The Solvang Datsun Roadster show took place last weekend. Now in its 28th year, this gathering continues a tradition of uniting owners from all parts of the world in a little town just outside of Santa Barbara. I drove my roadster down from San Jose and arrived Saturday morning to a very wet downtown Solvang. Despite the showers we had 77 Datsuns in attendance and eventual sunshine.
For the last 3 years The Solvang Roadster Show has been organized by the great folks of SoCal Roadster Owners Club. They have carried the torch well, providing a fun time for all and keeping things interesting like creating show categories with sponsors. This year the new “race” class was sponsored by the popular historic driving group SVRA, and the display was pretty epic!
This 1962 Fairlady SPL212 was given a full transformation into a road-racing beast. The man behind this one-off roadster is Jeff Silvey, a long-time Solvang show attendee and talented fabricator. He’s known for his bright red, L-series powered hot-rod SPL212 and sweet turbo-diesel powered NL320 truck. The latter was actually the tow rig for the racecar, how cool is that?!
Back to the racecar…from the outside there are a few subtle mods like the front air dam, “gills” and speedster cover that catch the eye. Add the 16″ vintage Volk GT-U wheels and you know this isn’t the stock, 48hp Fairlady from the factory. With red/white paint somehow it all works very well. Then you peek underneath that tiny hood and see an S15 SR20DET sitting almost a foot back and a myriad of custom fabrication takes over. From the full Silvia rear suspension to custom a-arm setup up front Jeff went bezerk with this build. We dig it, see more detailed shots in the gallery:
Other notable race cars included our friend Ron Carter with his 1967 2000 race car and Gary Wasserman’s factory lightweight SRL. Ron recently got accepted to run at the Monterey Historic Races coming in August!
The show brings roadsters lovers from all over the world including British Columbia and Mexico. For those hardcore Datsun enthusiasts that insist on Enjoying The Ride this means towing a small trailer!
I have a soft spot for Datsun 1500s (I have a 1500 grille on mine), especially these ’63-64 3-seat models. This year we had four beautiful examples, including an original owner who was a Solvang resident. He even showed me the original purchase order spec’d with the factory hardtop!
Solvang showcases everything from highly modified to pristine stock examples of roadsters. John Baker’s ’69 2000 and this ’67 SPL were great examples of stock roadsters, right down to their stock steel wheels:
Speaking of stock, Mike Young brought this fantastic 67 2000 for display showcasing his great restorative skills. White/red is one of my favorite combinations and really got the stance right on this SRL with the slightly larger Libra-style wheels:
A few more 1600s, including Mike’s stroked and Mikuni-carb’d hot rod. Watanabe wheels, EMPI steering wheel and red/black interior are great choices. Eagle eyes may notice the 2L gauges, shift plate and trim ring. Watch the video to hear it run!
A pleasant surprise was this “short-nose” Skyline coupe or “hakosuka”. These cars were powered by G-series 4-cylinder engines unlike their larger L-series 6 cylinder brothers that we are starting to see stateside. Sitting nicely on Hayashi Techno Phantoms this classic J-tin ticked all the right boxes with pillar-less windows and a proper surf line left intact! Check the gallery for other “non-roadster JDM” finds.
An incredible amount of high windshield 2000’s inhabited the show this year with very diverse examples. Solex, SU and even motorcycle quad-carb induction setups hooked up to U20s. Scoville/BRE stripes, fresh paint jobs and custom interiors worthy of Pro-Touring muscle cars were also seen:
A properly executed engine swap into a Datsun Roadster is always nice to see as the bar increases each year. These (for lack of a better word) “resto-modded” roadsters blend modern drivetrains with vintage lines while adding personal touches from the builder/owners. Here are three examples that stood out:
Looking for more power but wanting to stay NA, Mike Anderson’s ’68 SPL sports an SR20VE. Using Nissan’s version of VTEC, this VVL combination is good for 200hp NA. With help from Kevin Desirello of KRD it dyno’d at 215wrhp! Limited production Volk TE37v SL wheels are one of my all-time favorites. Mike took me for a spin and this engine in such a light car is phenomenal.
Jon Frampton’s 1967.5 SPL stole the show with a total frame-off restoration and SR20VE-T/6-speed drivetrain. That’s right, a turbo was added to an already ballistic engine! Another one of Kevin Desirello’s creations, this roadster came to him needing only transmission work and suffered an extreme case of “Hey, while we’re there”…
It’s hard to believe this car was once candy red and decked out in 90’s era style. Beautifully applied #531 Beige Grey Metallic paint and a very subtle but custom interior by Bill Dunn (Overhaulin’) helped win Best of Show. Jon himself is famous for restoring and “modernizing” roadster gauges…his work is sensational! Check the gallery for more shots…there are plenty of neat details to see!
Finally, Ted’s 1966 SPL is a familiar, though still impressive roadster. Built by Michael Spreadbury of
Spriso Motorsports, this S15 SR20DET powered beauty glistens with Plymouth Prowler paint:
Sitting perfectly atop 16″ Watanabe RS-8 wheels with a massive dish out back on a 225-width tire, this one oozes cool. Ted is currently driving her thousands of miles on a Southwest tour!
We had a blast at Solvang and always look forward to next year. Big thanks again to SoCalROC for putting on another wonderful show!
If you didn’t attend please watch this excellent drone footage of the show from fellow roadster owner Mike Anderson. Don’t forget the picture gallery after the jump and…
Enjoy The Ride!