The term “antique” is interesting, and its definition changes depending on the object upon which it is assigned. In the automotive world, it is often acknowledged that any car over twenty-five years old qualifies, meaning there are junkyards across the country full of vehicles from the 1990s that meet that criteria. That is the term the seller uses to describe this 1975 Datsun B210 2-Door Sedan. It is unclear how long it has sat in its current location, but it has generated interest since the current owner listed it here on eBay. The Datsun is located in Columbia, South Carolina, with fourteen bids pushing the price to $565. If it remains around that figure, it could be one of the cheapest project cars we’ve seen for a while.
Few things are more forlorn than seeing a classic car covered in dead leaves exposed to the elements. That has been the fate of this Datsun, although it looks like it may not have suffered unduly from the experience. Its original Dark Blue paint is tired and faded, and its bumpers are corroded. However, the panels look straight, and there’s no visible rust. The seller’s description runs to a grand total of eight words, meaning potential buyers need to hope they are more engaging via the eBay messaging system to answer the many questions that race through their minds. The photo quality is not much better, but they seem to reveal no exterior rust in the rockers or lower body extremities. We know nothing about the floors, meaning an in-person inspection may be justified to determine whether this little Japanese gem is structurally sound. It looks like most trim pieces, including the hubcaps, are present. The glass is in good order, and if the floors are okay, achieving excellent presentation could be straightforward.
This Datsun’s interior is complete, and while it has issues, much of the story appears positive. The dash pad is badly cracked, and the buyer may need to rely on a foreign supplier to source a replacement. The carpet is faded, and some of the factory AM/FM radio controls are missing. However, the gauge cluster looks like it would respond to a thorough clean, and the vinyl upholstery may be okay. Helping this B210 stand out from the crowd is the original owner’s decision to order it with factory air conditioning. The seller claims it has a cassette player, but I can’t see one. The only other luxury appointment is a rear defogger. It isn’t much, but it’s worth remembering that Datsun marketed the B210 as an affordable and economical vehicle. The one disappointing aspect is the sight of an automatic shifter, suggesting this car won’t be a jet.
Lifting the hood reveals Datsun’s bulletproof 1,397cc A-Series four-cylinder engine. This pocket rocket (?) produced 70hp in its prime that fed to the road via the back wheels and a three-speed automatic transmission. As you might imagine, that combination didn’t provide scintillating performance. The journey down the ¼-mile would have taken 20.9 seconds, with the Datsun topping out at 96mph. If the driver flicked on the A/C during the process, the time could be measured with a calendar. Someone removed the radiator, but an aluminum one on the front seat may be destined for the engine bay. The air cleaner is also inside the car, but the remaining components are intact. The seller doesn’t indicate whether the motor runs or if it even turns freely. The attraction of the pushrod A-Series motor is that it is as tough as old nails. Revival may be possible with little effort, although a rebuild in a home workshop is feasible without spending a fortune.
It is easy to dismiss the 1975 Datsun B210 out of hand, but cars of this type are more significant than many people realize. It is widely acknowledged that American manufacturers became “lazy” during the 1950s and 1960s regarding quality control, along with panel fit and finish. Japanese and European companies proved that the story could be vastly different, and the competition forced local companies to lift their game to retain their market share. That has proven to be an excellent long-term result, and buyers today reap the benefit of the philosophy borne out of these classics. This B210 will never be a mega-bucks car, but they are no longer a common sight on our roads. That’s why if it proves to have minimal rust, I believe someone might give it a second chance at life. With the modest bidding, are you tempted to be that person?
I don’t think it could be called “lazy”, and certainly not in the 50s to 70s. I feel, it was cars like these that had the poor fit and finish, and weren’t any more reliable than what we had. They were poor cars, however, it was this car, like the Corolla, that put Datsun in driveways across America. By ’75, it was clear, this was no fad, gas mileage was the hot button, and these cars advertised the most we had ever seen. Some reports of 40 mpg were not uncommon. Datsun claimed 50, but a bit optimistic. Still, nothing we had saw that kind of mileage, and people lined up like sheep to get one. Rising fuel costs on par with a nuclear holocaust. My 1st GF had a Datsun 1200 fastback, that these replaced. It was a crappy car, but boy howdy, it got unheard of gas mileage, for the 70s, anyway. These rusted on the barge on the way over, and many were turned off by that, and for some reason, changing the name to Nissan, seemed to fix that. There is someone in my town running around with one of these, I doubt they go far, but fun to see, the car that put Nissan on the map. I remember, truckers, before modern APUs, would use these motors mounted behind the sleeper, gotten for peanuts, eliminated idling, another hot button today. For once, “Ol’ Grumpy” can’t complain on the price, eh?.
I had a ’78 that was here on BarnFinds (do a search).
I got it for free,but started buying up NOS parts,& redoing
almost everything on it.I ended up with about $4500 into it.
I wanted to make it like new,& that was my downfall,as
I lost interest in it,& didn’t finish putting it together.
The high bid here was $600,& the buyer mutually agreed
to not buy it when I informed him what it would cost to ship
it 1/2 way across the country,& that he’d need a full-sized
pickup for all of the spare parts.
I ended up selling it for $800,throwing in everything,
to a guy in Olympia,Washington.I’m still irritated that he’s never
contacted me to let me know of the progress he’s made on it.
My fear is that it’s just sat,& will end up in the wrecking yard.
Sorry to hear that story, Anglia, but I think there’s a lesson to be learned. Choose your restorations carefully, it adds up quick. I think if you had finished it, it would have been a good car,,,for you. So many times, one goes underwater and it’s hard to find someone that has the same passion as you did, especially in cars like this. I remember, the front shock towers would rust, deeming the cars undrivable.
I know.I would have kept it,& finished it,but my Wife had
her job eliminated,& we didn’t have a lot of time to prepare for
the move.I guess the good side is that I was able to sell it before
that happened.
I’m wondering when car restorations stopped being for fun, and started being all about the almighty dollar… Angliagt, keep wrenching on cars that appeal to you and don’t listen to the “car enthusiasts” that are more about money than cars…
A teacher at my school drove one of these. Same color as Angliagt’s. As a senior prank my brother and several other guys picked it up and turned it sideways in the parking spot it was on between two other cars. He was not happy.
Had one of these in green, given to me by a friend who’d been a mechanic at a local auto shop and driven for four years. It’d been given to him in exchange for work he’d done on a customers truck, who’d bought it for $400..
I drove it as a 200 mile @ week commuter. It wasn’t anything fancy but it was complete and ran well. When a pheasant hit the grill and broke the plastic grill, a straightened then twisted coat hanger held it in place for many years. Years later I gave it to some friends, a couple that were “just starting out”; they drove it primarily around town for 4-5 years then gave it to the sister, and on and on. Basic, cheap, unimaginative but perfectly adequate for its engineered purpose.
Kinda like that bicycle we all own at one time or another that’s just a plain bike but seems to last forever with many owners for many years..
Love those golf ball look hubcaps
Datsun was in 1975 a just unknown brand in Europe. Then
the most compact cars seen on the roads where the Golf 1
beetle many FIAT OPEL ’02 BMW and cars from the u.k.
Japanese had a market share from zero to a few percent.
I bet the most who had been sold then ended up by some
smart people save the good from the bad, all the other
left over rusted – as all cars rusted in the 70’s – away.
This is a rare sight but the water connectors on the
engine left open indicate a sized engine, requires a full
rebuild. The lack of replacement parts drops it actual
value so 500$ is fair. (Basically i dont pay anything for
cars not running)
I remember seeing quite a few of these on the UK roads in the mid-70s. Known as the 120Y (I would love to know why the different name!) they were obviously better built than their UK counterparts. The seller states that Nissan bought out Datsun which is not the case. They are one and the same.
Insofar as the name change is concerned, the way it was told back then may be an urban legend but it was told that it began initially as one of the first German/Japanese car collaborations. Seems that the “Nissan” brand had some folks thinking negatively from a recent past history and went to the Germans for their input for a rename. During the following correspondence the German firm contacted them and asked when the new name would be going public. Nissan said 2 weeks! The German ad firm,surprised, replied “Dat Soon???!!?”
The rest is history…
That “Dat Soon” thing was old 20 years ago.
@Nevadahalfrack The story actually goes that Nissan was worried the cars they sent to America would give Nissan a bad name so they named them Datsun.
In the early ’80’s it was obvious they were popular so they dropped that name.
The early cars were also called Datsun in Mexico and other parts of the world so I am not sure how true that story is, but I have seen it on many a program about the situation.
The main thing I remember about these was a comment in one of the car magazines, I think Car & Driver, about the hatchback: “When painted brown, looks like a cockroach.”
Yep
A girlfriend back around 1982 had one of these in brownish green or greenish brown or maybe it was just brown with something growing on it.
We drove that thing from Southern Indiana to New Orleans then to Los Angeles then Seattle and back to Indiana.
It never missed a beat though when I turned around in parking lots to see it I wasn’t looking to admire it but was hoping someone may have stolen the little turd.
Can confirm. Had a ’76 hatchback in brown. Looked alarmingly like a cockroach. Not quite as durable, though.
Man, these were everywhere until they weren’t. Everyone had one, even me briefly. This one would probably present well after a weekend’s work aside from that gas burned paint around the filler. They pretty much all had that!
Saw one of these, a well preserved yellow hatchback, driving in snow, in Anchorage Alaska a month or so ago.
The automatic is a bummer but the AC is pretty novel here. Pretty pedestrian driving dynamics on these but a nice color, always a funky design and doesn’t look rusty. Hope someone is good to it.
In Michigan a vehicle 25 years or older is eligible for an antique license plate.
Next year I’ll really be wishing I still had that 1998 Dodge Avenger…
Gimme a break. You consider this car to be a “Classic”. It’s not even a Rambler!
I had a 1976 B210 in the 80’s, et mags, 60 series tires, fog lights, stereo, the things going thru s young man’s mind at the time! It was a great car, ran forever with basic maintenance. It sat for six years while I was in Germany, got home, fresh gas, prime, it started up and ran like it always did. I finally decided to get something different and parked it.
My wife had a 210 when we got married. Car consistently got 30 mpg. Ran fine until an uninsured motorist damaged it. Jerk skipped town without paying for damage he caused, even lying to the Judge that he paid for the damage.
The AACA defines an antique vehicle as one built up to, and including 1929. After ’29 they are either vintage or special interest vehicles.
“With the automatic, it wouldn’t be a jet.” The only thing on the road slower than these slugs, was a Beetle.
As a boy I lived in northern New Jersey and B210’s were everywhere . Rust ate them all by 1985 . You think these cars are bad ? they are a Lexus compared to that awful F10 that replaced it .
Had a B 210 Honeybee in the ‘70’s…commuted up and down daily on curvy mountain roads. It was a little bandit…made some great times down the mountain. Borrowed my friends Pinto one day, drove as usual and almost killed myself. Pinto was a mess compared to my Honeybee…pure domestic junk. My little “Bee” was far superior in every way.
No way!
That’s why you can still find plenty of pinto s around and very few 210s. I’ve owned both. Mechanically the datsuns were excellent, but the body, interior fabrics, plastics, and the steel itself was very very poor quality, just assembled well. Horrendous rust on these early datsuns.
Yeah , except they disintegrated in water
What I remember about this car is the button under the accelerator that activates the kick down.
If you floor it, I guess it figures you need the next lower gear.
Most automatics have that.
I was given a 1975 B210 by a buddy. I had a company truck for a while and after leaving that job only had 1 car for the family. My kids called it the Bomb.. i called it my B2-slow. I came to like driving the car and the 4-spd made it a little sportier. driving Tulsa traffic was never challenging and since it was a 100 mile per day commute.. this car was perfect. Even though i had to weld the right fender to the support.. bungee cord the hood down and i could see thru the floorboard.. this car took me to 400k miles. When the timing chain broke.. that was the end of the car. I cost too much to repair so i bought a new El Camino (1987) and have driven it daily since new. now with almost 750k miles i still drive it in Houston traffic daily. If you see me on I-10 in Katy.. gimme a wave.
That there..is mighty impressive!!
I think my late Brother in law’s Mom had one like this in a lighter blue. They loved it. I wasn’t into them, but later Toyotas got my eye due to a friend having one and then my Mom’s 78 wagon.
I now have a Tundra and will never go back, except for restoration toys. Those Datsun hubcaps bring back memories. They looked so “modern”.
i am currently looking for a 1977 Celica Gt. I had a 75 coupe but really wanted the fastback.
I had one of these, when I was near broke for awhile. Bought it for $300 and it got me here & there for about a year or so. It didn’t have that many miles on it, I believe around 58K…..but it was so rusted out in the floors and rockers that indeed it was like driving the Flintstone mobile.
After a while it lost Reverse (5 speed) so you had to park it….where you
could get out…..going forward. lol And to boot it was piss pale yellow.
Had a frat brother with one, yellow with smooth black vinyl. No a/c & you would roast in the summertime. Transmission shifted like 2 pieces of metal grating together. It did have spiffy wheel covers like SAAB soccer balls.
Known as the Datsun 120Y here. We got the 1200 engine, but were spared the horrid ‘golf ball’ wheel trims. For some reason our two door sedan came with painted dog dish hubcaps, while the 4 door and the hatch had full wheel trims
Easy to work on, a mate’s girl friend said hers was “steering funny, and the brakes were ‘funny’ too. Some new front pads, idler arm bushes and I lubed the rear leaf springs. I had it done before I’d finished the six pack she bought me.
I had a 1977 orange, 2 door coupe like this one. It rusted in half, literally! Only a friend’s welding skills kept it rolling. When I got rid of it, the only thing holding the driver’s side suspension together was the top of the strut and the steering arm. If you used your brakes, the front wheel might fold under.
I didn’t have the auto, although my sister had a 610 with one, and it was as slow as molasses in winter. Even with the smaller engine, the 4 speed was much better. I actually sold it for parts to someone, since the mechanicals were bulletproof. He said that mine was in better shape than his. I said that I doubted that, but if he put it on the road, let me know so that I would stay home so that I didn’t encounter the car. :-)