(Update: turns out this car was misidentified; it’s actually a C210 Skyline, the model that succeeded the “Kenmari” C110 Skyline)
Japanese cars from the 1970s have a huge cult following, thanks to their, um, unique styling, as well as nostalgia for simpler times. Back then, the industry exploded with heady optimism and upscale, performance-oriented cars like the Skyline were readily available to the motoring public. In addition, there was one more significant factor in play: TV ads. Vintage Japanese domestic market (JDM) TV spots have attracted a huge cult following, but one in particular arouses deep personal nostalgia within me. During the late ’70s to mid-’80s I worked at KSCI, a multi-ethnic UHF station in Los Angeles, where I became familiar with Japanese-language programming. So when mcc.pj posted this Skyline/Datsun 240K at the Cohort with a reference to the famous “Ken & Mary” ad campaign, my memories were instantly triggered. Let’s take a look at the car that Ken & Mary (“Kenmari”) made famous, and how they did so.
I’ll let mcc.pj provide his own commentary on the car itself:Â Hood pins, stripes, and fender-mounted mirrors lend both American and Japanese flavours. The 240K was a strong seller in Australia in its day. It had six-cylinder grunt and sporting, if none too sophisticated, chassis dynamics.
This one comes with the requisite period-Aussie rear window slats. The triangular lateral flare on the rear door and quarter panel was a valiant if not subtle attempt to sleeken the slab-like expanse of the rear fender.
Gotta love those ‘Vette taillights.The swoopy fastback coupe version (as shown in the TV ads) of the C110 was always the best-looking generation of Skyline to my eyes. That body style boasted an up-engined GT-R model, which was the last of its kind until the 1989 R32 revived the GTR name.
So here’s the collection of “Ken & Mary” TV ads, which actually did boost sales of this generation Skyline (called Datsun K240 outside of Japan, but not imported to the US) significantly. Not hard to see why, eh?
Two door versions of these Datsun are not very common here though a lot came in ex JDM while it was permitted, Rustangs when new very few have survived.
I got a laugh out of Mary’s painting of a Mountain Range while looking out over the Ocean.
Did these share any of their drivetrains with the 240Z? It seems like a bigger than average car than the Japanese sedans we saw in the US, though it could just be the picture.
Yes, Datsuns always share mechanicals & can mix & match – 240K suspension & brake hardware is a common upgrade for 510’s.
Size-wise these are a little smaller than a Toyota Cressida.
The closest I get to one of these cars is knowing a guy years ago who had a 280C sedan, which was larger and much more of an ‘old man’ car, and quite slow with an automatic.
Someone used to show up at the A&W cruise nights in Port Orchard with a bright red Skyline sedan like the white one shown here. JDM mirrors, right hand drive, and all. We’re close to a naval shipyard so I suspect a sailor brought it back from Yokosuka.
Curious about the actors who played Ken and Mary?
Here is a interview with Diane Krey, who was “Mary”, now a high school teacher in Sacramento, CA:
http://www.hemmings.com/hsx/stories/2011/10/01/hmn_feature6.html
Thanks for posting this. ‘Mary’s’ graciousness is really quite touching–she was one of the most recognisable faces in Japan at the time, but today shows a real enthusiasm for the relatively small Western vintage-Japanese-iron community, attending car shows, leaving personal replies on forums, etc. A real class act.
+1
I hate to be the total car geek here, but that isn’t actually a “Kenmari”, the one in the photos is a C210, as opposed to the “Kenmari” which is a C110. The C210 is a little more square, especially in the front, as opposed to the “challenger-esque” earlier C110s. It came along in the late ’70s, as opposed to the C110 which was in the early/mid ’70s. Under the skin they were very similar, using the Nissan L series engines (in 4 and 6 cylinder form).
There was no C210 GT-R, the top spec had one of the first (if not THE first) L20 Turbo engines, which was a GT-EX
That lateral flare is an homage to the swage line seen on the quarter of the earlier C10 and C110 models, it was kind of lost in later models, before making somewhat of a reappearance on the R32, and more prominently in the R34.
I’m not trying to be an ass here, just thought it best to clarify on the exact model that we’re looking at, long story short, you’re thinking of the right car, but that is the later model. Nissan is kind of my specialty subject…..
Quite right you are, and thanks for pointing it out. I was a bit rushed, and just took the identification from the Cohort posting without further checking it. I’ll add a correction.
The correction needs a correction – you’ve changed it to ‘C120’ but it’s actually ‘C210’. And it’s awesome! (see my screen name, need I say more!) 😉
Take 3! I’ll get it right eventually….
The correction is welcome! Being originally from the US, I knew almost nothing about these cars until I came to Oz–except that they looked cool–so appreciate the expertise.
hi guys,
i have been trying to find out about my 1979 c210 (4 door), i bought it from a friend last month for $800. thinking i was on a winner i have given her a polish and kicked a few red backs out. some one has taken out the turbo, unsure why, but i still have the manifold and some pipes, it has an auto box and pretty good original paint. tail lights are the ugly ones (cluster of 4).
it looks similar to the white one above, i am interested in knowing what i should do with it, do i sell it or keep it. what might it be worth? is a turbo an easy thing to get?
any info would be great as this car seems to have alot of history.
I reckon you should put a heap of postage stamps on it and post it across the Tasman to New Zealand for me! 😉
What’s the engine – L20 or L24? I’m pretty sure the Oz-new models were non-turbo L24, but I may be wrong. In Japan, the only C210/211 Skyline available with the L20ET turbo was the top-spec 2000GT-EX. The L20ET was also offered in the JDM Laurel/Cedric/Gloria/Z.
If yours is factory turbo, it’d be very rare, and probably worth sourcing a replacement turbo. But the L20ET only produces 107kw, so if it was power you wanted, a far better solution would be to slot in an RB30 (114kw) or RB30ET (150kw) out of a VL Commodore. As long as you had the RB loom it wouldn’t be too complicated. Of course if you were in NZ, you’d just pop down to the local Nissan wrecker and buy an RB25DET to pop in (205kw).
Regardless of engine, the car itself would be rare, and worth preserving in some form!
g’day, I am interested in buying the c210 if you wanna sell it, please let me know if you selling or what you wanna do with it. Cheers
Awesome!! A Cohort Classic on the car that inspired my screen name (not the C210 in particular, but all Skylines). Like styles79 above (another Kiwi!) Nissan (nd Prince/Datsun) is kind of my key automotive interest and specialty subject 🙂
I was reading an old issue of Australia’s Modern Motor magazine recently, wherein they tested the C210 Skyline coupe upon its release in Australia. It was surprisingly highly specced – usually Australia/NZ missed out on many of the extras fitted to JDM spec cars. But comparing the magazine article with the JDM C210 brochure showed that virtually every extra available in Japan was fitted to the Oz-spec coupe (including a rear-window wiper, practically unheard of at the time on a sedan/coupe).
Re the lateral flare/swage line, Nissan had a name for that – I think it’s the ‘Sakurai surfline’, named after Shinichiro Sakurai, who basically ‘created’ the Skyline as we know it – he popped the bigger Prince Gloria’s 6-cylinder into the previously-4-cylinder Prince Skyline body. Kind of like a Japanese version of John DeLorean’s GTO creation (although on a literally smaller scale). It needed a stretched wheelbase in front of the windscreen (a la Volvo 164 vs 144) to accommodate the longer engine. This was the 1964 S54 series Prince Skyline – it was badged Prince until the ’66 Nissan-Prince merger. Japanese Nostalgic Car has an interesting write-up/obituary on Sakurai: http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/2011/01/23/shinichiro-sakurai-father-of-the-skyline-dies-at-81/
The surfline appeared in its original extended-wheelarch-flair on 1961’s S50 Skyline (it originally looked like the type of flair Michelotti popped onto the Triumph 2000/2500 sedan of the 60s/70s). It became more pronounced through the succeeding generations, most spectacularly on the C110. It faded out for the R30 and R31 (the R31 was the last developed by Sakurai), kinda reappeared for the R32, was referenced very subtly on the sill/rear bumper of the R33, and clearly returned on the R34 before vanishing on the V35 and V36 (aka Infiniti G35/37).
I like the pictured Australian C210, but the C110 coupe has by far the more spectacular styling! Like Bryce said, very few left here in NZ now, rust has eaten most. There are just six C110 coupes left here on the road apparently. Shame really, as of all the pre-1990 Skylines the C110 is my favourite. So awesome to see the old ads – thanks so much for posting this Paul!
Even the C210 wagon scored the Sakurai surfline – as well as a bizarrely small rear side window. Sadly there aren’t good shots of it in either of my C210 brochures, but here’s a gorgeous C210 wagon from the interwebs:
April 24, 1978. I was walking across the oval at Broadbeach State School and found a silver one of these with a black velour interior waiting to pick me up. Mum and Dad had traded our 1974 HQ Holden Station Wagon in on a new 1978 Datsun Skyline. It was the first car that we ever had that had air conditioning. It was a lovely car and it was very quick for its day. I wish we had kept it.
The C210 model was sold in the British Isles for a few years. Autocar tested a Coupe and was quite impressed. My local Nissan dealer had a few in stock, and my dentist bought a light-green coupe model, which may have been the dealers’ demo model.
A small observation – the registration number on this car looks to be the original (correct era) which indicates it has most likely been continually registered from new, but the plate is a re-issue as it mimics the earlier series colour scheme of white on black rather than the green lettering on white background it would originally had, including the slogan – “Victoria – Garden State”.
That short film is pure madness. It reminds me of the psychometric film sequence in ‘The Parallax View’. Big thanks, though. I love the C110 big time.