We’ve all been guilty of fixating on how much horsepower a car makes and quantifying performance through outright grunt alone. What often gets overlooked is an arguably even more important factor affecting performance: weight. Michael Willoughby’s little four-pot Datto 1200 is the perfect illustration of why power-to-weight is a discussion we should have more often.

First published in the March 2025 issue of Street Machine

“It’s funny; when you tell people the outright power figure, it’s not super impressive on its own, but that’s not the point,” says Michael. “The car only weighs 850kg, so it’s handed out its fair share of pain to the V8 boys.”

Giving the Datsun its punch is a Nissan CA18DET, a 1.8-litre turbo four-banger originally found in early Nissan S13s. It churns out 342rwkW (458rwhp) on 32psi at 7800rpm, sucking on corn juice, and in the featherlight Datto, that calculates to 538hp per tonne. For perspective, a Bugatti Veyron’s power-to-weight ratio is 523hp per tonne, so you can imagine how lively this pint-sized 1200 can be – especially with a five-speed manual and leaf springs!

“I went with the CA mainly because it’s way easier to get engineered, which this car is,” Michael says. “It had an A15 with twin carbs when I got it; I bought the car after my first 1200 – a ute – was stolen.”
Now 34, Michael has been the wagon’s custodian since his early 20s, and as the owner/painter at his own panel repair place, it’s no surprise he’s given the 1200 several makeovers over that time. “The first time I built it, it was grey,” he says. “Then I really wanted to challenge myself, so we went with a deep jet black. The vision was a super-deep black with high polished chrome, to show there are no ripples or imperfections in the body.”

Unsurprisingly, that lofty goal saw the wagon undergo its most comprehensive overhaul yet, with Michael and his workers devoting more than 1000 hours to welding, gapping and refining the lines of the Datsun’s bodywork over the course of a year.

Given all that effort, you’d forgive Michael if he barely used the car for fear of undoing everyone’s hard work. Fantastically, that couldn’t be further from the truth. “I drive it everywhere, man. We take the kids in it, and the Powercruise cruise sessions are one of my favourite things to do,” he says. “I want it to look nice, but I still drive the hell out of it.”

As for the little CA that motivates it, it’s still a 1.8-litre combo, using a standard crank pushing I-beam rods and forged pistons. The factory eight-port head has been opened up a tad and fitted with a set of fire rings and Tomei 272 sticks. Exhaust gases are pushed through a custom steampipe manifold and Garrett G25-660 turbo, with 32psi forced back through a CPC intake.

Behind the engine is an RB25 twin-plate clutch and an SR20 five-speed gearbox with PAR Engineering straight-cut gears from first to fourth. Combined with a live-axle HiLux rear end and leaf springs, and 245-wide rear tyres, the combo produces one hell of a smoke show when the loud pedal’s flexed in the right direction.

“I don’t think there’s even been a time I’ve taken it out and haven’t rolled into a burnout,” Michael says. “It’s that kind of car to drive. You get the whine of the T51R mod to the turbo and the straight-cut gears; it’s a bit raw, but that’s how I like it.”

Although Michael has broken plenty of V8 hearts at Powercruise Sydney in the diminutive Datto, he is yet to run it down the strip. “I reckon it’ll have a 10 in it fairly easily, but I’ve been tossing up doing a BMW 8HP gearbox swap,” he says. “So, I might wait ’til that before I try and race it – I expect I’ll get kicked out pretty quick because I won’t ’cage it.”

Another favourite event for Michael is Street Machine Summernats, and he plans to take the Datto to ’Nats 38 next year. “I haven’t entered it in the judging before; I like to drive it around the event, so I didn’t want to parked up in a hall,” he says. “But I’ll try for Street Elite next year, and you better believe I’ll smash a set down Skid Row as well!”

MICHAEL WILLOUGHBY
1972 DATSUN 1200 WAGON

THANKS
My wife Tara; Ashley Sidley; Daniel Timbs for the engine; Luke Ferris at Profab; Dave at King Trim; Dave at Silverwater Automotive Service; Tony at All Cylinder Head Services.