(first posted 2/18/2012) Datsun pioneered the little Japanese truck in America; more correctly, they built their business on it. In the early sixties, their cars weren’t exactly quite ready for US prime-time, given the competition. But there wasn’t any for their little trucks, toy-like though they were (early Datsun pickup history here). Datsun held the top sales spot for years, until Toyota finally edged them out. And although they grew with each generation, they were always cramped in the cab, until 1977, when Datsun unveiled their grandiosely-named King Cab. Now standard cabs are relegated to parts delivery trucks, and even then, they’re probably roomier than this King Cab. Progress.
The Model 320, which appeared in 1961, was Datsun’s foot hold in the US market, almost exclusively on the West Coast. Cute, but cramped.
Next up, the Model 520 (1965) really got the ball rolling, especially when it was endowed with the 96 hp L16 SOHC engine from the 510. Lil’ Hustler indeed. But still Lil’.
The Model 620 (1972) may have added another inch or two to the cab, but not enough to avoid sitting upright, and cramped, for those of us above the six foot elevation. Time to take a king-sized step forward, especially with Toyota breathing down their necks.
Thus the King Cab, which graced the vertically-endowed in 1977. But pay not attention to that ad; that man is obviously a midget.
The American laid-back driving (and living) style quickly took up all that extra space, as this example makes clear. Might as well ride like a proper king. Explains why each subsequent generation of extended-cab small trucks got longer and longer.
Which gives me a perfect reason to show you a recent find, a Space Cab Isuzu truck. Was/is it the biggest extended-cab mini-truck? Who will take the time to do the research necessary to verify that (or not). If it wasn’t so late, I would.
But who can argue with that picture window (although a close-up proves that to be an illusion). Maybe the the Space Cab is too.
This was a better-than average find, in good shape and those delicious seventies graphics.
Nissan Leaf, anyone?
The venerable L20 SOHC four powered millions of these Datsuns. A rugged little lump, and very happy to be woken up with some tuning. Plug and play compatible with lots of Nissan engines.
The Toyota pickups seem to have the edge in ultimate longevity, but that may be as much in folks determined to perpetuate their reputation as anything. I see plenty of these old Datsuns still hustling too. Or was the Toyota really significantly better? Hmm.
Datsun may have gotten the jump in the extended cab race, but obviously everyone else piled in soon enough. It’s fun to knock the king out of his throne. Or his Cab.
Is it just me, or did Isuzu never, once, make an attractive vehicle? Besides the Chevy LUV.
Time has certainly changed my perception of extended cab pickups. Most of them just looked so awkward back then.
But today’s pickup designs seem to be designed with an extended cab in mind. For some of them, now it’s the regular cab version that looks awkward. And now looking again at the first of the breed…they don’t look awkward to me anymore.
Some hot rodders are now taking classic pickups and extending the cab. The link (hopefully this works for you) goes to one of the best I’ve seen. A ’68 Chevy C-10 serves as inspiration for a ’71-72 build.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=426382
Remarkable workmanship!
“Is it just me, or did Isuzu never, once, make an attractive vehicle? Besides the Chevy LUV.”
Attractiveness is obviously a matter of opinion, but I have to think that the Isuzu Piazza/Impulse qualifies. But that was only once, only due to the efforts of Giorgetto Giugiaro, and only skin-deep…alas, the mechanicals are not particularly inspiring.
I happened to see a regular-cab, current-generation Tundra yesterday, and I thought the exact same thing. In fact, it took me a moment to figure out what it was, as I’m so used to seeing them in extended-cab form.
Tundra’s are butt ugly. Regular cab Tundra’s are worse.
I would certainly like a VehiCROSS right about now, in The Raciest Color Available… or should I stick to Silver?
I Liked The Impulse Originally.
My grandparents used to have a small fleet of these for business use, the 70s one like the green example. They’re all been converted into 2-door station wagons though. They have 4 speed column shifter, with, if I remembered correctly, 1,5 liter engine. They were reliable workhorse, their only problem is rust issue and occasional flooded SU-license carburettors, which could leave you stranded by the road, but all of our drivers can fix it with quick carb repair by the side of the street. You just need to open the glass panel in the carburettor and let the excess gas out, then give it a few knocks to loosen whatever debris is causing the flooding, and off you go! I often got picked up from school in one of these, had fond memories of them, because when these showed up at school, that means we’re going to grandparent’s home!
My grandmother thought about replacing these with Chevrolet LUVs, but a test drive gave her a headache (only the (very crude) diesel version was sold here).
BTW only the standard pickups were sold here. I suppose it’s wise to import the extended cab version to the US, since the regular version would probably had legroom problems for many tall Americans.
A 4-speed column shifter is one of the coolest, weirdest devices I’ve ever heard of. Never seen one.
They were extremely common in Europe for several decades. Think Mercedes sedans all through the 50s and 60s. All the Peugeots, including the 404 I had, who’s 4-speed column shifter was much better than any American three-on-the tree. Very light, direct, and quite easy to shift briskly.
Every Saab, until the 99. DKWs, Auto Unions, Ford, Opels, etc….. Many others….Floor shifters didn’t come back for the most part in Europe until the late 60s or so.
Unlike in the US, the Europeans put some effort in their column shifters, and the worked quite well.
Try a Citroen DS20 with a five-speed column shifter 😉
Had one in Amsterdam. Surprised my right arm didn’t grow twice the size of my left with all the work it got.
I think the Datsun was every bit as reliable as the Toyota but for one reason or another, the market chose Toyota as their baby.
The early-1970s Hilux truck was plagued with problems…everything from mechanical weaknesses (Smokey Yunick called those trucks “trash” and wrote “Their (Toyota’s) pickup is as sorry as the Land Cruiser is good.“) to susceptibility to tinworm, to pathetic styling. The dorky turn-signals on the top of the fenders, were a paradigm of the seeming lack of thought on that truck, start to finish.
The Datsun 620, on the other hand…while no more resistant to rust, looked good, drove GREAT, was as economical as subcompacts in that size bracket, and was eminently useful. And the King Cab was just what the doctor ordered.
I know. I had one; I’m six-three; I fit in the KC; and I loved that truck.
The only reason Toyota surpassed Datsun was because of the name change, not everyone knew that Datsun and Nissan was the same company so they chose Toyota.
The Datsun was a bit crude compared to Toyota, as my experience recalls.
Our neighbors had a Datsun King Cab up through the mid 80s until rust killed it. The truck was a strange site in midwestern farm country and the first Datsun I ever saw that wasn’t speeding by on the state highway. Seemed like a good reliable economical truck but it was replaced by a true extended cab S10 4×4 with no options. That proved to be less reliable.
A very nice example indeed, never mind the driver’s mirror is catiwampus and it’s missing a wiper blade on the passenger side. 🙂
As for extended cab trucks, I was glad my now former Ranger was of the extended cab variety as I kept all manner of crap back there as the jump seats were a joke. 🙂 Besides, without being able to lock the back end, the cab had to do that duty and it did with aplomb.
I have a blurry/fuzzy photo of a non restored turquoise 120 series from the early 70’s that I got when doing a down on the streets post on my own journal in 2009.
Having owned both Datsun/Nissan pickups and Toyota pickups from early to late 80s vintage I will offer that:. . . the Datsuns were more fun to drive with real ‘driver’s’ drivetrains and roadable chassis. The comparable Toyotas, less so. But for build quality and reliability, there was no comparison. Transmissions were weak links in Nissan. The Tennessee built ones had no better hardware or build quality than any other American vehicle of the era. Toyotas, on the other hand, were really built down to the smallest detail. I bought a new one in ’88 and it is still my daily driver with 95% of its 24 year old parts still original.
I also have an ’86 Nissan D21, (and once owned an ’83 and ’85) so I get to compare them every day.
There’s a guy I see driving past almost every day on my way to work. He has a nice collection of vintage Datsuns, one of them just like the one in Ciddyguy’s post.
I honestly don’t know how he fits in there. The dude looks like he must weigh 400 lbs.!
I do love the styling of the 620 pickup. I’ve always perceived (and CR verIfies) that the ’70s Toyota was a bit better in reliability than the Datsun. My mom had a Datsun 1200, and it needed a new tranny at 30k. It was also quite a bit noisier (69db) than a comparable Corolla.
Have owned the 79my twin to this 77. Also owned an 81 king cab and an 87 reg cab. Prior to 1980 I do not think there was a big difference, if any, between the build quality and longevity of the Datsun/Toyota. Isuzu was considered to be the toughest truck in Japan by the Japanese but I agree, it was ugly.
Driving a Datsun was a hoot. In 1980 they put an aluminum head with 2 plugs per cylinder on the 2.2 engine (later 2.4). They were hot rods. Overseas, they won off road races and were popular to shoehorn into cars. But, they also became fragile.
Any near scrape with overheating will kill that engine. I have lost 3 and I drive pretty carefully. I replaced hoses almost annually and I was still bitten. I still have the latest victim sitting in a back pasture. 1300 miles after a rebuild from the auto mechanics class and it violently overheated and froze. I suspect a lot of significant internal problems led to that. If it runs again (lots of new parts so I may be stubborn) I think it may have a 350 chevy. The little cast iron 2.4 is only about 100 lbs lighter than a sbc.
Anyway (old guy blinks self into consciousness), the 79 was the one I shouldn’t have let get away. It survived my worthless BIL and learning to drive time with my son. Then I took it and drove it forever with minimal repairs. Wanted something newer. Dumb.
When the King Cab was first introduced I remember seeing an item somewhere that the dealers in Alaska referred to it as the Alaska King Cab.
Popular little utes those Datsuns other than the weak cylinder heads they rust like mad anywhere near humidity. The Bluebird engine was rubbish they blow headgaskets if only mildly hot doesnt matter how nicely you treat em the earlyer models with the 1500 engine last ok since that engine is only a Japanese made BMC B series its well proven and rugged it was only when Datsun tried to design their own engines that they came unglued.
I had an Isuzu Spacecab like the one in the post. Can’t confirm the official measurements, but it had enough room in the back that we would strap a booster for our youngest kid on one side and put the two older ones in the seatbelt on the other. The rear seats faced forward (a rarity at the time) and there was maybe a two inch gap between the cushions. Finally sold it when the kids got too big to get out of the door from the back seat with their school backpacks on. Maybe I’ve just owned boring vehicles, but it’s the only one I still miss.
As noted above, I was the proud owner of a 620 King Cab…while the SuperCab and Club Cab promoted jump seats or minibenches, there was none of that in the King Cab. There was just…ROOM! I don’t know if the truck came this way from the factory or if the previous owner moved the tracks; but I could put the driver’s bucket back far enough to feel plenty at home with my six-three height. And up until then, the only other import I could do that with was my Super Beetle.
I, for one, liked the styling on that model. It seemed to be all that was good of the 1970 era…a time when cubism met Coke-Bottle; when the Torino had gentle curves, not ridiculous billowing sheet-metal hips. It still looks good today; Datsun/Nissan was clearly on a roll…the 240Z, the truck, the 510.
What was done to the truck in 1979 was not kind; a poorly-thought-out remake to match moving the line from Japan to Tennesee. Stylistically the Nissan D21 “Hardbody” was a better segue; but I also owned one of THOSE…the driving experience was worlds apart. Heavy steering; poor seating, an engine, the four, which resented its own very existence.
If I could go back and get one of my previous vehicles…I’d be temped by my Super Beetle; but I think it would be the King Cab I’d take back to the present.
I liked my ’85 Nissan short bed truck. It’s the only vehicle I’ve bought new. I needed a reliable rig to make the trip from Seattle to Iowa City and back a few times. It never let me down. Back then I could carry everything I owned in it. The 2.4 and 5 speed could make it up the mountain passes with ease, not in 5th gear. Wish I still had it.
When I go to lunch I Will Count The number of Small Toyota or Datsun Handy Men trucks I See. It Will be in the Double Digits easily, within mere miles.easily the most overloaded, unsafe, old wrecks still used daily in so ca. are these slow, belching little bench seats3… and there they are….huddled in these 30 y.o. cabins…plastic long since eaten away by the sun
Don’t see any of these around, but occasionally come across a 720 which had a much bigger king cab stretch of course. Lots of Hardbody era Navaras still running around, drove one of those that had a story to tell…
About 12 years ago I drove a lot of Japanese pickups through work, the Holden/Isuzu had the most room as they were wider than the others, but I think the 96-06 Mitsubishi Triton may have had a slight edge in room (length) as a Club cab (as they called their extra cab) in that era. I can’t remember exactly what it was or how much I fit in the back, I think it was quite a few packs of insulation batts. Prior to the Triton the Isuzu as pictured would have been the biggest. None of them were fitted with jump seats in our market until 2005 or so.
My first “car” was one of these that I bought from a friend in 1979. Lots of fun on the gravel roads. Here is another rig I spotted recently with some more bitchin’ 70’s graphics.
According to my parents, the biggest extended cabs on the compact pickups in the 80s were in the Mazda B-series and the Isuzu. My parents preferred the car like driving dynamics of the B-series.
As to the 70s, the real hot ticket for compact pickups was the Mazda REPU. Widened B-series with a 13B. Certainly not as tough as the Toyota or Datsun, but much faster, and intermingle it was a US only model.
Judging from the number of responses you have already had about this truck, I probably shouldn’t waste everyone’s time by commenting further.
However, in 1974, I had a job at what we called “The Pimpmobile Factory” in South Norwalk, CT. Our parts runner was a brand new, orange, Datsun pickup straight from Bob Sharp Datsun in Georgetown (Wilton), CT.
I had wondered how such a small vehicle could be rated at 1500 lbs when that was what current full-size Ford/Chevy/GMC/Dodge pickups were also rated at this capacity.
I found out the first time I had to run an errand. I quickly learned that the brakes were on/off. No attempt at modulation affected the application of retardation energy. No biggie, just uncomfortable.
Then I had to stop at a traffic light on a downhill grade. Previous drivers had heavily rippled the tarmac. When I tried to brake at this light on a rainy afternoon I thought I was going to die. The rear end was all over the place and I wasn’t slowing down appreciably. In spite of the dramatics, I was able to bring the piece of crap under control. I never liked driving that piece of shit.
Customers apparently really disliked the operational dynamics, as did I. Bob Sharp offered a “soft ride” package consisting of much softer springs. No mention of whether the half ton rating was maintained.
My sisters boyfriend is considering selling one of his 1978 datsun crew cab 620. He has two of them. He does not have internet service. Trying to figure out what it is worth. needs some work , but it runs. we are just looking at info on the net , to decide if we should sell it or not. in Sacramento. no pic available yet.
Back in the early 80’s when everybody thought diesel power was the wave of the future, several books came out (of which I have several) about retrofitting diesels into various gas cars and trucks. In one, the author wrote that the best mini truck to retrofit was the Datsun because they “were overbuilt” with very solid components. When I went to the ROTC awards back in 82, a friend of mine picked me up in a 79 King Cab. The one thing I remember was that the accelerator pedal did not move much to reach full throttle (and had a stop button under it) and also that it wasn’t very fast. We also had a Volkswagon/Datsun dealer here in town that use to host a Sunday morning John Wayne movie and was always hyping King Cab Datsuns and the Merry Miler motor home conversions of them. I don’t remember him ever advertising his Volkswagon stuff.
Simply put, these little trucks take me back to a simpler time and place. Had one just out of high school in the early 80s.
Nuff said.
My aunt and uncle drove a Datsun 521 1600 pickup truck when I was a boy. I used to see lots of 620 pickup trucks as well.
Good article and something about the Isuzu P’up draws me in. Are these vehicles you photographed still around?
Remarkable how compact (or better: small) these pickups were back then.
Nissan offers the Navara (picture below) pickup, only with a 190 hp 2.5 liter diesel. Since the Patrol is no longer offered, this would be its successor. I guess the Navara is Nissan’s smallest pickup-model these days.
Competition from the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux, Isuzu D-Max, Mitsubishi L200 and Volkswagen Amarok. There have been days that we had less choice….
If you want a bigger one, so something from the US: grey import is the answer.
Bigger come in a range of dropsiders from Japan usually cabovers or yeah get the oversized utes from America with large petrol engines and less carrying capacity.
Yep, I was strictly talking non-dropsiders, so the conventional pickup body style.
Our dropsiders come from Europe, all of them. Small Japanese COE trucks (like the Toyota Dyna) are not available anymore through the dealerships.
After all those years still the most unconventional, Mitsubishi’s L200.
Here some French Datsun ads broadcasted in Quebec.
https://youtu.be/o35oVKcSrEc
I have one of these!
Well, in Hot Wheels form… 🙂
Fantastic find Paul. Love everything about it, definitely wanna keep those graphics.
I’ve always liked the Datsun/Nissan pickup. They drove a little better than any other 4cyl stick minitruck in my opinion. But they lost me when they went to the Frontier.
As usual, I’m a bit late but here’s my 2 cents worth. I owned 4 of em from the 80s- all great [except for tinworm, of course] I decided that an 84 king cab might be my COAL, so I started searching as far afield as Portland for a good one. 6 months later, I found one in my own backyard [Vancouver, BC] One elderly owner, under 125K kilometres- that’s less than 75K miles! Power everything- including windows. No AC ,but a 3-speed auto[!] I wasn’t planning on that, but now I kinda like it. It easily carries a yard of topsoil or half a yard of gravel up a steep grade. At this very moment, it’s loaned out to a neighbour who is moving. I think of it as a community resource, like a log-splitter or a cement -mixer!
Love those 70’s graphics! Plus the frog-green color. The 620 was a stylish truck though–haven’t seen one on the road in a while. It seemed to me that the king cab was way more popular on the 720 though–but considering the 620’s production ended just before I was born, some of the earlier ones were probably off the road by the time i was old enough to notice!
I remember the Datsun pick-up truck of the 70s and early 80s. My aunt and uncle had a PL521 truck when I was a little boy. I also had a neighbour who had a PL620 truck. I loved these Datsuns and Toyota trucks of the 70s and 80s. They may not be very comfortable by today’s standards, but I’ve never been unbearably uncomfortable.