Car Show Outtakes: 1974 Datsun 200L Coupe – Laurel C130 Series

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Strictly speaking this rare and RHD 1974 Datsun wasn’t attending the 2016 Ewijk Festijn I visited recently. But who cares ? After I left the show and walked back to my car I came across this specialty. At first I really had no idea what I was looking at (Datsun experts can laugh now).

The capital D on the grille was the only thing that did ring a bell. I checked its plate and it turned out to be registered as a 1974 Datsun 200L Hardtop. And that’s the two-door hardtop coupe-version of the 1972-1977 second generation Laurel, the C130-series. None of the Laurel generations ever made it to the US.

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According to its registration there’s a 1,990 cc 4-cylinder engine under the hood, 91 kW~124 hp. The G20 SOHC engine was originally a Prince engine, who’s roots trace back to 1955. Given the power rating, this is the most powerful SU twin carburetor version. The Laurel also was available with the Prince six cylinder, in 2.0, 2.6 and 2.8 L forms.

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Rear wheel drive and independent front and rear suspension.

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Nicknamed the Pig’s Butt Laurel.

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Very thoughtful of the owner to leave the side windows open. As said above, it has RHD and a 4-speed manual.