George Fury was to Nissan what Pete Brock and Al Moffat were to Holden and Ford respectively. A gun racer on dirt and tarmac - he won the Australian Rally Championships twice, once in a Datsun 1600 and then in 1980 in a Nissan Stanza. He also notched the runner-up position in the Australian Touring Car Championships. Twice!In 1981 Nissan decided that circuit racing was to be it's major competitive emphasis. Fury joined Fred Gibson for Team Nissan notching up 8 starts in the Bathurst 1000 for Nissan with a best finishing result of third in the controversial 1987 race. And George was bloody quick. On 29 September 1984, George Fury put his Nissan Bluebird Turbo (an imported version with a Nissan Z engine turbo motor and fabricated IRS) on pole position for the 1984 James Hardie 1000 touring car race with a time of 2:13.850. This remains the fastest time by a closed sedan on the old 6.172 km Mount Panorama Circuit before the introduction of Caltex Chase in 1987 increased the lap distance to 6.213 km. It was the first time a turbocharged car had won pole at the Bathurst 1000. To put this into perspective, Brocky gave it a good crack, but couldn’t match the ballistic Bluebird’s average of 165.97km/h, tripping the clocks a mere three hundredths slower. That lap time wouldn’t be bettered by a touring car for six years. Tony Longhurst finally milling a hundredth off it in a Group A Sierra RS500. By then the track had another 41 metres grafted into it, but it wasn’t until 1991 that the mighty Skyline GT-R at the hands of Mark Skaife could improve on Fury’s Top 10 Shootout time. Now we are not selling Fury's genuine 1981 race car. But a very good tribute to that car that can be either enjoyed as is or further enhanced as a Tribute race car or even developed into a terrific Group C weekend racer. This was a one owner car until 2019 when the current owner purchased it and sourced a full Group C touring car race flare kit, repainted the car with the racing stripes, added the big rims and new tyres (F 245x40x17 and R 275x40x17) and started turning a plain Jane Dato into a George Fury Race Replica. And boy does it go great. Running the matching numbers L20B 2.0L engine and 4 speed manual gearbox, the Dato has covered a log booked 152,301 Klms from new. Sold originally through Wights Datsun in Traralgon, Vic, this model Datsun is getting hard to find and certainly is appealing to a Datsun enthusiast with a sense of adventure and a creative flare. This is a cracker little Dato that needs a Garrett T03 Turbo (available as an aftermarket kit), a sports steering wheel, side pipe and a roll cage and then look out baby, this will be a real little ball tearer. Available for inspection in Brisbane, QLD. Or if travel is difficult, AMCS will gladly arrange a video inspection of the car using WhatsApp and of course there is no issue with door to door freight delivery anywhere in Australia or New Zealand. (Ref. 5600)
