A two-door hardtop of the first-generation Laurel, a high-owner car that exudes sex appeal throughout
In 2024, we checked out a vehicle of interest at the Kanazawa Classic Car Meeting held at the Japan Automobile Museum in Komatsu City, Ishikawa Prefecture on Sunday, July 28. This time, we talked to the owner of a first-generation Nissan C30 “Laurel” 2-door hardtop with a stylish and nostalgic white leather top. In fact, he told us that there are some unexpected hardships. ……
The leather top was used by the president of a large company as an assistant for golf
Most people think of the C130 model, the second generation of the Nissan Laurel. The 2-door hardtop 2000SGX and other models are still very popular. What we found at the venue of the Kanazawa Classic Car Meeting was a C30 Laurel, one generation before the C130, in other words, the first generation.
When we spoke to the owner, Mr. Okumura, we learned that this car originally belonged to the president of a large company, who used it to go golfing. It is a 2-door hardtop 2000GX with a blue body color and white leather top, and the interior is equipped with a cooler, which was still expensive at the time. It must have been a very “high-color” car at the time.
Mr. Okumura acquired the Laurel in 1981, nine years after it was sold from new.
The American-inspired design established its status as a high-ownership car
The first generation C30 Laurel made its debut in 1968, a high-owner car that filled the gap between the 510 Bluebird and the 130 Cedric. In addition to the existing G18 1815cc engine, a 1990cc G20 was added to the hardtop model lineup, and the 2000GX, the sporty model introduced here with SU twin cabs, was also added. In other words, it can be seen that the 2000GX was a very expensive car, even though it was an owner’s car.
By the way, Laurel was considerably influenced by American cars of the time in terms of design and packaging, including the leather-top lineup in the top grade. The hardtop model in particular had bullet-shaped mirrors, shared brake and indicator lights, and sequential indicator lights (so-called “flowing indicator lights”).
The search for parts was a constant struggle! The current goal is to find side-blinkers
According to Mr. Okumura, unlike the second generation C130 Laurel with the L-type engine, the G20 engine is also a G20 type, and there are only a few of these in existence, so securing parts for the C30 Laurel is quite a challenge.
“Even though it is a Laurel, it is surprisingly minor, so we are having a lot of trouble securing parts for it. The front side blinkers were also fitted with different parts by the previous owner, and I was finally able to obtain the originals for one side, so I plan to put them back on once the other side is available.”
In addition, he has also taken great pains to maintain the car in its current condition, including securing the precious wheel caps with the “L” logo in the center with tie wraps to prevent them from coming off while driving, and carefully keeping the Bridgestone SF375 white ribbon tires in place.
“But I still enjoy driving this car.”
Said Okumura with a smile, “It is a valuable car that has been carefully maintained by a good owner.
translated by DeepL