Well, I received an invite from Benny a few weeks back to join him on a Datsun run that was held today. It was a toss up between that & a Supersprint at Oran Park, but chose the run instead.

That meant waking at 5am so that I could be at Benny's place by about 8am. [It's a 2hr drive] We traveled in his really neat 1200 sedan & missed the initial meeting point by a few minutes, although I wonder if there was anyone to meet up with anyway.
As it turned out, we made it to the main assembly point on the north side of Sydney on time, despite my navigation efforts.
There were three 1200 utes there along with a lot of 1600's & a few other Datsun Classics, but there was no obvious person in charge, no 'run leader' so we all just mingled around untill one fellow finally spoke up & gave us a heads-up.

We headed for the Central Coast region via an inland loop that brought us through a community known as Wisemans Ferry, & yes, the river is still crossed using one of the last vehicular ferry's still running in the state.

We were amongst the first group on the ferry, so we all pulled up on the other side & waited untill everyone was across.
This was about after mid-day & I had thought we might have a late lunch & a BBQ here as it is a popular destination for such things, but no, we continued on to the coast.

It seemed to me that there were more that just a few who had difficulty telling the difference between a club run, & an all out race as there were several who just had to practice their drifting & burnout skills along the way, which I'm sure impressed the public at large & made them most sympathetic to the modified car crowd & our various problems with the law.

As luck would have it, no one was busted, nor were any cars damaged, but just one cop at the right place could have had a field day.

At one point, we all pulled up so that the run leader, in a Suburu, could tend to one of his small children as the hectic pace over the twisty road made him sick up all over his front. Small children do not cope with performance driving on twisty roads & they often feel sick for quite a while afterwards.


Destination achieved.
We finally made it to Terrigal only to find a carnival in full swing in the park where we were going to have lunch, & with cars everywhere, there was nowhere to park, so we headed off to MacDonalds & sat on the grass to have a feed & shoot the breeze. [at 2:30pm]
By this stage, my frozen T bone steak had thawed & was ready to cook on the BBQ,... the one that didn't make the trip.
By 3pm Benny & I had had quite enough fun for the day & we headed off home.


The 1200 engine in Bennys 1200 sedan is an absolute delight. It runs a 1200 GX head & an improved cam, but draws fuel through a single carb manifold that has the good old standby downdraught Weber. I was amazed by just how strongly this little engine ran & I know that there were several other cars with much more grunt that were not held back by us when running through Galston Gorge, which is as twisty a piece of road as you will find around these parts.
Good suspension & tyres will make up a lot for power deficiencies, & this ride proved it to a few unbelievers.
The sound of that exhaust was clean & crisp all the way & there was more than one person who commented on it, thinking the noise belonged to something more impressive than a humble 1200 engine.

The trip back to Sydney was good & we managed to find the 'old road' for part of the journey back. This is the much less traveled, & long since bypassed, old section of the highway, but it was just the right road for a little spirited sports driving, which is what this car is built for, & Benny made it a ride to be savoured & remembered for quite a while to come.

My journey back home in the tired but trusty 200B wagon [WP810] had it's moments, starting with a failed low beam on one side before I even left, but I carry a spare bulb & this was quickly replaced at a nearby service station. Next, I got onto the F5 Motorway [Toll Road] for a fast ride through the suburbs on my way home. No such luck as the traffic ground to a halt as a result of an MVA up ahead.
Once past this I got about 65% of the way home when extreme tiredness & some substandard, but way-overpriced new specs colluded to give me vertical double vision. Removing the specs restored single vision, but focus was gone, so I pulled over near Pheasants Nest, which is a well known location along the freeway south of Sydney, & got some shuteye for an hour or more. This helped enormously & the rest of the ride home was problem free.
After leaving Benny's place at about 6:30, I arrived home at about 11pm. It's normally a 2hr trip.

I'm glad I went, but I think that there could have been some better organisation.
Thanks for the ride Benny, your Datsun & your company were the best part of the whole day, & that made it a great day.

Pictures tomorrow, I'm too bloody tired now.

I've been on a few cruises like the one you've described. Lack of organisation and idiots driving at a quicker pace than their skill levels suggest they should tend to ruin a nice drive through some twisties.

I had lots of fun yesterday, but the run could have been mistaken for a race from Sydney to Terigal [via Weismans ferry] at times. My little 12 went well all day. Im pretty sure that my car was the only car that had its original style engine [1200cc's too]. The rest of the field had been subject to an engine conversion.
I may have had a chance if I put some license plates on my race car.

Thanks dodgeman for the conversation, beats driving by yourself on these runs.

cheers
Benny

I would have liked to have gone, but 'building my datsun' comes before enjoying them. So I spent the day welding and fitting. Things are coming along well in this department.

The kid who was sick was my godson It is a small world. So I expect my brother in his fancy new 2.5L turbo Forester was enjoying the twisty bits.

Still sounds like it was a fun day out, except for Dodgeman's uncooked T-bone steak that died so needlessly.

I've seen Bennys sedan up close and it is a very tidy and well thought out unit.
I too was on the old pacific highway assessing the surface (deciding on which car i'm going to use) for an up coming Dutton event.

Read the first post for a description of the day & these pics will make more sense.


There's no ride like a low ride, but for my taste, ute's look better when up a bit higher.
These blokes seem to be wondering what the head scratching is all about.


This was my ride for the day. This picture was taken just after the run through the gorge & the blokes behind are wondering how it's possible for a single carb 1200 engine to perform so well. They just couldn't believe it. The one in the rear is 'phoning a friend' to try & get a clue.



















This ute belongs to our member Datsik.
It seems to be equiped with 'burnout' wheels which give it an
interesting stance & these were put to the test during the day.


I liked the look of this one. I like the colour & the stance. Wheel size is good too. It gives it a nice 'old school' look. It was, in fact, a bit of a sleeper.

















My heart went out to this car. It was in the wrong place at the wrong time during the Cronulla riots a while back. The roof & bonnet were stoved in by lowlife scum jumping on it, the doors were kicked in & the damage you can see is how it looks now, after many of the panels were pushed back out. It has been a very nice car, & can be again, but it will take a lot of work.





I'd be interested in a basicly sound, but stock one of these to replace my 200B wagon if I can find one