One of the best things about our neighborhood is the alleys. I can walk out my back door and back garden gate, and head down the alley to our neighborhood market/cafe and other shops, and never set foot on pavement except to cross the streets. The backyards are more scenic than the front yards, and there’s blackberries and other fruit to pick in the right times of the year.
Just one block down from our house sits this old Datsun pickup, a 1600 (521) from somewhere between 1969 and 1972. It hasn’t moved in the past two years or so, and there’s a radiator sitting next to it, but it used to be a regular driver, and I’ve shot it severe times before, in another part of town. And next to it is its apparent replacement. I’ll bet you can guess what it is.
Here’s how it looked in about 2009. These were from the years when Datsun’s Li’l Hustler pickup was leading the mini-truck boom, and it was by far the best seller in its class. Datsun started out in the US back in 1962 or so, by selling little toy trucks in California, Oregon and Washington, and after a few years, they really took off.
The 1600 was a big improvement over the 1300, as it used the very lively 96 hp SOHC four that was also used in the legendary 510. These things were featherweights, so the 1600 scooted right along, for the times. It became the in vehicle for young Californians, used for everyday transportation and to haul the surf boards or off-road motorcycles on the weekends. A lifestyle vehicle trendsetter.
But Toyota didn’t play second fiddle for long, and soon caught up and passed Datsun/Nissan in the pickup market. And this Tacoma generation cemented that, and it’s never looked back. Nissan’s frontier is an also-ran. But in its day, the Datsun out-hustled everything in its field. Now it’s just sitting in one.
There is something really appealing about these little Datsun pickups. And that name – Datsun. It used to seem so natural, now it seems odd just to say or type. Which makes me remember that in my upper midwestern homeland many pronounced the “Dat” like Cat instead of like Dot. It took awhile before Dotsun sounded more natural than Daaatsun. 🙂
Yup… Was DAT for me too. Pretty much all of Canada I think.
You were allowed to utter the word “Datsun” with the word “truck” in the upper midwest? Without a swing of a baseball bat in your or the truck’s general direction?
If you are referring to UAW blowback, the only trucks built in Fort Wayne were Internationals. Into the early 70s, these Datsuns were considered oddball curiosities for long haired hippies instead of real trucks. Someone might have swung a bat if one had tried to drive through an IH picket line in 1979, but otherwise people around Fort Wayne were much too nice to do stuff like that. 🙂
I recall an old joke about how the “Datsun” name came about. It went something along the lines:
A Japanese automobile company asked a veteran German auto maker to suggest a name for its new car.
“We need a name no later than tomorrow,” said the Japanese official.
“Dat soon?” replied the surprised German.
A joke I recall from HS had the same punchline, but the joke went like this.
What did the inspector say when the fender fell off at the end of the assembly line.
“Dat soon?”
I hope this truck gets saved, it looks quite straight and rust free in the pictures.
I’ve always thought Datsun/Nissan did a pretty good job on their pickups, though the 720 is pretty boxy and looks too narrow, but being taller than 6 foot there is no way I can fit comfortably in any NON king cab models.
I also live in an area that is honeycombed with alleys, though for the most part the alleys on my street have been reclaimed. Yet, every now and then I’ll look and see a car “hiding” under a cover.
These trucks were fun to drive. And the axle ratio was so low, you felt like you were driving a sports car-until you glanced down at the speedometer and saw that you were barely cracking the 80mph mark.
As I’ve mentioned before, these little trucks are still sporting around Greece, hard at work, in surprisingly good numbers. I was surprised to discover last summer that they outnumber any other similarly-aged vehicles, cars or trucks around the Grecian countryside.
Good catch and I agree the alleys of Eugene are fun to stroll down though all I found was a basketball hoop. Hope the Datsun is not going to be scrapped, but that is life for you. Even the alleys and dirt roads of East Portland are fun to wander around in.
I thought the Datsun pickups of this vintage looked somewhat dumpy. A big reason being the base of the rocker panel of the front of the pickup not aligning with the base of the bed. I found it gave the exterior design a ‘cobbled’ bed-installed-by-owner appearance.
“Datsun started out in the US back in 1962 or so, by selling little toy trucks in California, Oregon and Washington”
According to Nissan’s web site, they began selling cars in the U.S. in 1958, began selling pickups in the U.S. in 1959, and Nissan Motor Corporation U.S.A. was established in 1960.
https://www.nissanusa.com/about/heritage
I remember Nissan making a big deal over their 40th anniversary in the U.S. in 1998. If they did anything for their 50th anniversary in 2008, I wasn’t paying attention.
I’ve always had mixed feelings about these. Sure they manage to be both handy and sporty at the same time, and get good gas mileage to boot. On the other hand- even from several feet away the cab looks extremely cramped, not to mention I’d be terrified of getting into a bad wreck in one.
If I were a young adult back in the 70’s, and I was in the market for a smallish truck, I’d probably scoop up a Falcon-based Ranchero instead.
We got some of these Datsun utes but with the A series engines it wasnt untill the late 70s early 80s that OHC engines were fitted for this market
I remembered my uncle in Okinawa had one of these Datsun pickups. While we were visiting Okinawa in 1968, my dad had an opportunity to drive the Datsun pickup. Being used to his GMC’s wide-ratio 4sp and low-revving inline 6, he found the Datsun’s 4cylinder engine’s lack of low-end grunt and close-ratio 4sp requiring frequent shifting to keep the revs up where the engine had power quite a different driving experience. Otherwise, he thought it wasn’t a bad little truck, certainly more maneuverable and actually fun to drive compared to the big GMC.
Personally I thought the Datsun pickups better looking than the Toyota Hi-Lux of the same period.
Compared to the Toyota Hi-Lux of the same vintage, any thoughts on which was the more rugged and reliable truck? Datsun or Toyota?
Our 1969 Toyota with 3R-C held up very well. Iron block + iron head = no head gasket problems.
Pushrod 1900cc engine had more torque than the 1600 Datsun.
Brakes were somewhat less bad than than the horrible Datsun brakes.
I suspect that the radiator sitting out = head gasket issues.