I believe this 1978 Datsun B210 GX hatchback was originally #305 Light Blue Metallic, as that’s the color that’s in the engine compartment and Datsun didn’t offer an appliance white like this, at least in this era. It’s a bummer, but it’s in Phoenix, Arizona so I get it, the lighter the color the better (and cooler, temperature-wise). It’s posted here on craigslist and the seller is asking $4,500. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Tony P. for the tip!
There appears to be some wrinkled sheet metal on this 13.5-foot-long car, but they’re known for having some of the thinnest sheet metal in the industry at the time. That’s why they were the fuel economy leader, they only weighed a ton. This car would be beautiful in its original shade of light blue. They were known as the Nissan Sunny in most markets but a name like that wouldn’t work in America, we like rugged names for our vehicles here (like, CyberTruck, etc.) (just kidding).
Our own Adam Clarke showed us a mind-numbingly-nice ’78 B210 back in December here, and there’s quite a difference between the two cars. That being said, that was $7,000 more than this one, a person could do a lot of bodywork, paint, and interior work for seven grand. The third-generation B210 was made from 1973 through 1978 here and you can see a few dings and other issues with the exterior in the photos.
The Arizona heat has worked its magic on the soft surfaces inside as you can see. Seats are easy, padded dashes not so much, but anything is fixable. One thing that you’ve already noticed is that this car has a three-speed Jatco automatic transmission rather than a preferred manual. The back seat looks great but we don’t get a photo with the hatchback open and don’t see what it looks like back there, bummer. I didn’t expect to see black seats in a blue B210, or maybe it’s not expecting to see blue door panels in a car with a black interior.
Here’s the blue engine bay, housing Nissan’s A14, which is a 1.4-liter OHV inline-four with 70 horsepower and 75 lb-ft of torque. Shooting through that automatic transmission to the rear wheels, don’t expect to get up to freeway speeds by the end of the onramp unless it’s floored, and I would never do that to this car, or any car this small and this old. Any thoughts on this B210? Was it originally light blue? One of you has to be a Nissan/Datsun guru.
My ex wife had one of these. Great little cars. Wind, snow, sleet, and hail, that thing ran like a postman getting chased by a junkyard dog.
We were just in the Pheonix area and saw this Facebook Marketplace add while there. I was very tempted to go look at it. I had one when I had shore duty while on active duty. That was close to 40 years ago now! Wow, where did the time go?
Another great find Scotty. My first grade teacher had a brand new one, ’77. It eas a bright blue I think the same color as this. She was a happy lady, and at least to me, her car was a happy looking car, especially with the bright blue. I didn’t know that Datsun/Nissan used some of the thinnest sheetmetal in the business but it comes as no surprise to me. Datsuns from this time frame rotted out rather quickly in the rust belt. You don’t see many of these. Great memories Scotty, thanks.
A friend of mine had one of these in brown. Made the trek from Philadelphia to Durham North Carolina, three of us, two guitars and all the luggage. Had to stop every half an hour to rotate seating positions as the person in the backseat literally could not move. It was a buzz bomb that got us there and back and sounded like banging on an empty oil drum when you closed the doors. Given the well known rust issues in these, I’d take a close look at this one before purchase. But if you’re looking for one, this one has potential as it doesn’t look like it’s made entirely out of iron oxide.
Cold blooded slug
Back when the advertising agencies that were hired by the Asian automakers, convinced many a consumer that all Japanese cars were great. Not so.
Bought one new for a daily 50 mile each way commute. Stick, factory air. Added cruise control since neither factory or dealer installed was available. Commute was on absolutely flat land…discovered why cruise wasn’t available. Could run A/C or Cruise control, but not both at the same time! Most amazingly underpowered car I’ve ever owned!
I have an orange ’77 B210 with the 5 speed and 145k miles. Still runs like a sewing machine. No rust as it was in California til I bought it. There’s a plaque in the engine bay that will tell you exact hp from factory, mine says 74hp. The auto must sap 4 hp here. It’s slow but not painfully slow if its just me in the car. Best mpg I can muster is about 30mpg, so the lofty estimates from ads are likely fudged numbers. I love the hubcaps and goofy rear end styling. I also have factory louvers and AC (non functioning, although it was retrofitted for R134 by previous single owner). $4500 seems like a fair price for this one. The color should have been blue originally but was likely baked from the sun so white was prob a cheap respray. Awesome find!
Back in that era, the EPA estimates were based on testing done on a rig similar to a dyno. The car was stationary so there was no actual load, wind resistance or uphill/downhill. The estimates were always crazy high which is why the testing changed to reflect actual conditions.
As a side note, I rolled my dad’s B-210 4 door sedan at an autocross…
Your orange Datsun sounds really nice, Daniel! 👍🏻
Known as the Datsun 120Y here. Styling best described by one quote “I feel sorry for the sheetmetal”
Easy to work on. A mate’s girlfriend had an automatic trans one. “Slug” was being kind.
i had a 76 coupe that my kids nicknamed ” The Bomb”.. I preferred to call it my “B-2slow”. I had it for 4 yrs and put 100k miles on it. The timing chain snapped and since it was an interference engine.. I gave it to a church to be raffled off. I think it brought $300 for their youth group. The car had 450k miles on it so it was worn out. It was given to me by a friend and it was given to him by a friend after the original owner gave it to him..