As many of us can attest to, nothing beats the feeling of taking a finished project on its maiden voyage. That’s why it’s important not to get carried away before you familiarize yourself with your car’s limits. Tragedy struck earlier today when a 24-year-old Australian man crashed his newly-restored 1971 Datsun 1600 (aka 510 in the US), into a tree. The driver was airlifted to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead, but his 20-year-old passenger survived with minor injuries.
Authorities say the car was unregistered and travelling 40kph over the speed limit on the winding road where the collision occurred. Witnesses described hearing a clunk or a thud. We know the temptation to take your car out for a spin after a major work is completed can be damn near irresistible, but please use the utmost caution when doing so. Don’t be the thud.
As our resident Aussie Kev explains, the “P-Plater” referred to in the article is an Australian term that describes beginner drivers. For the first three years of driving, a small magnetic “P” is affixed to your car, much like the Japanese shoshinsha mark, indicating a lower speed limit for the driver, a prohibition of turbo or V8 cars, a lower allowable alcohol limit, and fewer allowable infringements before license cancellation.
With the holiday season approaching, we want you JNCers to be safe and merry.
UPDATE: The identity of the driver, Gabriel Guimaraes, has been released. More details at the Daily Telagraph. Even though we didn’t know Gabriel, we feel a kinship with him over his dedication to restoring his classic Datsun. Our condolences go out to his family.
Truly a sad thing. My regards to his family. 🙁
Tragic. Sorry to hear about this…
Very Tragic. So sorry to hear about this. My condolences and simpaty to the family. Guys! Let’s be sensible and be very careful when going on a spin on your car.
Sad sad day
24 year old p-plater?
I got to know Gab well over the last couple of years as I helped him out with his car for parts and so on..and he was so so passionate about having his dream car on the road! This always put a smile on his face .. and he did get to trailer it out to a couple of track days at Oran Park in Sydney where he had the time of his life listening to that SR20T rev on full song 😉
Im very glad to of met Gabriel as he was all about having a good time and progressing with his car, and would make me laugh alot in the mean time 🙂
A great bloke all round and we will miss him dearly!
Angus.
condolences to the family. said to see the lost of a life and of a fellow nostalgic japanese car lover
Condolences to Gabriel’s family and friends. It’s probably small comfort, but he seems to have gone out doing what he loved; driving a beloved JNC.
What a Bummer! My most heart-felt condolences to his friends and family for their loss. It is a bit of a miracle that the passenger had only minor injuries, though.