Shakotan For Gentlemen

When you think of the cars most commonly associated with Japan’s shakotan and modified kyusha culture, there are several models that come to mind. The Nissan Skyline of course, along with its cousin the Fairlady Z. Then there’s the Toyota Celica, the Mark II, the Mazda RX-7, plus a number of other domestic sports cars and sedans from the ’70s and ’80s.

Roadster-09

Yet despite its importance to the history of Japanese sports cars, the Datsun Fairlady Roadster is not a model you often see involved with this movement. That’s why I was very surprised to find this little 2000 Roadster parked amongst a group of two and four-wheeled kyusha during a gathering at Fuji Speedway earlier this year.

Roadster-01

With its elegant 1960s sports car inspired looks, the Datsun Roadster isn’t commonly associated with the wide fenders, slammed ride heights and overt paint jobs of the shakotan scene, but this car manages to fit in perfectly.

Roadster-07

The owner has given the loveable little Fairlady some proper attitude with a choice set of wheels, some subtle body work and an aggressive suspension setup. Best of all, the modifications come across totally natural.

Roadster-06

You can’t just throw a bunch of stuff at a car like this and expect it to work, so great attention to detail was needed for the body work. Rather than the bolt-on style over-fenders you see on most kyusha builds, the arches of the Datsun have been perfectly flared to accommodate wheels and tires much larger than what the stock fenders could hold.

Roadster-05

And the fenders are filled up beautifully with a set of Hayashi Street wheels that look brand new, wrapped in modern Dunlop rubber with the perfect amount of stretch.

Roadster-04-01

Combined with an aggressive but functional ride height, a factory hard top and a set of bullet-style mirrors, you’ve got one of the most attractive looking Fairlady Roadsters I’ve ever seen.

Roadster-03

It’s the same story inside. Peek into the cockpit and you’ll find a pair of old school bucket seats, a period correct steering wheel and requisite checker pattern floor mats.

Roadster-08

With the ideal blend of period charm, attention to detail and a street racer touch, this vintage Datsun presses all the right buttons for me. I really hope we’ll see more Roadster builds like this one start to pop up around the world.

Mike Garrett
Instagram: japanifornia_media
mike@speedhunters.com

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1

Love the style!

2

Oh I say!

3

THIS IS PERFECT

4

Ok I *would* Trade my Honda City Turbo II for one of this!

5

Great coverage on the Roadster! It is almost a clone of ours. I'm going to have to take the cover off and give it some exercise.

6

Datsun wins this week!

7

Diggin this bigtime!

8

This Roadster has been giving me all kinds of heartache lately with how fond I'm growing of them, and this little number is hitting the nail on the head. Those arches are incredibly well executed. Pretty curious to see how it would look with a trailing fastback hardtop.

9

little lady

10

Loving that! Time to grab a pic for some wallpaper.

11

strawe510 Nice!

12

Really nice looking car and the fenders certainly help to toughen the thing up a lot.

13

Beautiful car, awesome style!!

14

Wonder if you could fit an RB26 in there.

15
turbo BEAMS ae86

karo mat?  why they always put it?  (i do like it)

16
RobbieKazandjian

Awesome! A real subtle beauty....

17

Perfection. Car of the month material.

18

I spent my childhood dreaming about one of these. My grandfather let one sit in his backyard until the ground had built up nearly to its lug nuts. I think the parking break locked up on it and he parked it because he was mad...he was notorious for this sort of thing. 30 years later it was dug out and hauled away. Two other sports cars and 5 motorcycles suffered the same fate due to his mechanical apathy.
It's high time I rectify the sins of my forefathers and find another unloved example to make my own!

As always SpeedHunters...thanks for the inspiration.

19

Lovely. I think the flares are perfect, credit to whomever did them. The shade of white just works perfectly. I'm a sucker for karo mats. If this was my car however I'd have a wooden wheel and gear knob. However it's a perfect build. :) Regardless of what it may have under the hood.

20

How do I get one of these in my life?!

21

BT180 If you can fix rust these are pretty cheap and easy to find. ;)

22

SilviaBill Anytime man!

23

Smiggins That would be a tough, but anything is possible right?

24

IRONWOLF RD That would be interesting to see. Don't recall every seeing anything like that.

25

strawe510 Beautiful!

26

zombiedog BT180  Found a couple of restored earlier '66 models in the local classifieds but they're asking mid $30's AUD!

27

Such a well balanced car!

28
JMax Paint Garage LLC

Just for you Greg Childs!

30

Mike Garrett IRONWOLF RD Here you go. Aftermarket Fastback kit for Datsun Roadsters

31

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32

I love this style also this Datsun 2000 is nice nice nice!!!!!!!

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