Hi all, I have some questions reguarding the Datsun 1200 coupes raced at Bathurst in the early 70's by Bill Evans.
1. how many of these coupes were preped and/or raced during this period?
2. what running gear did they use? I've heard they had GX running gear, is that true?
3. what years did the coupe driven by Bill Evans win it's class? From info that I've gathered he won with car 56 in 1973 and in car 71 in 1976. Can anyone elaborate on this?
4. does anyone have any colour photos of either of these cars especially car 56? If not, do any of you guys know what colour these cars were?
5. I've heard rumours, and I'm sure most of you guys have too, that the coupes were wider than standard. Is there any proof of this? It's a pretty cool rumour but it would be even cooler if it was true!
6. does anyone know how many of these cars still exist and where they are kept?
7. Also any info on the 1200 sedans that were raced at Bathurst in the same period would be interesting!
Does anyone have any other interesting facts or rumours about these cars and events?
If any of you guys can help me out with answers to those questions it would be great! Also a lot of other younger Datto nutters would probably be interested too as we weren't lucky enough to see these cars when they were new, racing around Bathurst and winning their class
Cheers!
Shane

Hi Shane,

I can answer some of your questions but I'll wait for Bozzo to reply - he's got some good info and personal experience with a Bathurst car.
It was a fascinating time in motorsport...

This has been discussed before to some extent. Use the search box to look for widebody.

Right now on eBay there is a "Datsun News" from 1971 or so that discusses the Datsun sedans at Bathurst.

Don't know if anyone has heard of it but there is a torana XU1 DVD going around that obviously focusess on the XU1 at bathurst but every now and then you get glimpses of these 1200's and the occasional 1600. I was looking very carefully and I only spotted the sedans, didn't see any coupes?
cheers

bloke around the corner from me ended up with one engine whitch ended up in a clubman car, he sold the car a few years back.
i know a mate has one 5spd box from one in his shed dog leg patton, i will get it one day for my self (when nissan wins V8 super cars 1,2and 3) I WISH

Talk to John Boston from Boston Racing, he owns one of Bill Evans 1200's... there is a fair bit of history there and i would love to learn some more about it.......

Cheers
Peddler

Searched for widebody & bathurst and didn't find much info.

It's all true, the Bathurst 1200's were widebody cars made in Japan for one thing only, Motorsport.
I have Bill Evans car sitting in my shed waiting for me to turn it back to its Bathurst colours.I have pretty much everything from its Bathurst days,I just need to find some time to do it.
I found out how wide the widebody is when I was running the actual car in 2E Club Cars (now Improved Production) in the mid 90's.We always knew what it was and always knew it had a wider body by the width of the rear end we could put in without having to worry about lipping the rear guards or putting rear flares on.
Then came the day when the officials said that we had to start running rear seats to make them look more standard.We bought the car without a rear seat so we never knew what to expect.
My brother and I went home to put the rear seat in, put all the appropriate brackets and hardware in, now the seat and....why do we still have such a large gap either side of the rear seat to the quarters??..hehe.
Last year while in Japan I was introduced to the B110 Japanese Champion 3 years running in the 70's.This guy is full of info on the 1200's...he now runs/owns motorsport in Japan.
Not sure if anybody remembers, the 1200's at Bathurst had so many protests against them because they were so bloody fast.
I have spoken to James Lang-Peach who partnered Bill Evans to victory and he said the Dato was one of the fastest cars across the top of the mountain (Bathurst) including XU1's, GTHO etc

How typical ... complaining because a "little inexpensive car" beat the more expensive car. There were "I don't believe it" complaints last year over the $10,000 Datsun 1200 prize money.

Yeah, yer right. Just a bunch of small mentions about the widebody and bathurst cars.



Bathurst 1200 Sedan





Shellsport Widebody


Shellsport Widebody

Here's an article about the '73 Bathurst winner:



Another Bathurst 1200: