Electric Quasi-Camino: 1980 Datsun 310 Lektrikar II
Colin Chapman’s motto for car performance was; “simplify and then add diamond plate.” No. Wait. That wasn’t Chapman. That was a young Elon Musk — he was building his first electric car, a canvas backed quasi-camino and he needed a lightweight, space-age material to use for the front valence, rear bumper, bed liner, seat cover, and tail light surround…and he thought “I can’t afford anything light, so I’ll hack the roof off, add 2 tons of lead-acid batteries and use diamond plate wherever I can“. Diamond Plate Motors was a total failure, but he joined the guys at Tesla Motors when they were converting lightweight Lotus Elises to electric and the rest is history. Find this 1980 Datsun 310 offered for $1500 in Santa Cruz, CA via craigslist.
From the seller:
1980 Datsun Lektrikar II
condition: fair
cylinders: other
drive: fwd
fuel: electric
odometer: 20000
paint color: red
size: compact
title status: clean
transmission: manual
type: other
1980 Datsun 310 Lektrikar II, it was a 4 door hatchback, its been restomoded to a 2 door UTE. It is a fully functioning/ driving/ licensed/ insured vehicle. it still has 4 seats but you have to “dukes of hazzard” to get into the back seats. its powered by 108 volts DC to a Prestolight 7.2 Brushed DC motor (22 electric HP) hooked up to the standard 4 speed manual transmission. it is capable of going freeway speeds and is a great around town car, it has a tight turning radius and fits into any parking spot.. it has a built in charger that plugs into a standard 120v 15A outlet. the range in its current configuration ((9) 12v batteries) is around 25 miles, of course you can increase the range directly related to the amount you want to spend on batteries. the current batteries will need to be replaced sooner that later.
the canvas roof is easy to install and remove and there is also a lumber rack that is also removable. the US government bought 1200 from Nissan with nothing that related to a combustion engine. It was then given to Electra Motors of Las Vegas to be converted. they were then sold to power companies and other municipalities as part of the 1976 Clean Air Act. Part of the way thru production GM got 51% of the company and had it shut down. most of the records were lost so no one really knows how many were completed. I have only see one other photo of one and I have owned to car for 13 years.
See a better way to drive something from the future? A bleak and dystopian Mad Max future…but the future is the future. tips@dailyturismo.com
Rust-O-Mod?
Diamond plate +Sawzall+ Santa Cruze
What, did GM shut them down for copying the Opel badge?
Can we just make a rule to not ever mention that guy’s name on this here revered site? Not that I am anti-electric, as I do see conversion to renewable energy sources as an absolute must in our future, just that that guy is such an annoying douche-hole. (Can I say douche-hole on here?)
The approved alternate would be “donut hole”, but we’ll let it slide. Believe you me, there have been times I’ve “fupped duck” and forgot to say “shiznit” or “shizzle” or “chicken pluckin” and we are still in “business”.
I have to agree that for all the amazing stuff Elmo’s doing, all the way down to the names of the landing barges, it’s too bad that being not-a-wanker isn’t a priority.
Does blocking out space count as amazing stuff? His blanket the sky with tiny satellites might rank up there as donut hole’s worst idea. Although a friend thinks that it will be an AI that eventually kills us. Not an ill meaning one either, more like an AI that has to do with cute kittens, or something similar, that goes awry.
The problem is we can’t even really discuss it rationally or logically, because the decisionmaking that happens when cost is not a factor and fantasy *is* a factor simply doesn’t compute for actual people. Let me get you a ginger kombucha, we’ll sit on the porch and watch the madness as the AI kitten eye lasers melt the world.
I’m just going to add that I think I’m going to launch a men’s perfume (cologne, I think they call it) that is called “Elon Musk”. The scent will be a combination of unburnt rocket fuel and burnt wiring harness insulation. It won’t sell well, or even break a profit, but when the company goes IPO — it’ll be nuts. I’ll get you guys in on the ground floor, just mums the world with the ess eee sea or those reddit guys.
I already smell like that after successfully rewiring my 70s vintage stand mixer (thank you Kenwood for a sturdy, repairable design) and failing to fix my dingly dang ice maker (fork you Samsung for a fussy, fragile kludge). Now I have dough for pineapple buns, but no ice for my rocket fuel.
Oh lord. I actually have ginger kombucha in the fridge. Not sure what this means…
I just wish Elmo would get some sun. Every time I gaze on his pixalated portrait I get a queasy feeling…like looking at something thats not human but is pretending to be.and any minute a giant claw will fly out of his mouth and much away on the unsuspecting idolator holding a box of AAA batteries in his hand and wondering why?
Elmo. Interesting. I just invented that on the fly in the comment above, but it kind of fits. Let’s see if we can get it to catch on and if it does we know where it started! It’s not pejorative in any way, more a combo of grudging appreciation, some jealousy (I admit it, I wouldn’t mind having hundreds of billions of dollars, my own car company, rocket company, boring company, etc.), yes annoyance, and maybe a little fear. We’re not anything like the people who are calling him “Space Karen”. I’m sure he’ll be pleased and will give us all nice cars.