For those of you that are not aware, Nissan is reviving the Datsun nameplate, which will sit well with some fans that remember models from the company’s earlier days. Before South African petrolheads were cheering Skyline GTXs at rallies and race events or even before we knew of the famed GT-R, there was the Datsun 1600 SSS.
Based on the standard 1600 version of the saloon bodyshape, some mild tweaking – bigger camshaft, twin Stromberg carbs, higher compression ration – resulted in a power output of over 82 kW, not bad for a car that weighed half that of a modern GT-R and pre-dated the VW Golf GTI by almost a decade. More impressive than the power output is the fact that the Super Sports Sedan boasted an independent rear suspension that CAR said at the time “gives very fine roadholding ability allied with good stability at speed“.
For those of you that did not know of its existence, take a read of the 1600 SSS road test that in 1969 was described as “… a virtuoso among light performance cars, quite thrilling to drive, and with a high standard of engineering throughout“.
