Old But Not Dead: 1978 Datsun B210

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This 1978 Datsun B210 is in Albuquerque, New Mexico and is on Craigslist with a $1,200 asking price, or make an offer. The seller says that it’s “Old But Not Dead”, which may or may not be the best sales pitch that I’ve ever heard.

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We’ve seen Datsun B210s on Barn Finds before and they usually don’t garner a ton of responses, but this one will change all of that! (crickets).. The seller says that this sun-faded car has new tires, shocks, and exhaust, but it needs a carb rebuild and the AC needs a charge. They say that the next owner can restore it or drive it as is. It gets 35 mpg so at least it has that going for it. Just a warning: put your sunglasses on for the next photo.

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Zinnnng! I can see a New Mexico artist owning this car, or better yet, a New Mexico artist buying this car and turning it into an art car. Yes, those are new seat covers, those aren’t stock Datsun materials (again with the crickets). I’m not sure what to say here, other than, as a running and driving shell, it seems to be a fairly solid shell. Being a purist at heart, I couldn’t live with this interior. The exterior I could live with in it’s faded glory with a teal RF fender and the huge bumpers and is that a missing RR quarter window? I could even live with plastic duct-taped to the missing window, but I would have to redo the interior, that’s just me.

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Hey, at least the engine compartment looks fairly normal! This is an A14 inline-four, all 1.4 liters of it. All 70 hp of it. And, a rare, in-place air cleaner is a bonus. This engine is worth probably half or more of the asking price, so you’re getting the rest of the car thrown in for free. This car won’t get any love here, I already know that, but it was just too interesting not to show. Could you imagine driving this baby home and parking it next to your (insert really, really cool car here)? Some part of me would love to own a small “beater” car like this just to drive around for errands and not giving a second thought to door dings or runaway shopping carts. Could you, in your wildest dreams, ever see yourself driving a car like this one? Come on, let us know!

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Comments

  1. Pookie Jamie P

    I offer 500 and I’ll go get it! I need a trip to the west

    Like 0
  2. Ted S

    Actually, it appears to be in Arizona….

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    • Dan

      Yep, Show Low AZ Craigslist, then the Holbrook AZ as well as the AZ license plate tend to give that away.

      Like 0
  3. Jeffro

    Throw your favorite Grateful Dead cassette in and start “truckin”! Love it

    Like 1
  4. Blindmarc

    If it were in Albuquerque, I’d have someone go look at it. I think $800 would buy it. Couldn’t be any slower than the Taurus I’m driving now.

    Like 0
  5. Patrick McC

    The drive train will probably end up in a Spridget. That 60 series 5-speed transmission is worth at least $750 and getting both the A14 engine and 5-speed for $1200 is a steal!

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  6. Bill

    I’d drive the doors off it.. well.. the door panels anyway.

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  7. grant

    Never thought I’d see the day a B210 went for over a grand. My first car was a 79 210 hatchback (not a b) and I loved that little car. Paid 475 for it in 1991. Drove it into a pile of rust.

    Like 0
    • LARRY

      My mom had the exact car only brown on brown interior. I remember the automatic transmission always whined. Dad bought it for gas mileage ( I was in school) they kept it for two months and traded it for a 72 impala with a sb 400…yeeessss lol I miss my dad and mom they were gearheads

      Like 0
  8. Don

    looks like Jimmy Bufet threw up in it

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  9. Dave

    I had one of this exact car model. I painted it glossy black, polished to a mirror shine. Installed the chrome mirror window tint all around including driver and passenger windows. I put Klabair (sp) racing tire mounted on deep dish double wire basket chrome American racing rims. I added extra gauges that I built into the center console. I also added a trip computer with cruise control and also mounted it into the center dash. A Blaupunk stereo with fritters on the dash, door speakers, and 6×9’s in boxes for the back which were setup with 50′ of wire so I could take them out at the park. The car was not fast by any means, but was very nimble and a blast to drive. I really miss that car. It was a great period of my life back in the early 80’s.

    Like 0
  10. Ralph Terhune

    Drive it into the ground and then throw it away.

    Like 0
  11. Chebby

    The interior is the only interesting thing about it. Strange how the rear seat is upholstered to match the door panels, but the fronts have generic slip covers.

    Might as well go nuts and make the paint complement the seats!

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  12. Jubjub

    Wow. Clean under the hood. I’d keep the robins egg fender. It subtly matches the interior. However, it NEEDS a set of original honeycomb wheel-covers.

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  13. Rex Rice

    Throw the car away, (keep the door panels for wall art), and keep that great 5 main bearing engine & 5 speed for another project. It would work in a Morris Minor just fine.

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  14. Mark S

    Cool car! I had a 76 B-210 with an automatic. It was a horrible shade of yellow. It ran good. The transmission modulator was going bad, so it would suck tranny fluid into the intake manifold and it would smoke like crazy. I ended up trading it for a 69 Nova. And the rest is history…

    Like 0

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