Fashion and cars have a lot in common. A lot of fashion trends get recycled every 20 years or so. Flared trousers were in back in 1970-75, and they came back in the ‘90s. The punks of the late ‘70s took the ‘50s bikers/rockers look and turned it up to 11. Likewise, cars that were made for long stretches also saw their popularity increase after a couple of decades: the Beetle, the Mini, the 2CV… Did Nissan try to do this (subconsciously?) with the Sunny B-series pickup?
I chanced upon this nice Sunny pickup on a week-end visit to Mandalay a while ago. But I could have taken a picture of one here in Yangon, or in Bangkok, Sydney, Auckland, Quito, Jakarta, Johannesburg or Tokyo – these things are still pretty much everywhere.
These were based on the Nissan Sunny B110 (also marketed as Datsun 1200), which was launched in 1970 as a two-door and four-door saloon, a station wagon and a coupé. This 2nd generation Sunny was produced until mid-1973, when the B210 superseded it.
The original Sunny pickups were the B120 series, launched in 1971 and built by Nissan subsidiary Aichi Machine Industry. They outlasted their saloon equivalent by a remarkable amount of time. As far as I can make out, they kept the B110 RWD chassis and its 1.2 litre engine pretty much as it was for the pickup version, though the suspension may have been a bit beefed up. The Japanese market Nissan Sunny pickups were updated with a plastic grille and a new dash (the B121 series) in 1978, though some markets kept the B120 as was for some years beyond that.
By late 1989, the time had come to update the old girl once more. The headlights became square, the front wheels got fancy new disc brakes and the engine was updated to pass new Japanese emissions standards. This was the B122, and the Aichi Machine factory in Nagoya churned these out for another five years in Japan. In March 1994, production finally came to a halt – in Asia, but not in other continents. In Ecuador, production of the “Datsun 1200 Camioneta”, as it was still known, continued until 1999.
And in South Africa, the B120 had become something of an icon. The South African version, which had a 1.4 litre engine and its own series number (B140) since 1982, carried on being made at the Rosslyn plant until 2007. The locals loved it so much they gave it a nickname: Bakkie, which just means “pickup”, but I guess the Sunny had become THE archetypal pickup.
The Sunny pickup was sold in most countries around the world, with the notable exception of North America. Our example was most likely imported from Japan, as most cars are in Myanmar. This is a “normal wheelbase” model, which harks back directly to the 1970 saloon. There was a LWB/“longbed” version (only available in Japan and New Zealand) that was about 30cm longer at the rear.
At the age of about 25, this pickup is barely run-in. I should think it will keep on trucking for another decade at the very least. Nothing much in terms of electronics or anything to go wrong that couldn’t be mended with a rock and a screwdriver. I botched the interior pics as I usually do, so here’s one from a 1988 pickup off the web. Pretty sure the one I saw had a (mostly) black/grey dash and steering wheel.
The metal-framed fabric top and the crude tubular bumper/step plate are quintessentially Burmese additions. This pickup is clearly not being used for passenger transport, but a lot of them are. You can squeeze about ten to twelve adult Burmese in these (some hanging out standing on the rear “bumper”) without difficulty.
Even with the ugly plastic grille, the square lights and the Mickey Mouse mirrors, this thing still has a fair bit of style… Not unlike the Mini / 2CV / bell bottoms we started this post with, by the time it went out of production in Japan, it must have looked like the ultimate classic, like a blue collar Toyota Century.
Other Sunnys available in 1991: JDM notchback saloon (above) and UK-spec hatchback (below).
What I find a little perplexing though is Nissan’s use of the Sunny nameplate. Just think: in 1991, you could get three very different Nissan Sunnys. The Japanese / North American Sunny B13 (a.k.a Sentra), the European Sunny N14 (a.k.a Pulsar) and the RWD Sunny pickup in Japan and South Africa. Guess the world really was a Sunnier place back then…
Pretty cute ! .
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Just how long (short, really) is the bed in this ? .
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-Nate
The “long” bed is the usual 6′ of a bigger shortbed truck. It’s a bit of a shame they wasted all that stretch on bed length, they could’ve done a “King Cab” without the extra windows just by using the 2-door sedan’s doors.
Short bed = 1670mm (about 65 in.)
Long bed = 1960mm (about 77 in.)
Never knew there was a Sunny pickup. The Nissan Sunny panel van from the early nineties, on the other hand… (Photo courtesy of Rutger van der Maar).
I had no idea these were built for so long. But I’m not really surprised. They must have been very cheap to to keep building.
They were cheap and they were built (in Japan) in a subsidiary’s factory, so no issues with cluttering up the production lines.
I guess the Peugeot 504 pickup and the Paykan, as Payam reminds us below, are other examples of ancient RWD utes that were built forever. Can’t beat ’60s technology, sometimes.
Also i forgot to mention yesterday that besides PAYKAN PICKUP,MAZDA B SERIES TRUCK(1977_1984in Japan)&NISSAN JUNIOR TRUCK both from 70s are still in production here.
It still can’t beat our PAYKAN PICKUP(vanet)that is in production since 1967 and comes with PEUGEOT 404 engine(gearboxes&rear axles)under the Hood.if a vehicle works&people keep buying it why change it every 5 years.
Isn’t Paykan the old British Hillman Hunter, built in Iran? We got those here, as the Sunbeam Arrow, in sedan and wagon only ’till 1970.
Of course we didn’t get the Sunny pickups here, due to US emissions and safety regulations, and mostly because of the ‘chicken tax’ on imported trucks.
Happy Motoring, Mark
The pick-up version is barely known of in the Hunter’s country of origin. Perhaps more surprising it wasn’t made for Australia either, given their affection for utes.
The 1970 Sunny is quite a tidy, if innocuous, looking small saloon; shame about it’s successor.
The Dacia 1310 who was the former Renault 12 got a pick-up version who was barely known in France as well and was replaced recently by a pick-up version of the Logan.
Actually the first 5 years till 1972 all PAYKAN Models (sedan.station.pickup)came with 1725 cc rootes motor(some say it’s 4 cylinder version of CHRYSLER slant6)in1973 they started putting 1600cc from HILLMAN AVENGER on pickup and base sedan.after 1979 that PEUGEOT bought ROOTES they Discontinued all previous engines and Dropped station and javanan(HUNTER GT)and all sedans and pickups continued with 1600 cc from 404s&504s.for your information south africa did get HUNTER TRUCK. As DODGE.
Introduced in 1965, the 1725 Rootes motor was the largest variation of the late ’50s OHV Hillman Minx engine. It brought a 5-bearing crankshaft to what previously had only 3 bearings. In the Hunter/Arrow & fastback Alpine/Rapier it was slightly slant mounted. But that was the only thing in common with Chrysler’s slant-six.
Happy Motoring, Mark
Emissions and safety wouldn’t have been an issue at first – the gen 2 Sunny was sold here (as the Datsun 1200) from 1970-73 in two-door sedan and fastback coupe forms.
The chicken tax was – it would’ve likely made this truck cost more than the 620 which successfully dodged it by being shipped as a cab and chassis with a CKD bed. And the 620 was small enough.
As I recall, emissions might still have been an issue because each variation of the same vehicle had to be EPA certified separately. Even back then, an expensive process.
Happy Motoring, Mark
I thought the Bardo pickup went out of production in 2015?
They had announced it on state T.V. about two years ago but i can still see tons of New ones at IKCO dealers.Downhere the Government says something&takes them 10 years to do it.
The LWB versions appear to be the only survivors here I havent seen a shortie for quite a while, a lot of them way back in time got the SSS treatment which in this country meant twin Delortos and headers cam grind and a good thrashing hence the rarity, the NZ market was the only one where SSS actually meant something real.
FWIU the Bluebird 510 and Sunny B110 car SSS also got dual carbs in Japan and South Africa but for whatever reason not Australia or UK, and no left-hand drive markets because the rear carb wanted to be in the same spot as the LHD master cylinder!
“What I find a little perplexing though is Nissan’s use of the Sunny nameplate. Just think: in 1991, you could get three very different Nissan Sunnys. The Japanese / North American Sunny B13 (a.k.a Sentra), the European Sunny N14 (a.k.a Pulsar) and the RWD Sunny pickup in Japan and South Africa. Guess the world really was a Sunnier place back then…”
Welcome to the world of nameplate reusing. In the USA in 1988 you could get a rear wheel drive Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Coupe (called Supreme Classic), Cutlass Ciera, Cutlass Cruiser, Cutlass Calais and Cutlass Supreme coupe (FWD). With the exception of the Ciera and Cruiser (which was the wagon version of the Ciera), they were all different. The RWD Cutlass Supreme Classic was a G Body Body and Frame car. The FWD Cutlass Supreme was on the FWD W Body platform. The Cutlass Ciera and Cutlass Cruiser were on the A Body platform and the Cutlass Calais was a compact car on the N Body platform.
So here you have 5 different vehicles called Cutlass and only 2 of them (the Ciera and Customer Cruiser) looked like each other.