JDM Classic: 1972 Datsun Sunny (B110) 1200 GX5 – Brighter Than The Rest

A little spice does help things, doesn’t it? Whether we’re talking cuisine, marriage or economy car, the addition of a smidgen of excitement or exoticism can be truly transformative. Take the modest Datsun Sunny we have here, for instance: slap on a go-faster stripe, give it a twin carb engine and a 5-speed gearbox, and things could get a lot Sunnier.

CC has featured the B110 Sunny in-depth a couple of times at least already, so I’ll keep the historical stuff to a bare minimum. The Sunny nameplate was created in 1966 so that Nissan could field something in the 1-litre range, just below the Bluebird. The idea was to compete with Toyota’s Publica and especially with their newest threat, the Corolla.

Nissan kind of half-assed it for the first generation, not even bothering with making much of a push to export the model. It was also rather basic, leaving the Corolla, as well as other cars in the 1-litre class by Mazda, Mitsubishi or Subaru, to capture more domestic sales. Nissan soon decided to put a lot more effort in their smallest car, resulting in the noticeably larger B110 Sunny taking over in January 1970.

Just like the first-gen B10, the B110 Sunny was available in several body styles: a 2- and a 4-door saloon, a fastback coupé and a wagon, though the B110 now offered the latter in both 3- and 5-door variants. The last body style was the pickup truck, which for this second-generation Sunny was to become the model’s longest-lived variant by a long shot, being assembled in Japan until 1994 and abroad for another decade after that.

Whereas the first-generation Sunny B10 was only available in “Standard” or “Deluxe” trim, Nissan correctly figured that they could shift a lot more of them off the dealers’ lots by giving the model a few more trim options. This started during the B10’s latter model years, but only really got properly implemented with the B110, when Nissan’s top brass finally saw the point of the Sunny – and the threat from Toyota.

The B110 Sunny was therefore proposed in several trim levels – initially Standard, Deluxe and GL, but soon complemented by the range-topping GX, a Sport and a Sport Deluxe trim for the coupé, as well as a Super Deluxe wagon. In April 1971, the “Excellent Series” four-door and coupé was launched, featuring the Bluebird 510’s 1.4 OHC litre engine and three trim levels. Now the range was crazy busy, the way the Japanese clientele expected it to be.

The 1.4 litre Sunny was supposed to be a rival to the Corolla, but it ended up just eating into the sales of the Bluebird. In Japan and abroad, the overwhelming majority of B110 Sunnys received the A-Series 1171cc OHV engine, a tried and true performer. In low-trim cars, this was paired with a 3-speed manual. Deluxe and above received a 4-speed manual or the optional 3-speed auto. With one exception – the late model GX.

The GX was designed as the top dog of the Sunny pack. It existed both with the 1.2 and the 1.4 litre twin carb engine (83 and 95hp, respectively), but interestingly, the smaller-engined version cost more than the larger one.

Not only that, but when the 1200 GX got a 5-speed gearbox – the very same one used in the Skyline GT-R and the Fairlady Z – in the summer of 1972, the 1400 GX did not get the same courtesy.

Things could have gone a little differently. Nissan almost went ahead with the Wankel engine they had been working on since the mid-‘60s, displaying a 500cc dual-rotor Sunny coupé at the 1972 Tokyo Motor Show. Cooler heads prevailed, and the Sunny kept to reciprocating engines.

The GX was a great mix of added muscle (twin-carb engine, 5-speed, disc brakes) and extra gingerbread (wood trim galore, nicely-upholstered high-back seats (not present in our CC here), stripes on the sides).

Interesting that Nissan decided to reserve the GX option to the fastback coupé and the four-door. The two-door sedan was perhaps seen as more of a price leader. Nowadays, the GX is easily the most sought-after B110 model, especially the later 5-speed models.

Suspension-wise, the GX was identical to the rest of the range: Macpherson struts up front, leaf-sprung live axle in the back. Not necessarily conducive to high-performance, but reassuringly solid. Our CC’s aftermarket alloys look perfect for the car, giving it an Italian aftertaste.

The Datsun 1200, which is how Nissan marketed this car overseas, sold quite well. In Japan though, the Corolla continued to eat the Sunny’s lunch. It was even worse than the first generation, in fact. This goes some ways to explain why Nissan launched the larger Sunny B210 early, in the spring of 1973.

However, the B210 was quite a bit heavier (and a lot uglier) than the B110, which had had quite a lot of success on the track as a touring/stock car. Nissan just kept the B110 in that role for extra innings – the last race that saw a Datsun B110 was during the 1982 season.

I was fortunate to catch this car twice. Once on a cold winter morning, and then on a warm Sunday in summer. And wouldn’t you know it, on both occasions, the weather was identical. Sunny.