We caught up with Derek Radzikiewicz and his 1975 Datsun ute at the recent All Japan Day in Adelaide
“This was my first car; I got it when I was 17 years old. It was fitted with an A12 out of a Datsun 1200 ute, so I stuck the original J15 1500cc four cylinder in it and blew up a couple of four-speed, column shift gearboxes.
“The ute now runs an L18 motor out of a 180B, backed by a short ratio, R30 Skyline five speed. It’s got a Dell’Orto carburettor and an exhaust that sticks out too far.
“I painted the tailgate and pretty much removed the suspension, including doing a bit of a custom lowering job using a forklift. I think the left-hand leaf spring is having a bad day today; it normally sits better than this. The right side is heaps better.
“It rides on a set of Enkei Apache 8 alloy wheels, which I imported from Japan. They’re 15x8s with a negative 28 offset, so they’re a bit aggressive. Aside from those few changes and the fact that nothing worked, it was exactly like this when I found it, right down to the original Les March dealer stickers.”
Classic Australian Family Car Value Guide home page
Muscle Car Value Guide home page
Japanese Classic Car Value Guide home page