"Other" Datsuns...

[Danglybanger]

...aka, not Zs or 510s, or Fairlady roadsters.

I'm talking B210s, 710s, 610s, F10s... Those which were known as Sunnies, Cherries elsewhere... Possibly 410s, which I used to think looked dowdy as hell but grew on me when people kept saying they looked like Alfas.

Nissan seems to have made the first "good" Japanese cars with the Z and the 510, but what is the regard of the models made alongside/before those? I suppose the combination of uniqueness and fuel economy allures, is there any engineering prowess to go along? As much as I'd love to have an old Skyline, Laurel or Cedric/Gloria, they're pretty much made of unobtainium here so

The 610 is the one that piques my interest most because it's so damn gorgeous, and has IRS, RWD, and has the L series engine... lots of 510 DNA in general in a swishy body, the 710 seems to be a different car entirely from what I read, and was never as good in the US.

The B210 just LOOKS so... gas crisisy in a wonderful way, so remarkably overdone that I can't help but want one, though from what I've read they weren't particularly known for being great cars...

An F10 seems to be something apart from exciting, though as I read about the car it intrigues... Not having been born in the era my knowledge of even popular conceptions of these cars is limited

They come up cheap, and with my expected financial windfall I want to get into something semi practical (aka holds more people than the Z, gets something like 30mpg)...

...

I'm just afraid I might buy a 610 on spot if I ever see one :laugh: (which I may never have, actually so I'll be in luck, ). Is there a real reason no one's interest for them matches the 510s?

Not all of them were as knock kneed as this one, so why did they all get buried in junkyards?

...even looks good as a near beater...

Edited August 22, 2008 by Danglybanger

[sblake01]

Don't forget the 810 (though most have). The 610/710 didn't really catch on as a successor to the 510 so the sales weren't as expected. They even revived the 510 (sort of) in 1978 but that one didn't have the IRS. It was badged as a 510 but it's actual model designation was A10. It was even less successful than the 610/710. B210s were rather a rather lackluster econobox, at least the versions the US got. The F10 (had one of those) was the first FWD Datsun in the US and it had some built in problems such as shift linkage, clutch linkage, etc. I wouldn't subject myself to the ownership of another one! As far as the earlier Datsuns (you mentioned the 410) they were miserable little cars that you'd just have to love to own one. My 320 pickup falls in that catagory. They're cramped, noisy, underpowered, hot, miserable little cars. That being said, I have no plans of getting rid of mine. If you like Datsuns, you like Datsuns regardless of where they were on the automotive scale in their era.

[george71z]

Here's a pic of the '72 1200 coupe; my first new car. My old boss used to call it a 120-Z. Had this baby for 127K miles. 14 years of N.Y.C. commuting, snow, salt and tollbooths. They seem to still be available in Australia, and turned into drag cars in Puerto Rico with rotaries in them. (the white one w/the 1200 stripes was mine)

[sblake01]

I forgot about the 1200 or (K)(L)B110. I much preferred that car over the B210. That's another on I'd own under the right conditions. Small, nimble, economical and the potential is there as are many of the parts if you wanted to turn it into something more.

[Bruce Palmer]

Spares spares spares. On the 610 front, keep that in mind. There weren't many, hence there aren't many "left".........

[Carl Beck]

Working as a New Car Sales Manager for a Datsun Dealership in 73, and selling Datsuns here in Florida in 74 - I can tell you that if Nissan had been able to produce three times as many 1200's and 510's we could have sold them in a heart beat in 73.

The reputation the 510 had built was almost at it's peak - why Nissan decided to come out with a model change at this point is beyond me, and it was beyond all the other Dealers in Dealers Association at the time.

By 73 you didn't really "sell" 510's - you just took orders and delivered the cars.

The 610 was supposed to be an up-scale/luxury reincarnation of the 510 - but it completely lacked the wonderful personality of the 510. The 610 was actually a very nice car once you got the 510 out of your head, the problem was the public still wanted a Datsun 510 - and they simply went to Toyota as their next alternative..

It was an interesting situation - one that the Sales Force and I discussed - even after I moved down here to Clearwater. People would come in, with their decision to BUY a 510 already made. We would have to inform them that the 510 had gone out of production, and was being replaced by this wonderful new 610. The average Customer would say something to the effect of "well $^!#". then they would simply leave - they didn't want to hear about anything else. The had finally made up their mind that they wanted a 510 only to find they couldn't buy one..

The switch from the 1200 to the B210 went better - it was all about gas mileage in a known dependable car...

The Trans/Am being over - the poor 610 never really got the enthusiasts hyped up.. So they continued to recommend the 510 - even if all you could find was a used one. They saw the 610 as overweight and not as tossable nor fun as the 510. Of course the US Emissions Standards also hurt the 610's performance.... and the price increase for the 610 didn't help sales either..

I'd buy a 610 Wagon in a heart beat if I could find one in excellent shape around here.... but you just don't see them anymore...

FWIW,

Carl B.

BW - that little F-10 that was on E-Bay was amazing.

[Arne]

My wife bought a '74 B210 hatch (4 speed) in late '75 or so, shortly out of high school. We drove that car on our honeymoon on '77, sweltering in the August SoCal heat (no A/C) but getting in excess of 35 MPG. Sold it in '79 to raise a down payment on our first house. It was a fine car really, did exactly what it was designed to do, no more, no less.

[Danglybanger]

Haha, an 810 is cool but I'm aiming for something smaller and more entrenched in the 60s/70s... Actually, my friend drove around a "new" 510 wagon (Sentra or whatever it was)... I was almost envious, but always wondered why it looked crappier than most 510s, one day I learned the truth

The 110/1200's looks can't quite compete with the B210's in my mind for pure cheese factor, though I must admit that the fastback looks quite alright A lot of the disdain for the 210 (as I read more) seems to be based on the fact that it wasn't different enough from the 110... Does a 210 amount to an economy focussed 110?

I wonder why Datsun never imported their larger, fancier sedans/coupes here...

My family was a Datsun family in those days, I think pretty much every one of my aunts, uncles and grandparents had 510s (my dad stuck with Zs ). It's a shame people were turned off by the 610 largely because it wasn't a 510, especially as it seems to have been in terms of engine and suspension... Though I read that the things costed more than a Pinto...

[Arne]

Was a lot more car than a Pinto, too. A guy I went to High School with had a 610 coupe. Darned nice car, for the day.

[sblake01]

Haha, an 810 is cool but I'm aiming for something smaller and more entrenched in the 60s/70s......

...I wonder why Datsun never imported their larger, fancier sedans/coupes here...

The true 810 was only available from 77-79 with a few beinig sold as 1980 kind of like the transition in late 1974 from the 260Z to the 280Z. The 'Maxima' bodied one that were badged as the 810 in 1980 and 1981 don't count. A 77-79 810 is certainly a 'larger, fancier sedan/coupe' and it was 'entrenched' in the 70s. You just don't see them that often, especially 2 dr. hardtops like mine, because they didn't really catch on that well, then or now, as I only know of a handful of people that own them, and even fewer who know what they are when they do see them.

[Danglybanger]

Yeah, I reallized after I typed that that the 810 was encircled by the 70s, but kept it because to me it sort of gets grouped with cars from the next era... Not that I have had much of a chance to "group" it at all, what with them being relatively rare (though I believe my aunt had a 910 Maxima at one point...)

[sblake01]

In my mind the 810 is definately a 70s car and the Maxima is an 80s (and up) car. It has all of the 70s stuff. Big bumpers, plaid/houndstooth or whatever disco era type pattern they could come up with in the interior, gun sight type hood ornament, opera windows etc. Kind of like Nissans answer to the Toyota Crown. But rather than copy it so they looked the same, regardless of manufacturer, as least back then you could distinguish a Toyota form a Nissan/Datsun without reading the emblems.

Edited August 23, 2008 by sblake01