Cedric 1900 Deluxe

RESTORATION / NOT FOR SALE

Via The Wall Street Journal:

"Above 1st photo: Cedric Walker and his 1964 Nissan Cedric on the campus of Tulane University, where he is a professor emeritus of biomedical engineering.

-- He'll Never Sell This Car. The Name Is Too Perfect. --
A 1964 Nissan Cedric turned out to be the ideal surprise gift for Cedric Walker

Cedric Walker, 73, professor emeritus of biomedical engineering at Tulane University, on his 1964 Nissan Cedric, as told to Mike Jordan.

There are a lot of students I've followed in their careers long after graduation. One of them is Jim. He is a car collector and restorer. We've stayed in touch.

In September 2020, at a car auction in Indiana, he saw a very tired-looking Nissan Cedric from 1964. He sent me a photo of it, just like, “Hey, have you ever seen one of these?” I had, but this particular one was the only left-hand-drive Cedric I had ever seen.

They were normally only made for the Japanese domestic market, which meant right-hand drive. Here was one that had the steering wheel on the left side of the car and a mile-per-hour speedometer and English-language labels on all the gauges. So I wrote back to him, “Wow, that's really cool. I've never seen one before.” End of story, as far as I was concerned.

Jim then texts my wife and says, “Hey, Julie, I'm going to buy this for Cedric and have it restored. Keep it a secret.” It was sold for $2,750 at RM Sotheby's Auburn Fall car collector auction in 2020. Jim and Julie exchanged texts about how to do it and what it should look like as it was being restored. It took almost a year, and I knew absolutely nothing about this. I think [Julie] really enjoyed working with Jim to make it happen with the knowledge that I was gonna get this amazing surprise.

November 2021, during homecoming weekend, I was invited over to Tulane's campus to judge an engineering design competition. The director of development came in where I was talking to some students, and says, “I need you to come with me, there's an emergency.” So I followed her out to a patio underneath the science center. And there were about 50 to 70 people, all of whom I know. There is a table with flutes of champagne, there's something underneath a car cover and there's Jim. Jim whips the car cover off. It was a total surprise—one of those once-in-a-lifetime “wow” moments.

I want to keep the car as stock as I can because it's a time capsule. The cloth upholstery, the motor and transmission are all original. It doesn't have electric windows, electric doorknobs or locks. It doesn't have automatic headlights, you have to turn the headlights on by pulling a knob. It feels very much like a car I learned to drive growing up in Los Angeles as a teenager in the '60s.

Every time somebody sees the car, the first thing they say is, “I really love the color.” It's not a stock color; it's one that the shop, Custom Classics in Island Lake, IL picked out with Jim and Julie. I don't know who suggested it, but I love it. It's a '60s color without looking dated or antiquated.

The two outside rearview mirrors, instead of being mounted on the door, are all the way at the front edge of the fenders. That's very typical of cars in Japan. The first time I saw that, I thought, “What a weird place for the mirrors to be.” But as I've grown used to driving it, I realize you get a much better perspective of what's on both sides of the road. It's perfectly logical.

I've got a JVC Bluetooth stereo hidden in the glove compartment, and I've got a Beach Boys and Jan & Dean surfer music playlist on my iPhone. What would you think is the best kind of music for an L.A. boy in a 1964 car?

The greatest pleasure of being a college professor is that you get to know people and have this long relationship with them. It's that long-term relationship you build, working with people in the classroom and the lab, that stays with you. That more than makes up for having to grade papers. The friendships and the relationships are the reward.

I try to drive the Cedric at least once a week, even if it's just to get gas or on a short errand. It's fun to drive it around. I have never had an offer on it, and, frankly, I wouldn't take one. Where else will I find somebody named Cedric who would want to take over the car?"

By Mike Jordan | Main Photograph by Cedric Angeles for The Wall Street Journal July 14, 2023 5:00 pm