965, well in time for the 1965 Japanese GP but the event was cancelled! Undeterred, all dressed up but with nowhere to go, Prince chased speed records.

The car, driven by Yukio Sugita, a Prince test driver, at the Yatabe Test Track on 6 October 1965 took several Japanese records in Class E over distances of 50, 100 and 200 Km at 233.33, 234.69 and 234.93 km/h.

Prince was absorbed into Nissan in 1966, the new parent was delighted to inherit the cars and its team and put to one side a similar racing project in its early planning stages.

Upon taking over the project Nissan modified the cars bodywork to be ‘more flowing’ with vents and ducts also refined. Some extra power, a bit more than 200 bhp, was extracted from the engine. This car, designated the R380A-2 Type 1 weighed 660 Kg compared with the 615 of the original.

Porsche returned with one Carrera 906 to the 1966 Japanese GP at Fuji, but the Shintaro Taki piloted car crashed out of the race. The team of four modified R380’s triumphed taking first and second places, the winning car, #11 above, was driven by Yoshikazu Sunako.

Nissan further modified the cars for 1967…

The modifications included changes to the track, which was widened front and rear. Engine power was increased from a bit over 200bhp to 220bhp @ 8500rpm in part by fitment of bigger 45DCOE Weber carbs. ZF gearboxes replaced the Hewland transaxles which were designed for sprint, rather than endurance use. Whilst the wheel size remained at 15 inches, in keeping with tyre development at the time, width was increased 20mm at the rear.

Despite these upgrades in specification of the cars – now designated R380A-2 Type 2 – Porsche took their revenge in 1967 with Japanese driver Tetsu Ikuzawa winning the Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji  in one of three 906s entered, the R380A-2’s placed 2-3-4 and 6th.

Nissan R380-2 during the Yatabe speed records in October 1967. The wonderful shot shows the beautifully braced spaceframe chassis, Weber 45DCOE fed, DOHC, four-valve 2-litre six-cylinder engine and, by then, the ZF transaxle. Suspension is period typical, single upper link, inverted lower wishbone with two forward facing radius rods, coil spring/shocks and roll bar.

That October further land speed records (above) were set with the cars, this time both Japanese and International records.

The earlier land speed record attempts in 1965 whilst setting Japanese records were not International marks as the Yatabe course wasn’t FIA approved. Two years later the course was certified and Nissan again went record hunting on 8 October 1967, this time Tatsu Yokoyama of the Nissan Racing Team was the driver. Seven new International records were set with speeds between 250.98 km/h for the One Hour to 256.09 km/h for 50km.

For 1968 Nissan developed the 5.5-litre 450bhp Chev V8 powered R381 open Group 7 sportscar…

It won the 1968 Japanese GP in the hands of Moto Kitano, #20 above, but development continued on the R380, creating the R380-3 Type 3. Changes to the car involved longer and further evolved, heavier body work. Despite changing to fibreglass from a mix of aluminium and fibreglass, the cars now weighed 660kg, up from 640kg. The engine now produced 245bhp @ 8400rpm in part due to adoption of ubiquitous Lucas fuel injection in place of the faithful Webers. Tyre widths also, of course, grew.

By this stage some of the R380s were in the hands of privateers as Nissan focused on their more powerful cars. Three were entered in the 1968 Japanese Grand prix yielding third to fifth places.

Nissan developed the R382 as its frontline tool for 1969, a sensational 6-litre V12, 600bhp open Group 7 sportscar, which again won the Japanese GP, the driver this time, Moto Kurosawa with H Kitano second.

These amazing cars (R381 and R382) are stories for another time, the photos are a tease! Oh for them to have raced in the Can-Am in the respective years! Timing is everything, and the timing in a corporate sense was not right even it was from an enthusiast’s perspective.

The two cars, entered for the 1969 Surfers 6 Hour were Nissan Motor Co works entries designated R380-3.

The bodies were a little longer than the year before at 4210mm compared with 4080mm. The car was 20 kg heavier, now 680 Kg and 5bhp more powerful, so a total of 250bhp @ 8400rpm. In that sense the cars brought to Australia were the ‘ultimate’ R380 specification, it would be interesting to know what became of them.

The winning car crewed by Takahashi/Sunago completed 257 laps from the second placed sister car of Moto Kitano and Motoharu Kurosawa on 253 and then the Brisbane Lotus Elan of Glynn Scott/Joe Camilleri/Ann Thompson on 236 laps. The Lotus 47 crewed by Sydney drivers Bob Beasley and Brian Davies was fourth with 233 laps. Not to forget the fifth placed Datsun Racing Team Datsun 2000 of Doug Whiteford/John Roxburgh/Barry Tapsall on 231 laps.

The R380s raced on into 1969 and 1970 taking secnd in the ’69 Fuji 1000km and second in the 1970 Fuji 200 mile event. Interesting cars aren’t they and as occasionally happens, a topic I tripped over looking for something else!

Etcetera…

Prince/Nissan R380 Specifications 1965-69…

Bibliography and photo credits…

nissan-global.com, rffrfrnzclub.net, japanesenostalgiacar.com, earlydatsun.com, Nissan Motor Co, Laurie Richards Studio

Tailpiece…

Tatsu Yokoyama and Nissan R380-2 record setting at Yatabe in October 1967

Finito…