Classic Ride: Datsun

A nostalgic drive down memory lane.

Kids these days are too young to remember the sheer delight of seeing an old Datsun Sunny beetling along the highway. Only kids who are really into their cars would know that Datsuns were even a thing—the brand having been supplanted by its parent brand, Nissan, in 1981.

Like Austins, Leylands and Daewoos, Datsuns have now completely disappeared from our roads. The kids these days are far too young to know that some of Nissan’s most famous models—the Skyline, the Patrol—started their lives as Datsuns.

But plenty of old hands in our industry will have spent many an hour under the bonnet of a Bluebird or watching a Sunny fang it around the track at Bathurst.

The heyday of the Datsun was the 1970s, but the company can trace its history back to 1914, when it began making cars in Tokyo. The first Datsuns were exported to Australia in 1934, the US in 1958 and New Zealand in 1962.

At the Centenary Royal Show in Melbourne in October 1934, you could pick up a Datsun sedan for £199. “It is a trim little vehicle with just sufficient accommodation for four adult passengers and an eighthorsepower engine with quite a lively performance”.

It wasn’t until 1959, when entrepreneur Sir Lawrence Hartnett decided to import 100 Datsun Bluebirds, that sales of Japanese cars really began to take off in Australia. In 1966, the first Datsun car to be built in Australia rolled off the factory floor in Sydney. In 1967, Datsun 1000 (the famous “Sunny”) took first and second place in Class A at Bathurst. A door that had been slowly nudged open had now been kicked ajar. Australians were ready for Japanese cars. By 1973, Mazda was the fourth most popular make, after Holden, Ford and Chrysler.

The following year Australia introduced a law requiring 85 per cent of vehicle parts to be locally sourced, which saw Nissan and Toyota both introduce local production lines. This period coincided with the “oil shock” which saw global petroleum prices skyrocket. Motorists suddenly wanted more economical cars, and the Datsun 120Y was the class leader. By December 1976, 27 per cent of all new passenger cars sold in Australia were small cars with good fuel economy, and the 4-cylinder 120Y—achieving 49 miles to the gallon (4.8L/100km) and marketed as “frugal to run and fun to drive”—was second in sales only to the Holden Gemini.

The 120Y had disc brakes, a push-button radio and electric windscreen washers. At around $3600, it was about $400 cheaper than the Gemini, making it particular popular with younger drivers.

Datsuns were everywhere.

The Datsun 240Z, first introduced in Australia in 1970, was beloved as a fun and affordable sports car. With a 2.4-litre, inline-six engine that produced 151 hp (112.6 kW), it was also hugely successful on the track (Bob Muir won the 1973 Australian Touring Car Championship in a 240Z). This was the birth of the popular Z series, which continues today with the twin-turbo 3.0-litre 300 kW seventh generation Nissan Z. The 260Z and 280Z are considered highly collectible classics. (The Datsun Sports Owners Club had sprang up in Victoria as early as 1968).

For families, the Bluebird sedan had been a popular make since the early 1960s. The late 70s/early 80s model, the 910, came in two, four and five-door versions and engines ranging from 1.6 to 2 litres. 130,000 of them were made and sold in Australia. Unlike the Z, this was distinctly not a cool car. (The notable exception being George Fury’s Bluebird Turbo, which earned pole position in the 1984 James Hardie 1000 and holds the fastest lap record on the old Mount Panorama Circuit—but that hardly counts because it was specially imported and had a Z engine turbo motor in it.)

But it’s the Sunny, the compact, classic 1000 model of the late 1960s and early 1970s, that was always most bewitching to see on the road. The original 988cc four-cylinder engine came with a three- or four-speed manual or three-speed automatic transmission.

Australians could choose the regular, the coupe or the deluxe model—the latter two versions giving you four extra horsepower (to 66 hp).

The Sunny would go through several iterations, including 1200, 1400, 1500 and 1600 models, over the coming years, before being replaced by the 120Y. New Zealanders may even remember the Datsun 1200 SSS, a special edition fourdoor sedan made and marketed locally. Only 800 were made. If you’re old enough to remember, that is.

And if you’re not, or if your kids are not, maybe get along to your local Nissan car club’s next meet-up. You’ll find plenty of Datsuns on display. And, even after all these years, they’re still a sheer delight.