I’ve now taken ownership of the great white beast. I have to say I’m pretty happy with the purchase. I’ve bought plenty of old cars from second and third owners (my Giulia Super was still in the same family, and lived barely 10 miles from where it was first sold), but until now had never had the experience of buying from an original owner.

Wayne, the original owner

In addition to the knowledge that an original owner has about the car, there’s a lot to be said for the emotional appeal of a car that’s been a very real part of a family. Wayne’s daughter, who was 2 years old when dad bought the car said, “you’re buying my life.” Maybe it’s silly, but it kinda makes you want to take extra special care of something when its walls have that many stories in them.

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It’s been a while since my last post, mostly due to inactivity on the TI front (or floors, as it were), and a spate of busy weekends.

After some consideration I realized my little Datsun 411 was not going to satisfy the various uses I’d envisioned for it. I’m happy having a beater utility vehicle in my proverbial garage, but a) I only want one, and b) I want it do be capable of both hauling things and have enough internal space to actually sleep two people in vintage truck bed comfort. The Datsun is marginally adequate at the hauling (you’d never get a couch in it) and does not offer sleeping accomodations for two full-size humans.

Small.

My hunt for a replacement really focused on the mid-60s panel vans such as the Ford Econlines and Dodge A100. I like the short wheelbase forward-control vans. They would obviously do well hauling quite a bit of junk, and there’s just about room to stand up in them.

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