Did you own a Datsun in the 70's & 80's-memories

shaun_from_Africa

My first motor was a datsun 120Y (cherry red in colour which was ideal as it made the rust slightly harder to see from a distance) and then I went "up market" and got a Cherry coupe.
This was a sporty(ish) looking car for a very low price and when it finally went to the scrapyard had well over 180,000 miles on it and about 80% of the panels covered in rust patches.

I can't really complain about either one. Although they were without a doubt, major rustbuckets, I never once had a mechanical problem and they started without fail come rain or shine.

cardinalbiggles

My dad had a 1982 Laurel 2.4 which had done over 250k miles when he finally got rid of it. Very comfy and full of gadgets, I guess it was the equivalent of a 5 series at the time.

jase1

It is at about this point where someone pipes up about spark plugs for Japanese cars costing £785.90 each and labour at £500 an hour.

Never had a Datsun in the 70s (although I've had a few Nissans since, with only good things to report) but it's a lingering memory of mine having to continually push-start the awful (and rusty) Euroboxes my dad always seemed to land himself with (and continues to) while the next door neighbour with his string of Datsuns and Toyotas never seemed to have a problem with any of them.

mikey72

Maybe it depends on how your dad looked after them.
I remember the Datsuns rusting away as it rained, no spares being available, and all the fords, austin morris, hillmans, triumphs, rovers, and vauxhalls carrying on with no problems.
Guess there is a difference between watching your parents doing something, and doing it yourself.

Rolandtheroadie

My old dad had a 1984 Bluebird Turbo-X, was that vintage still Datsun?
At 17, it was quite a beast.
Led to me owning around 3 nissan bluebirds.

Notmyrealname

I had a Datsun 120 A FII Coupe and my dad had a Datsun 180B Estate which I shortened by 2ft at the front one day...:(

sickofusernames

My dad looked at a 120Y coupe for me and I ended up buying it when I was 17 and to be honest it spent all of it's remaining life in our garage being abused.

I remember doing some preparation to the rear panel for spraying (most of the car needed it to be honest!) and also my mate Clive coming round to check it out, he pretended to drive it going through all the gears making the engine noises

Linus2864

The first car I owned was a 120Y (1976 I think). It originally belonged to my parents but they gave it to me in 1984 when they got a new car.

I agree about them being rust collectors, but I never had any mechanical problems with it. I could also service it myself, unlike my current Mondeo which needs to be taken to a garage.

I've often toyed with getting one - is there a Datsun owners club out there?

TadleyBaggie

I bought a 120Y in 1974, my first new car. It was a lot of car for the money, about the same price a a basic 850 Mini if I recall (so basic that a heater was an optional extra!) I loved that car but after 18 months it was written off in an accident with a bus (the bus's fault).

s_b

cardinalbiggles wrote: »

My dad had a 1982 Laurel 2.4 which had done over 250k miles when he finally got rid of it. Very comfy and full of gadgets, I guess it was the equivalent of a 5 series at the time.

i ran one of these ,i had to weld the chassis rails back together though where they met the front bulkhead or it was going to break its back
absolutely lovely car came with all the toys but the steering setup was a deathtrap as it used worm and spire,i sold it to a pub landlord and he ran it for years with kegs on the back seats,it couldnt touch a 3 litre mk1 grandad auto that was my preferred smoker at the time though

i have had all the datsuns most of them were rubbish when i got them mind and nearly always ate oil like it was going out of fashion,you would never know though till you went on a run
i used to drive the new bluebirds 85? back up from birmingham up the m1 in the middle of the night we went up in convoy playing silly !!!!!!s using all 4 lanes cant say the speeds we did but you have to also remember these cars were warm comfortable all the toys including electric aerials and power steering as standard in a world of soggy fords and forgetable rovers