July 6th, 1997 marks an important and pivotal day in my life for it was on that day I picked up my 1982 Datsun from it's former owner. I frankly didn't have a clue about the outcome that one day would have. My excitement over the matter was too much for me, a 15 year old, to really feel very prophetic.
The summer of 1997 was one of great growth for me. I was supposed to visit my grandparents, help my grandpa rebuild a 1968 Datsun truck and then drive it back to Nevada as my own. In May those plans were frustrated when he had a severe stroke that left him paralyzed and unable to work at all. My parents asked if I even wanted to go at all. I responded with a yes and knew I'd be in for a tough summer.
Since the object of my trip was to acquire a vehicle to drive as my "first car" Grandma and I began looking for one. I wanted a small 4x4 truck, and had a list of 4x4 Nissans, Datsuns and Toyotas pulled from the Nickel's Worth that we called on. Grandma didn't care whether it was a 4x4 or not, but she agreed I should get a small pickup truck.
After several viewings, we found a listing that read "1982 Datsun King Cab Runs Good $800 OBO". When we went to find the said truck, we didn't find it. I rejoiced because what I really wanted was a 4x4. Strange as it may seem, we ended up calling the guy back when we discovered the truck had not been taken off the listings. Kei Freidricks met us at his home in Coeur D' Alene, ID and showed us the vehicle July, 5th. I warmed up to it when I saw how clean it was on the inside. My impression of the truck instantly changed. After a short period of dickering the truck was sold for $650. I promised my grandma I'd pay back every penny and more.
July 6th was the day we got it home. I was truly excited, but that was when the work began. It had 151,000 miles on it, but still needed a lot of work. Lights were broken out, bulbs blown out and it needed an oil change badly. This is where my knowledge of cars grew from. At some point during the summer my Grandma called my shop teacher and enrolled me in his Auto classes, though I had decided to keep automotive as only a hobby. From those things a career blossomed, and one that has blessed the lives of many people.
After a while, I continued tinkering on the old truck. I soon decided to do a 4x4 swap and converted the truck to 4 wheel drive at the age of 17. By the age of 18 I had rewired the truck, added A/C (I still use the same system and compressor) and a host of other goodies. I converted the truck to EFI upon my return home from Brazil in 2004 and even trubocharged the truck for about a year from 2010-11.
Few people can brag about a vehicle like I can. The truck has hosted many important events of my life. I went all over creation with my grandfather in that truck and he became one of the closest friends to me. I drove my first road trip alone for 26 hours in that truck at age 17. I got to know the woman I eventually married on a road trip back home from Salt Lake City in the truck. I can't remember how many times I would go out, drive somewhere and take my most pressing problems and work them out while driving the truck.
More so than that, how many people out there can honestly say they still have the same vehicle they owned in high school, put 190,000 miles on it and it still is there used as a daily driver? The truck survived a male teenager, collision with a deer, multiple mechanical changes, broken leaf spring, off-roading, turbocharging, abuse of teaching a wife to drive "stick," towing a number of really heavy loads, Nevada summers and still much more.
To say I'm proud of my 1982 Datsun truck is an understatement. There are some out there who have suggested the truck has become more than it should. Some have even insinuated that it is just a "thing, and things don't bring happiness. True, things do not bring happiness, but the truck is really more of a place than a thing. It's a place, not so much a thing. It's my happy place, the place I go when I need somewhere to go to relax and get answers.
But none of this would not have happened without the day July 6th, 1997
"Things" don't bring happiness, but the memories attached to them do. "things" lose the definition of "thing" when enough passion is poured into them. Relationships technically fit the definition of the word "thing", as do religions, faith, beliefs, ideals. . . those are all "things". That truck defines you as a person. . . I think that losing your left arm would be less costly to you as a person than losing that damme truck!! LoL
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