YOU’RE THE ONE THAT I WANT

Growing up in New Zealand in the 1970s and 1980s I was surrounded by a plethora of British, Australian and Japanese vehicles. Many of these are now worth small fortunes – if you can find them, especially in good condition. Of course, back in the day anything with two doors was raced, rallied or rolled – and often all three – with extractors, mag wheels and a host of other cheap add-ons to either enhance appearances or acceleration.

For most of these cars power was very modest by today’s standards, which was just as well since brakes, suspension, steering and, in my case, an adherence to road rules were below par. To have even survived my teen years was a miracle unto itself, as I am sure it was for many readers of this magazine.

The Datsun 240K in this article, however, was only sold in limited numbers as a coupe in New Zealand due to the lack of import licences of the time. The vehicle sold in large numbers in Japan, Australia and Europe with more than 670,000 but first, a little history.