I’ve seen these two Maximas parked around town over the years, but never together. Is this a new thing? Did the owner of one buy the other? Is one visiting?
Regardless, it’s great to see these relics from the ’80s stayin’ alive. And the older one, from 1980-1984, is a diesel at that.
Here they both are. The top one is the older one, a RWD still badged “Datsun 810” along with the maxima badge. The lower is the successor FWD version. The change is very noticeable in their respective front axle positions and hood lengths.
Here’s the DIESEL badge on the 810 sedan. I shot and posted a diesel wagon way back in 2011, and was a bit surprised then. I’m 14 years more surprised now. The diesel was a 2.8 liter version of the L-series engine, with all of 80 hp. Compared to the many inconsistent diesel efforts of the time, this one seems to have a pretty good rep. Some folks have apparently logged very high miles on theirs. I’d be curious as to how many this one has.
I see it’s got one modification: a half-hearted Bosozoku-style exhaust.
This needs a 45 degree turn and point skywards for about five feet or more, for Japanese-style rolling coal.
The interior is classic Japanese style of the time, with that soft velourish fabric and multiple-bolster look. Very comfortable too. These cars were the first to talk back at you, with its infamous “Bitchin’ Betty” voice alert system, that was actually a miniaturized phonograph. I hear they’re long-lived.
The only thing missing are the lace half seat covers for the tops of the seats and headrests.
These were a direct competitor to the Toyota Cressida, and both finally broke through the buyer resistance that Americans had with earlier six-cylinder Japanese cars. Now they were accepted as legitimate alternatives to European mid-luxury sedans, and often offered more bank for the buck, never mind reliability.
The second generation 810 arrived for the 1981 model year, and there were two versions: the 810 DeLuxe, and the 810 Maxima, the first use of a name that is of course still with us today. The Maxima version of the 810 was the high-trim version. By 1982, it was only “Maxima”, and the 810 designation fell by the wayside, as would the Datsun name in another couple of years.
The final 1984 MY Maximas had both “Datsun” and “Nissan” on its trunk lid, which this one sports.
Toyota had previously tried with several generations of Crown, before abandoning it in favor of the somewhat lower-priced Cressida, and with which it found moderate success. Nissan had held back with bigger sedans, but decided to jump in a year after the Cressida arrived, with its rather similarly-conceived 810, in 1977.
Like its predecessor, the first generation 810, these cars were Nissan Blubirds, designed and sold in most part of the world as four cylinder cars (above, with short nose). The Bluebird line included the legendary (original) 510, and its successor, the 610. But it was time to kick it up a notch for the US, and lengthen its nose in order to install the L24E SOHC 2.4 six, as used to such great success in the Datsun 240Z. Of course, the six was detuned to 125 hp for its new role, but nevertheless, these offered a bit more punch than what folks had been used to in Japanese sedans. The Pinocchio nose didn’t exactly do much its looks, but the Americans were of course suckers for long hoods.
The 810 wasn’t only for US consumption; the Japanese market version used a smaller 2.0 L version of the six.
Here’s that 810 Maxima diesel wagon I shot back in 2011. I saw it around for years, but then it disappeared. Nice to know another diesel has taken its place here.
The second generation arrived for the 1985 MY, switched to FWD and ushered in the VG-series of V6 engines. US Maximas got the 3.0 L version with 157 hp. But the styling language remained surprisingly similar. Blocky, boxy and plenty of surface details to ease the flat planes.
A stock single exhaust pipe on this one.
The interior is also very similar. The seats look very comfy indeed. Japanese brougham style interior. This one is an automatic.
Pretty nice for a station wagon back seat. Take that, Volvo 240 wagon!
Related CC reading:
Curbside Classic: 1982 Datsun (Nissan) Maxima (810) Diesel Wagon – Bitching Betty by PN
Curbside Classic: Datsun 810 Maxima – Maximum Mobility by Perry Shoar
Curbside Classic: 1987 Nissan Maxima (PU11) V6 Turbo Hardtop Legran – The One That Missed The Boat by Tatra87
Just yesterday I was researching the VG V6 to determine parts compatibility with my atrociously unreliable 1987 300ZX and discovered the engine was used in a short lived Russian parts bin 4×4 called the Derways Cowboy. The more you know.
Not only will there be no Cowboys in junkyards to steal parts of of, there are basically no 80s Nissans of any kind except the occasional husk of a hard body. 80s Mercedes cling on as dailies but not nearly as many 80s Nissans still pull daily driver duties to occasionally still wear out and end up junked. That makes this two Nissan driveway a great spot.
That tailpipe!!! haha.
LD28 engines are very good, they were the go to repower diesek in NZ and have been fiitted to almost anything they will fit in, you get great fuel economy and it will keep going, A guy I know has LD28 fitted in his 48 Ford Bonus pickup and a XF falcon ute both with 5 speed and Falcon rear axles and shade tree turboed, neither of them are fast but will cruise well on very little fuel, which in a country where regular 91 @$2.40 per litre against $1.60 for diesel is a clever move.
NZ Skyliner will be along eventually, he loves those Nissan diesel cars and ran up a fairly big mileage on them commuting.
I remember both of these when they were new and I liked both versions, especially the newer one. An early Maxima typically sold for about $6,000 when I was shopping used cars around 1986, more than double my range, so I was curious about an ’82 Maxima sedan a local dealer was selling from a newspaper classified ad for only $3000. I called them about it, was it in good condition? “yes”. Mileage? Was in the typical range. Finally after answering a few other questions, the sales guy offered up “oh by the way, it’s a diesel”. Ah, that explains the crazy low price. Diesel cars had cratered in value by the late ’80s in the US (Mercedes excepted). Gas was cheap again, diesel was more expensive, early ’80s non-turbo diesels were dog-slow, often hard to start in the winter (or needed glow plugs to warm things up) and they made funny noises. And had an undeserved bad reliability rep due to the Olds 350.
The FWD wagon is an ’86 – same as the ’85 except for the CHMSL, but for some reason lasted only half a year before the refreshed ’87s arrived early. The updates were small but I didn’t like any of them. The older car here is confusing me though – as noted the car was only called an 810 in 1981, after that the former base 810 became the Maxima and the former 810 Maxima became the Maxima XE. That should make this one an ’81 because of the 810 badge. BUT…. the interior is clearly that of an ’82 or later. The upholstery on the ’81s was plainer, less shiny and without those little diamonds in the velour. More noticeably, the door panels were quite different with the full-length armrests (front and rear) on the ’81 (photo below) replaced with shorter armrests with grab handles at the ends as seen on the diesel sedan here used ’82-84. The car remained a Datsun until the FWD ’85s arrived.
The analog phonograph-style voice alert used in 1981 could only say one thing (“please turn off the lights”). In 1982 it was replaced with a more complex unit with six short messages like “lights are on” or “fuel is low”. The record players had their own amplification; the sound wasn’t piped through the regular radio speakers. The ’85 still had voice alerts but now used solid-state digital memory to store the voice. Chrysler also had a voice alert system starting in ’83 that unlike Nissan had a male voice, and used the same Texas Instruments digital chips used on their Speak & Spell toys; these did play through the main audio system and would turn down the radio volume if necessary. Voice alerts have made a comeback in recent years now that we’re used to phones and navigation talking to us.
I started collecting these when I found out about them, always before was a die hard American cars only guy. I drive a 82 diesel daily. I have one that has over 45OK on it, the seller had pulled the original diesel to install a lower mileage engine. Not sure why the original engine was pulled, possibly a blown head gasket. But close examination of the original disassembled engine showed a crankshaft in mint condition, and no serious wear on the cylinders. The only downside to these Maximas is that in the rust belt, they did rust away.
I almost bought a new 810/Maxima diesel sedan in 1982. Instead, I bought a diesel powered Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham. Shoulda, coulda, woulda! By 30000 miles the Cadillac needed a new engine. I somewhat knew the fellow that purchased the Maxima I was looking at. He drove it for years with no issues whatsoever. The Ohio road salt finally consumed the body but the engine was still running strong. Shoulda, coulda, woulda!
Pretty nice and I imagine the Diesel engine being an inline 6 cylinder means it had passable power delivery .
The interior has held up far better than most vehicles of this vintage .
-Nate
Plenty of nostalgia, and exclusivity today. I found the exterior designs, somewhat generic then.
Fun fact: You could get a Diesel sedan with a 5-speed, but if you wanted a Diesel wagon, you could only get an automatic.
This story caught my attention because I saw an extremely nice 85 Maxima for sale locally with low miles for the age. Debating on looking at it as it is also close to a low mileage 88 240DL. Only I am in Reno for the weekend and it looks to be a decent deal.
Here’s the engine, the LD28 as seen in Nissan’s engine museum in Yokohama, a venue not to be missed for the Nissan enthusiast if the opportunity presents itself. Yokohama is also the venue for the Cup Noodles museum and interactive production facility, another reason to visit Yokohama, both can be done in one day…
And the placard…
I think that particular Nissan diesel engine is used to repower a lot of 3rd world cars/trucks. All those 1950s American iron in Cuba run this engine, I think. Its whats available, runs good on shite quality fuel, very simple and very durable.
Who knew ya cold get a “diesel, Max”? These appear well, maintained.Trying to recall; someone I worked with in the mid-late “80’s” had a white one. (blue inside)
Think it was an “84”.
Our family went through three ’77 810s, one of which was a wagon. All great cars with Euro styling. When that cheap looking, unemotional, goofy American 4-square version came out, around the same time that the Datsun name went away, replaced by the weird Nissan name, I thought the whole thing – car and company – had needlessly driven itself into the ditch.