Yin -yang: complementary opposites. Sometimes described as “the sunlight (yang) over a shady mountain in the valley (yin)”. Now what swept this sudden regurgitation of late-sixties profundity over me, other than the obvious differences between these two? There just has to be some deeper cosmic connection between old Cadillacs and Datsun Sunnys. I ran into the Datsun 210 woody wagon minutes after first discovering the 1950 Caddy CC logo-mobile. And until yesterday, I’d forgotten that I shot this ’72 1200 coupe on the same walk as the ’72 Coupe DeYin. Heavy; man! Well yes, the Cadillac’s weight is part of its yin. It must be the name “Sunny”; seriously, what could possibly be a more opposite name to Coupe DeVille? A Sunny just has to follow a big Caddy, so it seems.
You see, the Japanese knew just what we needed to balance out our yin-heavy problem; well at least back then. Now Nissan makes gigantic things overflowing with yin, called the Titan and Armada, and Cadillac is set to make four-cylinder coupes. Maybe the name Sunny is available to Cadillac? Nature always seeks a balance, but who would have foreseen how this one would play out in 1972? 
It wasn’t just the profound leaders at Nissan who came up with that name. No, it was the people of Japan themselves, in a nationwide contest to name Nissan’s new small car in 1966. Eight million entries, and the winning name was revealed at a major public event. Was the winner a Taoist monk?
The B10 Datsun Sunny/1000 was an utterly pragmatic and practical little car, and configured like most small cars at the time: RWD, a little (998 cc) pushrod four, and just big enough (barely) to fit four underfed and lithe adults. Its mission in life was to compete with the very similar Toyota Corolla, which it did, and quite successfully too. Reminds me of the 1962 Opel Kadett A, or so many others of its ilk.
This rather tasty little Sunny Coupe version came along a few years later, and of course there were wagons, panel truck and utes. A cheerful little family, but not quite ready for prime time: North America.
But the Corolla’s smash success in the US after its 1968 introduction put Nissan in a catch-up mode, and when the second generation B110 appeared in 1970, it was quickly sent this way to complement the bigger 510/ Bluebird. The 1200 was the cheapest car in the whole land, starting at $1866 in 1970 ($10,358 adjusted). That was less than a third of a new DeVille. Small; and cheap. And its engine was less than a sixth of the Caddy’s. A miniature musclecar? Oh right: “sort of”. Everything is relative, but the “run-of-the-mill economy car alluded to in the ad undoubtedly was the VW slug bug.
If numbers help you draw a clearer mental picture, our featured car’s vital stats are: wheelbase: 90″; overall length: 152″; width: 59″; wight: 1640 lbs. That’s up a couple of hundred pounds from its predecessor. Tin cans; that’s the only proper way to describe them; the whole bunch. Don’t get me wrong; that’s not meant in a derogatory way, just an accurate description. And there are times when a can of miso soup is just the ticket. Especially if you’ve been overdoing the steaks for too long.
A friend of mine’s girlfriend bought one of these in 1973, same color, same body style. Drove it a couple of times; it was pretty much a dead ringer for the Corolla 1200 (CC here) that I also was familiar with. Actually, it was even a bit less refined than the Corolla; the ride was choppier, a tad noisier, but also sportier. Or is that just the impression any bone-rattling car made back then?
The 1200 was brutally honest: what you saw is what you got, for better or for worse. And for that low price, plenty of young folks saw the opportunity to buy their first new car. How many VW Beetles with a burned exhaust valve were traded in on these? By 1970, the Beetle’s magic was starting to fade, and a tsunami of baby boomers were getting their first real jobs. The Corolla and 1200 were there to scoop them up, if not in comfort. No, there was precious little of that.
But that Datsun A-series motor always pulled with a bit of gusto, at least before its heart was strangled by smog controls. And it’s an extremely easy and fun little toy to mess with: a Weber jug (or two) and a set of headers, and hello drift-city; on gravel anyway.
The 1200 quickly made a name for itself on the rally circuits, and is still being turned into all sorts of crazy little go-fast machines. Maybe that’s what Datsun was alluding to in that ad: there’s some miniature musclecar potential, you just have to coax it out. Many have.
The 1200 morphed into the slightly bigger B210, which became the 210, which was the end of the road for the RWD Sunny on these shores. Which also means that this CC marks three out of the four generations of RWD Sunnys. Finding this one was a rather pleasant surprise; it’s the only one I’ve seen on the road in quite a while. I suspect it was in town for a visit from Portland, because I never saw it again. I guess I have the ’72 Caddy to thank for it.
Needless to say, there’s plenty of B210s still chugging around; I know of at least half a dozen plying the streets. How many in your town? We’ll get to it soon, as soon as I find the right Cadillac to team it up with. Now just what would the the yin be to a B210?
The Datsun 1200 was an awesome little weapon on gravel NZ had its own model the sss but under the badge and stripes it had a race tuned motor 90 h in a light tin box a rally car with a warranty Very popular for rotary swap ins with the boy racer crowd
Looking at the interiors of ’70s cars always makes me think of polyester, mirrorballs, and disco, LOL. I can just picture a SNF-era Travolta wannabe driving this to the ‘hood to score his coke.
Other than that rather queasy association it’s actually a pretty nice little car with some serious potential. Dog dish hubcaps would be an easy starting point…
😉
We had one of these in the family back in the mid ’70s, it was one of my siblings first cars and I can attest to the sporty factor. In comparison to Mom and Dad’s big ol’ Buicks of the day it was kick ass fun to pilot and toss around.
Coincidently, I am currently spending a week on a trip in a Cadillac CTS and I must say I am liking it. It is the first Cadillac I have driven in probably 30 years, and it is quite tight, comfy, and an excellent cruiser…and miles from the ’72. It may as well be from a different company. But glancing down at the steering wheel and seeing the Cadillac crest puts a smile on your face nonetheless.
Agreed, I had one from Avis for 2 weeks traveling all over Cal. Wonderful car, a definite (used) replacement for my TL. Of course, if I can find a manual I’ll get one.
Back in the day, Japanese imports hardly warranted my attention. They were bland, with RWD; they were styled in a way not to interest someone grown up on Detroit iron. And…their gestation was interesting, but who knew the story back then, of who and how the Japanese got their engines and technology from?
I just ignored them – a Gen1 Ford Mustang was more my taste. My pocketbook dictated a well-worn Super Beetle; but it was many years before Japan, Incorporated seduced me.
Which is what it was – one confused buyer at a time. While we were busily looking the other way, Datsun and Toyota were making come-hither moves with their sticker prices; and then making wild and crazy love to its buyers with smooth moves and palpable quality.
I do recall…1974. A friend-of-the-family type was sitting around our kitchen table (remember THOSE? Remember VISITS, instead of Facebook “visits”?)…
…she, the friend, was commiserating that her daughter, just finishing college, was shopping for a NEW car. Refused the family rustbucket Dodge Coronet. She was shopping NEW…she was shopping at those Japanese-Car Dealers…and she’d signed a contract to BUY ONE!
And this woman’s husband reluctantly agreed to pay the (smaller) part of the purchase the girl didn’t have in her bank account.
And the shocks keep rolling on. Coed gets it home…they all have a laugh at those cardboard floor protectors with Japanese characters on them…but underneath, the short-nap carpeting is CLEAN! The doors close with a thunk!, not a crash.
The girl got a manual transmission, for the savings and on the salesman’s recommendation (when has a Detroit-name salesman recommended SKIPPING on an option?) She’d never driven a stick-shift; her parents looked askance. But once she got the model home, Dad had a seat in it…came back 45 minutes later. Came back grinning.
So much different, he remarked, from three-on-the-tree with its sloppy linkage.
And that’s all we really need to know. In the day, Datsun and the others, passing information and knowledge and intuition like we pass colds…they came to this country, and with some enlightened guidance (Yutaka Katayama, “Mr. K”) figured out what it was we lacked. And set about to provide it.
And now they, or at least Toyota, is on top of the heap. And has lost that sense, that touch, just as Cadillac lost their touch.
On a chilly, rainy night outside the pink(!) Greyhound bus depot in Marysville, CA in November, 1969, as I was awaiting my first ride to Beale AFB, this little green pickup kept zipping around up and down the street, in and out of alleys and side streets, screeching its tires around every corner, like Bugs Bunny and the gang being chased in and out of doors in a hallway by Elmer Fudd! I was watching wth interest – imagine, if you will, that California was the land of surf, sun and the Beach Boys. This place? I might have well been anywhere in Missouri back home, as it was late, cold and rainy and just plain dreary. The little vehicle came into sight once more, and before it disappeared for good, I got to read the name on the tailgate: DATSUN!
That was my first encounter with a Japanese vehicle in the flesh – or steel. Certainly was not to be my last, either!
One more thing about Marysville/Yuba City: A few days later, I hitch-hiked a ride into town. It was a beautiful, bright sunny day – imagine my reaction upon seeing my first palm tree – this was in the middle of the Sacramento valley – YES! California! Now imagine my reaction upon seeing my first hot rod car – a yellow ’32(?) Ford Coupe! Exposed engine, no hood. just like in “American Graffiti”! I’m sure passing motorists looked at me, walking alone, wondering why I had such a broad smile on my face!
Yes, all was suddenly right with the world and that bright new world was beginning to open up to me that would influence my next four years and still impacts me to this day.
I wish I had my 1964 Chevy back…
Amazing! I had exactly the same car, a 1973, as the one in the ad poster here! I bought it in the summer of 1983, right after I graduated from high school. I paid the princely sum of $700 for it and it was already well worn.
Being all of nineteen years old at the time, the little 1200 received no mercy. I flogged the living daylights out of the thing and it never protested.I burned up and down the Island Highway as fast as I could, often at 80 mph, practically redlining the thing, but since it had no tach, I didn’t know! The motor was a real masterpiece; forged cam and crank, five main bearings each and it just kept going. In a single day it often went from Duncan, BC, to Nanaimo, to Victoria and back to Duncan, 200 km round-trip. I went fishing with it, a canoe strapped to the top and a load of camping gear and beer.
The only real problems I had with it were electrics. I ate starters and the “factory rebuilds” I was getting were junk. I finally plunked down like $200 for a real Nissan new starter and those problems went away but $200 was a lot of money for me then. It also went through an alternator and needed a carb kit but I learned how to do these things myself.
I drove that car for two years, for a total of 50,000 MILES and spent maybe $800 over two in various repairs, which I consider cheap. Finally, in late 1985, it started to lose compression. The clock showed 98,000 miles but it was probably 198,000 and that little motor had spun around like a gazillion times. However, it didn’t burn any oil, so it probably just needed a valve grind. By this time I had more cash and I went out and spent $5985 on a 1985 Chevrolet Sprint, which was so stripped it even lacked a radio. But that is another story altogether! I should have kept the Datsun 1200, it was a better car in most ways.
That Datsun A-series motor is about the sweetest running little four cylinder around. Runs like a sewing machine it is so smooth. Doesn’t really make any power just it is silky smooth. I finally cleared out my A-series motor from my ex-210 – sad to see it go but it wasn’t doing me any good and a local guy restoring one of these 1200 fastbacks is using it for all the engine accessories.
Was the A-Series engine the one used in the PL620 model in the late 1970s? I could look it up; but I thought I’d ask you guys.
My very-first Japanese model was a 1979 Datsun King Cab…my first pickup truck. Not as practical as a minivan, but an eminently useful vehicle. It was a Texas truck, eleven years old when I got it with 80,000 miles…got it for a thousand bucks. Who knew how much more life was in those things back then?
But while it was the truck body that sold me, it was the engine and transmission, along with the light steering and superb (for a truck) road manners, that made it love. That engine just PURRED. The transmission was a joy, with short, yet light throws. Clutch was light, steering also – but with road feel.
Kept it a year; drove to Alaska and back with it (sleeping in the truck bed under a cap) and then got rear-ended in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, by a driver with a cranially-impacted rectum. I was so hoppiing mad…and her claims adjuster could see I was…he cut a no-questions-asked settlement of $2000. Mollified, I took it; had the step-bumper (twisted down under the truck) cut off with a torch, and then took it, bent frame and all, back home.
Sold it back to the same scuzzy used-car dealer I bought it from, for $600. The frame was marginally bent, but the sheet metal was undamaged. He didn’t spot it in his appraisal…just heard that motor running as sweet.
Funny thing…I later bought a NEW 1996 Nissan truck…hard to believe they were made by the same people. Aside from physical size, they had NOTHING in common…the engine was trucklike; reluctant to rev; the shift throws were long; and the steering heavy (made that way to sell power steering, I’d wager) I can see why that model, the “hardbody,” never had the sales standing of its predecessor.
No; the A series was too small, I think max size was 1.4L. Pickups after 1968 or so used the L-series SOHC unit, as in the 510, 610, 240Z, etc., which was a very fine motor indeed, except when it suffered from smog controls to some extent or another…
There was a 1.5L version as well but only after 1979. It ranged from size from 1.0L to 1.5L and was inspired by the BMC A-series but had a wide variety of improvements like five main bearings on a forged steel crankshaft, aluminum head, non shared intake ports, etc.
My dad had an 81 King Cab, but his was a 4×4. That 4 wheel drive must have made some difference, because that truck was the nastiest thing to park since my buddy’s manual steering 74 Charger. Wiiiiide turning circle and steering effort only Charles Atlas could love. He bought the truck to mount a plow onto for clearing snow from a long lane.
One of my younger brothers took the King Cab out to screw around off road and tested out the roll bar. It was several years old and was getting pretty rusty, but the 4 wheel drive saved it, and the truck got an entire new body. It went in as a Datsun and came out as a Nissan.
Whole different body on the old frame, hey? That’s funny…especially given the relative frailness of those frames. Which I knew, even as I had bought one…cruising a boneyard, looking for an old cap for the truck bed, I came across one gutted hulk with the box missing, and I could SEE just how lightweight the frame was.
Your dad’s King Cab, the 1981, was the interim model between the 1972-79 PL620 and the Hardbody D-21. It was along that time that those models became Made-In-America types, for American tastes, and corrupted with power steering and automatics.
Which of course meant pressure to SELL those options. Which required the truck be built with high steering effort and annoying transmissions.
At least the King Cabs of that era had real room behind the seats. The original King Cab, of which mine was one…really didn’t; just had the seat-tracks pushed back some. Which was a great help…I’d sat in a standard-issue Lil’ Hustler, a 1977, and calling it cramped would be the understatement of the week.
The King Cab PL620 didn’t have that problem. It had long tracks on its bucket seats…it wasn’t a Club Cab; but it was a good interior upgrade.
The complete opposite of the Cadillac in almost every way. I would pick the Datsun all day every day. But you knew that. I remember that the 1970 Maverick was hyped at $1995. This Datsun would have been a lot more fun for the money.
My experience is much like that of JustPassinThru. These started to show up in the midwest around 1969 or so. Like Smarts today, they were an oddball kind of novelty then. And customer by happy customer they grew and grew. When I had trouble keeping them straight, my dad suggested that Toyota was like GM and Datsun was like Ford in their home market rankings.
My family was late to the party with Japaneese cars. As I think about it, when I married a girl with an 88 Accord, I became the first in the family to own a car from Japan. There was no animosity towards them, they just never interested us, I guess. But here in the midwest, I think that we had a lot of company, unlike on the coasts.
Note, however, that the Cadillac didn’t need a Hooters T-shirt seat cover (although that IS the Hooters of Beaverton, heaven help us, not just any old Hooters shirt).
Oh my! This was my mother’s first car – orange, 2-door, “de luxe” with black vinyl roof! A little brougham it was! Purchased new in Canada in 1972, it was absolute rust by 1978.
Absolutely the most rust prone metal ever.
Father kept it sorta together with pop-rivets and bondo until 1986, when it was rear ended by a pickup. Engine – as been amply attested – was bullet proof.
I remember lifting up the shifter boot and seeing the road pass underneath. Cool! Didn’t help the NVH, I’m sure!
Something like this:
And here’s a photo of the 2-door sedan version!
i drove a datsun 1200 like the one in the pic in vance torino’s post for a couple of
years, first as a family guy, then as an unfamily guy. in the second phase i learned
that the car would drive to 23 mph in first, shift, a bit over 50 mph in second, etc.
there was no tach . if i got the shifts right the speedo would show about a 3 mph gain on the shift. an awesome little motor.
Hardbody D-21
I reluctantly bought an ’88 Hardbody SE-V6 (bought a fixer-upper and put many miles on with Home Depot runs…), and over the next 13 years came to adore that ‘truck’ and the beating it took. Sold it with 200k+ on it…needed airbags and 4 doors by then….
Dad had a new 1978 Datsun 120Y Panel Van then a new 1982 Nissan Sunny Panel Van. We live near the sea (Gold Coast, Queensland, AU) which meant they eventually rusted to an extent they couldn’t be registered (after about 15 years). We gave the Sunny to our friends who are Dairy Farmers. It’s still up the chugging around paddocks feeding the moo cows 🙂
…saw a straight-looking 2-door sedan for sale in Portugal last week, can tell you where if needed. Was driving so unable to take picture. And a coupe ran in last week’s African 6 Hour race (alongside a Porsche 910)!
My third grade teacher (in 1972) had the identical Datsun in blue. Years later in grade 12, someone I knew had that same blue Datsun. I rode in it a few times and it was in pretty good shape, especially for a Japanese car of that vintage in Ontario. If it actually was my teacher’s old car, it had been well cared for over the years by its various owners.
My first car, bought from a young friend of my mom’s in 1977, was a red 1972 Datsun 1200 fastback. It had a 4-speed gearbox and, as I had never before driven a stick shift, with my mom following behind in her car, on the way home I managed to kill it at every single intersection where I had to come to a complete stop.
The funniest moment came when I killed it at the last intersection as I was waiting to turn onto our street, right after my mom had pulled out to go ahead of me, and the man behind me got out of his car – I just knew he was going to chew me out for making him miss the light. Instead, he asked if he could help, and when I explained that I had just bought it and was learning to drive the stick, he told me he had just finished converting to Judaism, and handed me an invitation to his Bar Mitzvah and briss, taking place the following day. Definitely not what I was expecting.
Thanks to the previous owner’s boyfriend, it boasted wide 13″ tires on sporty VW mag wheels, in place of the tiny original 12″ narrow tires, along with a decent 8-track tape player. The taller tires added to its excellent gas mileage, and the wide tires (which were all but racing slicks) meant that I could drive onto the sand (where permitted) without getting stuck. I absolutely loved that car.
I was going to college and living in Santa Monica at the time, and had a regular drive I used to take from PCH through Topanga Canyon, then Old Topanga, ultimately taking Mulholland Highway to the beach, then south on Pacific Coast Highway back home – it was a blast to drive, got 37 MPG combined city/highway, and went from zero up to highway speed quickly, which was a blessing when metered freeway onramps were instituted a few years later.
In fact, a couple of years later, when I was living in Venice, I dated a gentleman who lived about half a mile from me in Marina del Rey, and drove a Porsche 911S. We used to frequently hit the entrance to the Marina Freeway at the same time in the morning – when I would invariably blow his doors off getting on the freeway. Naturally, once we got up to speed he was long gone, but it used to piss him off that my little “tin can” beat his expensive, fancy sports car ten times out of ten off the line. Ha!
My Newfoundland Ebony liked to lay on the floor of the back seat, with her head between the front bucket seats, so I could pet her while driving. Occasionally, when she would decide to sit up when we were at a traffic light, the reactions of those in surrounding cars were hilarious. No air conditioning, of course, combined with a black vinyl interior, so it was hot to drive in the summer, but the front wing windows made it bearable. All in all it was a great first car.
When I moved to Tampa, Florida, I bought another 1972 fastback in green, with an automatic transmission that I didn’t like nearly as well, but it was a moot point. A woman in a massive Buick ran a red light directly in front of me in a driving rain storm and I hydroplaned right into her side. Unfortunately, the car was totaled.
Interestingly, last year my husband and I were looking for a more economical car with which to replace his Chevy Silverado, and chose a 2014 Nissan Versa Note SV – which we brought home on my birthday. In many ways, it is a more solid and much more deluxe heir to the Datsun 1200. It is close to the same size and weight, and although we couldn’t at the time find one with a manual transmission, its gearing is similar and it gets up to speed quickly.
When we met, he had just bought a new red 2007 Nissan Versa with a 6-speed manual gearbox, which was a blast to drive. Hard to beat a Nissan for value.
I dont know if it was posted in the comments but the datsun 1000 was sold in north america but only in canada. I have 3 that ive hunted down for the last 6 years
My first car, when I was 18, was a Datsun 1200. I bought it used in 1976 and the car was a 1972. I loved that car. No a/c, 4 speed, the back windows pushed out, and a roomy hatch when I flipped the seats down. I still have that car in my dreams from time to time. I wish I had that little baby now. It was so much fun to drive. I had so many great memories with it.
This is for sale $$$$
OMG!!! My mommy with her brand new 1972 Datsun 1200 putt-putt!!! I think I might just try to find a decent one and see how I feel about buying it once I actually see it. 🙂