The 1977 Datsun 200SX had been in the sinkhole since at least 1980
By WILLIAM SNOWDEN
Editor
Cal Jamison had been working on the project of having the car removed from the sinkhole on Charles Donahue’s property for months.
Jamison, former Wakulla Springs ambassador, a member of the Wakulla Springs Alliance, Friends of Wakulla Springs, and the Wakulla Soil & Water Board, had hoped to have the car pulled up and on display in time for the Wakulla Springs Car Show, but it didn’t happen.
Finally, on Tuesday, Nov. 19, everything finally fell into place.
Jackson-Cook provided a crane, and cave divers in drysuits geared up to go down about 60 feet in the sinkhole and hook up nylon straps to the car for the crane to pull it out.
It was a long, slow, deliberate process that took about five hours.
When the car finally emerged from the depths, a crowd of neighbors had gathered to watch, many trying to figure out what year and type of car it was – turns out it’s a 1977 Datsun 200SX.
Donahue, who owns the 40-acre tract off Oakridge Road in Leon County, bought the property in 1980 and there were two cars in the sinkhole at the time – although the Leon County Sheriff’s Office pulled one out because it was stolen. The other, they left.
There was no tag on the car, which was the worse for wear.
There’s still the mystery of how this car ended up in the sinkhole: Jamison texted on Friday that he had been in the tax collector’s office on other business and asked if they could run the car’s VIN. The clerk did. “After a few minutes he looked back up at me with a quizzical expression and a reddened face and quiestly said, ‘It’s my cousin’s.’”
Because of privacy, the office wouldn’t reveal any other details.
See video of the car being removed from the sinkhole here.
