Here is a lovely photo of my grandfather’s 1971 TAP Rally car being drooled over by fans.
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Here is a lovely photo of my grandfather’s 1971 TAP Rally car being drooled over by fans.
Dattosan Kureiji! 
Hi there. is Ewold still around? My name is Doug Laurie, I worked at Young Advertising in the late ’60’s and did the concepts and copywriting for the launch of the Datsun 1600, SSS and later, the 1200. As a result, I met Ewold and Minota. Wanted to do an article on rallying, and Ewold offered me a back seat for, I think, the Trial Oranje. But it could have led to a complaint from other entrants about an ‘extra driver’ and possible disqualification, so I didn’t come along for the ride.
Hello Doug, nice to hear from you. Yes, my grandfather is still around and is currently living in Langebaan with my grandmother. Sounds like quite the missed opportunity to go along for a ride with my grandparents in a rally car, that would really have been something! Do you possibly still have any media regarding the Datsuns you mention here?
Hi Jared, great to hear from you. Unfortunately I don’t have any media stuff left from those days. As mentioned, I did the ad campaign for the Datsun 1600’s and 1200’s, and recently actually found a couple of my old ads posted on a local website by a guy who was restoring his SSS. (Headline: “How to turn your Datsun into a rally car? Remove the hubcaps” and also another one for the SSS: “Flying gear is optional”.) When the ad campaign started, the Datsun had been already launched but was 31st best-seller in SA. 27 months later, it was 2nd under the Beetle. One of the reasons was that up until then, the talk you heard in pubs was: ‘Ja, Jap bakkies are OK but cars? They’re Jap crap.’ (Sounds crazy today!) Your grandad’s successes in rallying allowed us to make quite a story about the Datsun’s strengths. I had a sticker printed which was put on the back window of all Datsuns: ‘The cars with rally reliability’. This really helped boost sales. If you’re in contact with Ewold, give him my best regards. He was a brilliant engineer as well as a great driver, and I really enjoyed working with him.
Hello Doug. Man that is a real pity that you don’t have any old media stuff, would have been really great to get some of that. I will give my grandfather your regards the next time I speak to him, thank you very much.
hi
Im from Portugal, my father raced with one 510, in the late 70’s
i ve heard that was your fathers car, do you know if your father leave that car in Portugal?
Ps: my first car was also a 510, now i have an 510 coupe 😉
Best Regards
Rodrigo
Hi Dattosan
Nice to hear from you again. I last corresponded with Minota about a year ago (Ewold doesn’t do emails!).
It seemed at the time that Ewold wasn’t that well, and I must get in touch with Minota again.
I have to say, the Datsun 1600 and SSS were a very important part of my copywriting career. Until I was headhunted by Young Advertising, I had been with P.N. Barrett Advertising, working mostly on VW copy.
The Datsun was a terrific car and one I found easy to advertise as it was so far ahead of its competitors in those days. Although at that time one would hear muttering in pubs that: ‘Ag ja, Datsun bakkies are OK, but Datsun cars…they’re Jap crap,’ when I started doing the Datsun ads (just after it had been launched), it sailed up the sales chart from 31st best-seller to 2nd under the Beetle in just 27 months. Was very proud of that campaign. The car had such visible benefits that one could ‘sell’ – the all-independent suspension, the luxury (reclining seats) and a great engine. The one thing that you couldn’t ‘prove’ in an ad was reliability, and of course, Ewold took care of that with all his rally wins. So I had a sticker made that the factory put on the rear window: ‘The cars with rally-reliability.’ I still remember the launch price of the 1600 – R2177! Sounds crazy today.
I actually am considering writing to Steve Smith, the editor of CAR, to ask him if he could get someone in his department to scan the ads that I did of the 1600 and SSS back then and send them to me, as I would love to have them in my portfolio. Later on, I was lucky enough to be headhunted back again by P.N. Barrett to launch the Golf 1 – another great car. But that’s another story.
All the very best
Doug
Hi Doug,
Have not been on the site for a while, hence the late response. Apologies for that!
It is fantastic to hear about your days in the advertising campaign for the SSS! I wish I could buy a new SSS for R2177!! 😀 Would love to see what the stickers looked like that you made for the factory as well.
Did you end up writing to Steve Smith regarding the scans of your adverts? Those would be pure gold to get a hold of! Would love to see them naturally!
I trust you are keeping well?
Kindest regards
Jared van Bergen
Hi Dattosan
Sorry for the delay in replying – have just got back from a 3-week holiday down in KZN.
No, I haven’t yet got around to asking Steve for the copies of the ads – work was pretty hectic before I left and will be from this Monday!
But I am still strongly considering doing it.
Thanks for your reply.
Kind regards
Doug
Hi Rodrigo,
Great to hear from you!
I believe you may have contacted me through Facebook? Is that correct?
My grandfather might have left a car in Portugal, although I am not 100% certain of that.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Kind regards
Jared van Bergen