Near the beginning the video with the kid caressing a 280ZX really brought back memories. After a Mercedes salesman test driving somebody's 300D trade-in ran into my '78 Celica. As a 17 year old, I had to sue the 40-something salesman who himself lied and had other salesmen lie for him in court. My lawyer was able to show the judge pictures proving they were lying. The judge recessed and came back and chewed all of them out and awarded me 2x what I was asking. I immediately went out and bought a used '82 280ZX with that same burgundy paint. I loved that car and I still miss it.
no I remember the Datsun my first ever to see a japanese car in person the 210 if I remember the gym teacher in my school had one it really looked great took the maxima first generation to accept the name
Our family had a78 B210. I remember how excited I was when mom bought that new. The odometer stopped working at around 180k. We had it for about 4 years after that... It may not sound like a lot of miles today, but in the 70's getting your car to 100k miles was the goal. That car only ever had a water pump replaced. OH and a clutch.
I remember the Datsun name well, and remember them going through the name change. Thanks for all the back history, now it makes more sense why they did that.
My dad switched from a '74 MonteCarlo (with swivel seats & CB radio) to an '81 Datsun B-210. I have no memory of the MonteCarlo, but that little B-210 was the first car I remember him driving and allowing me to "drive" while sitting on his lap. Rest in peace, dad. 🥹
One of your best videos! Your narrating is always great but for some reason this one had a little something more. Keep um coming absolutely love your channel.
I've been following your channel since about your 5th video. Every Saturday (now every other Saturday) at noon, I'm watching your newest upload. This one was very special because it was my birthday. Keep up the good work. I love your channel.
The badge confusion also included the car models themselves. 1983 was the first year for the new Maxima model. It replaced the Datsun 810. I remember the "810" and "Maxima" badges were both on the car at the same time that year. Also, when the first year the Altima came out, the back of the car said, "Stanza" and "Altima" next to each other.
_Car & Driver_ said the Stanza/Altima naming was a way to get around government certification requirements. A new trim line is less of a hassle to approve than a new model line, so we got -- nudge, nudge, wink, wink -- the Altima trimmed Stanza.
As much of a car guy as I am, I can’t believe I didn’t know this. When I was a kid in the 80’s, we had a neighbor that owned a Datsun Maxima and I had wondered why some said Datsun and some said Nissan. I thought the two brands (both owned by Nissan) coexisted like Chevy and GMC and then the Datsun brand was eventually phased out. Great video! Thanks for clearing that up!
I had a 67 Datsun 411 . I painted it in rally colors of black and orange put on mag wheels and a cherry bomb muffler. It was a pretty crude car underneath with body on frame, single circuit drum brakes and a cast iron 3 main bearing 1300 cc engine. But I drove the heck out of it until I rolled it over on lake shore drive in. Chicago in 1979.
I was only about 8 years old when they switched names, but I took note and was confused because our family car was a little Datsun. I remember some cars having badges that read “Nissan by Datsun” in the first few years of the name change.
My first car was a brand new 1982 Datsun 280ZX. Black with gold pinstripes and T Tops too. My biggest mistake was not buying the turbo. The car I had had transmission issues and crunched gears from 1st to 2nd. The turbo had a stronger Borg Warner unit.
I had a 1983 280 ZX turbo with a Borg Warner transmission five speed. It was loaded with every imaginable option for the day. Wish I never sold that car.
Excellent video. I learned a lot-especially about the origin of the Datsun name. I still remember my grandfather's 1970 Datsun 510, which he had for years. The 280ZX has always been a favourite of mine.
I bought a used 1972 Datsun 710 coupe in 1979 after a car accident totaled my ride. It was a quirky car, but it gave me my first taste of Asian cars. I bought a Honda Accord in 1982, and I've been a devoted fan of Honda ever since.
I think Nissan used the "Sunny" name outside North America for a few more decades (until about the 2010s), but it was different from the contemporary Sentra, at least in styling.
The Sunny model name was used throughout the 1980's in the UK until about 1996, when the Sunny was replaced by the Nissan Almera. Both the Almera and the outgoing Sunny, was based on Nissan Pulsars sold in other markets.
18 днів тому
@@puntomk1uk64 Yes, it's a bit of a mess. N13 and N14 were sold as Sunny in Europe, even though N series is Pulsar series. B series is the "real" Sunny. B11 Sunny was sold in Europe, but Nissan decided to replace it with the N13 Pulsar and they rebadged it as Sunny... N12 Pulsar was also sold in Europe in the early 80's, but it was Called Cherry...
Good video. It was great for the content and information. I enjoyed the footage as it brought back memories. I also appreciated the effort to explain the name change and model integration to Nissan. Thank you again.
'75 Datsun 710. Bought it brand new from Reed Motors in Orlando. It was yellow with a black interior. My friends called it the lemon because it ALWAYS knew when payday rolled around; that's when I would have to take it to the shop for repairs! Like a clock, it always knew when I got paid!!!
I never knew the real reason why Nissans were sold as Datsuns here in America until now. I was born in 1982 and became a car enthusiast by the age of 5, along with having big collections of Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Sonic Flashers, and 1/24 scale cars or bigger by the time I was 10. I was very familiar with the Datsun Z cars from the 1970s and the Nissan 300ZX, but never understood what led Datsun to become Nissan. A Nissan product from the 2000s you should do a video on is the Xterra. They were popular when first released before sales crashed. There aren't many on the roads anymore.
I had a Datsun 610, very comfortable and fun to drive but with average reliability. I traded it on a "Nissan by Datsun" badged Sentra. The Sentra was a nice example of an econobox of the time. It regularly got 50 mpg highway mileage; never had any mechanical problems whatsoever. I got a nice set of Ginzu knives for taking it on a test drive.
Great info and very proud of you calling the names of many Datsun’s and Nissan’s l have owned and still owned a few. I would like to pt y hands on a clean B12 Datsun, it’s a keeper.
My grandmother drove a Datsun 280ZX back in the early 80's - Sadly she was in a pretty bad wreck in it, tho not her fault (blind corner into stopped traffic on a freeway offramp at night in th rain - thank goodness she survived, but the car didn't). It was a beautiful car, and I still love seeing restored Datsun 280ZXs to this day
I was so excited to see the new My Old Car video was on Datsun! Finally had a chance to sit down and watch and it was just as good as I hoped. I have an '85 300ZX and I kind of want to slap the '84's dual Datsun/Nissan badges on mine just because of the history.
Back when I was in high school I worked for an autoparts store that did repairs in the back. They had a fleet of mid 70's Datsun 620 pickups and a fw B210 cars they used for delivery. What I remember most about them is that they rusted faster than a 60's Chevy and the motors were only good for about 80,000 miles or so before they either started to smoke or they dropped a valve seat Head gaskets were also fairly common. In the repair shop, and likely because they were associated with a Datsun dealer nearby, the shop saw a lot of them even hiring a few of the former techs from the dealership. When that dealer failed, not long after the Nissan changeover, VW/Audi/Volvo became their main business in the shop as they didn't work on domestic cars. In the beginning, they were seeing so many Datsun motors with dropped valve seats they spend considerable amounts of money to set up the tooling to repair those cylinder heads in house. My biggest issue with any of the Datsun vehicles was a lack of headroom. At 6ft 3in tall I couldn't sit in a pickup, B210, or the Z cars without hitting my head on the roof or having to duck to see out the windshield. The Toyota's and Honda's were much better in that aspect. The 720 pickups brought a whole new batch of issues, including timing chain problems and more blown headgaskets.
Second time putting this out there: I'd love to hear about the creation of the VW Type 3 series for the American market. Their enduring history as modified cars from the beefed up engines (Porsche and Subaru boxters) to retro surf style wagons to tricked out lowriders would also be cool to hear about.
I remember commercials talking about going to your "Nissan-Datsun dealer." It was weird, but I don't remember really being up in arms about it, though. My dad had a 1981 280ZX Turbo and then a 1985 300ZX Turbo (5-speed with the turbine wheels from the 1984 50th-anniversary model (they were way cooler than the normal ones, especially with the car also being gold), T-tops (always off), digital gauges, and voice warnings ("Fuel level is low", "Left door is ajar.")) The car was really advanced for its time. I inherited that when I was in high school after he got a 1987 Porsche 911 Carrera Targa. The badge changed at the same time the model changed, so it was less odd.
After seeing this video Friday night I watched Rocky 3, released in 1981, Saturday night. Early in the movie Pauly is leaving a bar and you briefly see a Datsun commercial on TV but you hear the whole audio of it. In the credits they listed thanks to Nissan. How cool knowing the backstory after seeing your video.
I think their luxury division would’ve fared better if they kept the Datsun name. Ending decades of brand recognition and creating Infiniti (with a very questionable ad campaign, at that) in less than a decade left people scratching their heads. Toyota did it right (even quickly replacing the initial ES with a car more suitable to their luxurious aspirations). I wish Honda would’ve brought their A game with a big-bodied, rear-wheel drive V8 Legend. It’s kinda cool to imagine an alternative reality where Toyota, Honda, and Datsun were seen on the same level. I feel like the change to Nissan essentially turned a lot of people off and they just went to other Japanese brands… leaving the Accord - Civic and Camry - Corolla to dominate. Thanks for your videos 🙌❤️
I lived in Kuwait in the 1970s and the 1980s, they used to have two dealerships one for Datsun and one for Nissan. The Nissan models had names like skyline, gloria, stanza, liberty, Miller pick up truck, add Nissan patrol. While the Datsun dealer sells models with letters and numbers only like 280zx, 240L, 280C which is also sold as a rebadged Nissan Gloria. What amazed me was the neighboring country of Saudi Arabia never had a Nissan dealership and they never had some of the Nissan models like Skyline.
My step dad had a white Dadsun sedan when he first met my mom. It had light blue interior and no seat belts in the backseat. It died in a bank parking lot in Ocean City Maryland. That was the first time I ever rode a bus, as we needed to get back to his cottage. I remember my step dad telling me that Dadsun became Nissan. Thanks for the cool video
Nissan didn't want to use the name in the American market because of WWII, however Mitsubishi always did and they made the Zero fighter planes, probably the most notorious example of WWII Japanese war machines due to the Kamikaze.
Yes. But Nissan came to the US in the 1950s. Mitsubishi wouldn't arrive until "mixed" in with Chrysler-Dodge in the 1970s. There was more time to heal from WW2.
The old joke I remember from my auto-shop teacher was that... A group of Japanese businessmen went to a German engineer group to design a new passenger car for the American market, and told him he only had a couple of months to do so. And a one of the German engineers remarked "Dat soon!", (in a German accent). And that's how the Datsun name came about. Sorry, the joke is better in person.
A variation of what I heard after buying my first new car, a Datsun '72 240z. Now look at the emblem on them back then, a rising sun at the end of the name.
I never knew why they used the Datsun name in the US and Nissan elsewhere, especially when the badge on the car started to say "Datsun by Nissan". Thanks for the history lesson! They were quite popular in the late 70's to mid 80's when I was in High School and College, and I especially remember the pickups and the Z cars.
Back in ‘73, both my parents and my aunt bought new 610s. My aunt got a coupe, we got the wagon. They were so new to the US market that the fender badges read “Datsun 1800” instead of “Datsun 610.” Ours lasted until ‘84. I still miss that little car.
I bought a nearly new , 800kms, '78 Datsun pickup. Outfitted it with white mags, g 60 tires and a white roll bar. I loved that truck and drove it about a decade. Remember when the switch to Nissan happened. It was kind of confusing. Great video, thanks!
That was my brand over three separate car purchases. By about 1987 nissan-datsun had become lackluster. Today I'm hoping my 2018 ford focus stays alive awhile. There are few vehicles I could afford to buy new.
When I was 10, my dad bought a new '76 Datsun pickup as his to-and--from work vehicle. Six years later he retired and that little truck became my high-school sled. We beat the hell out of it and it never failed us. I miss it and the Datsun brand in general.
I remember when they changed the ZX from Datsun 280 to Nissan 300. That and the newer Pulsar models were my only favs from that brand. Seeing all the dealership signs changing was mind-boggling then as a kid. I remember an orange Dastun 260Z parked at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles in like forever. Always wondered if anyone owned it. It just sat in the parking lot getting flat tires and fading paint.
My parents bought a new 1978 yellow Datsun B-210 , then my aunt and uncle bought a blue one shortly after because they were impressed with the mpg. Around 1990 my mom bought a 1989 Sentra and offered to keep the yellow B-210 for my brother that would be 16 soon. He didn't want it, because he thought he was going to buy something cooler, like 60s Mustang. Probably about 6 months later, my uncle decided to update. At this point, reality set in and my bro accepted the blue one 😅. I guess at least blue was cooler than yellow. Funniest of all, his nickname soon became B2 after the car, which he still goes by to today. At least most strangers probably think it's from the B2 Bomber plane and not the little Datsun.
In early 1983 my dad ordered a Datsun Micra for my mom. When it finally arrived at the dealership the brand had been renamed Nissan and our brand new Datsun Micra was somehow already outdated.
I feel like Nissan should have retro editions of their outgoing models with Datsun badges. Like a retro Altima could be a Datsun Bluebird retro edition.
What i like is all the old datsuns and nissans had their own feel and character and felt very japanese. Today all the brands look and feel too similar and there is not much individual flavor. Honda and Toyota couldnt be told apart if you took the name off.
Just bought brand new 2025 orange Frontier pro4x. It’s fantastic. No turbo and still very fast without trying. Outside of a wide turn radius it’s great.
My great uncle had an old 70s Datsun 210 he bought at a junkyard in the 80s for $200. He bought a carb for it out of J.C. Whitney and drove it til around 2010! It was still running when he sold it.
My grandmother had a Dotson back in the early 80s. It was the only new car she ever bought. Everything else was used. I remember she got rear ended and it ended up being totaled. After that, she got a 78 Lincoln. Talk about a beast! But it was cozy.
In 1980 my mom bought what 16 years later would be my first car, a Datsun 210 sedan not hatchback with 4 doors. The Badging said Datsun by Nissan. It was a well built car, super strong. It got rear ended once and it would’ve been total by today standards. The trunk completely smashed and blended like an accordion in between the front and rear doors but the shop was able to stretch it back out and fix it just like new and pretty much lasted another decade with no problems until my mom sold it to a friend of mine and he was just a bad owner but that’s another story. We all fondly remember that 1980 car.
I drove a 79 Datsun 210 for just over 8 years. I bought it in 91 in Sacramento for $400 from a co-worker while stationed at McClellan AFB. When I finally junked it, one cylinder had 15 psi and the other 3 had 0 psi. Nevertheless, it still started and drove. It would start to overheat after 2-3 miles. Had a lot of adventures including a cross country road trip.
I am surprised you only mentioned the 1967-72 510 as a 2-second afterthought, a car that sold over 1 million units worldwide. It was a BMW2002 clone and very loved still.
I had a 1980 Datsun Nissan 200SX. It had a Datsun badge on one side and a Nissan badge on the other side at the rear. Pretty cool first car. I taught myself how to drive stick on the way home from the dealer in the dark, the car had a cool aim-able map light that helped me out though.
Nothing like driving a stick on the way home from buying a new (to you) car. You learn very fast. It's like being thrown into the deep end of a swimming pool. I did it on a '68 Ford Falcon, and then bought a '72 Plymouth Road Runner.
@@bwxmoto I almost grabbed an 81' in the 2 tone tan and black with the SL pkg like the one shown at 7 minute 57 second mark in the video.Decided against it and wound up with an 82' Ford EXP..That was a good car too.
Good Video on the History Nissan's Datsun Brand, My Mother had a Red 1980's Nissan 2 Door Santra that she got from a Datsun Dealership that is now a used car lot today, the Red Sentra would have some problems over the years until during the 1990's she & my father would get another car and would later give the Red Sentra over to one of my cousins who needed a car.
Pretty sure my love affair with Japanese sports cars and coupes began in the mid 80's with my 2 older cousins, brothers, one who bought a 1982 280Z and the other one bought an 1982 Honda Prelude. Between the sexy swoopy 2 seat looks of that ZX and the mind blowing power moonroof that disappeared into the roof of that Prelude, my 8 year old mind was blown!! Plus watching them row your own gears in both cars was mesmerizing for me!!
We were baffled when Datsun became Nissan in South Africa too, my grandad only owned Datsuns from grandma's car to all the pick up trucks ( called bakkies in South Africa ) on his farm. Thanks for the memories 👍🏻
Great video, extremely informative and in depth. In HS I had friends with the 240Z & 280Z while I had an uncle with a Datsun 620 Truck in red. They were all so cool and I'm still not sure how my 6; 6" 300# uncle fit in that truck, lol.
in the summer of 1996 I bought my only sibling and older brother, a 1974 Datsun 260Z at an auction along with two other cars. One of which has been shared on this channel (a Subaru XT). when we lifted the hood on the Datsun 260Z the motor had Nissan molded on the engine valve cover. Unfortunately a year later the 260z was stolen.
Parents had a Datsun B210 2 door without the hatchback. Very reliable and fuel efficient but very tight in the back seat even for elementary school age kids. Friend from school had a late 70s 200SX as a first car before she wrecked it. Strange looking car. It was either a love it or hate it styling.
Mom my mom got a second generation 200SX in 81. A few years later when I started driving (and the sidewalls on the tires on that poor car took some abuse...) my buddies would always say "see if you can get your mom's Nissan tonight". It was always "the Nissan" to them even though it was still technically a Datsun.
Fantastic upload as always Mr My Old car! I never got the pronounciation thing in US of Nissan, it doesn't have an E in the name, then it would be Nesan. Vive le differance, it's the same with no W in Jaguar, and Harry (Not a car), sounds like Hairy the way Americans say it
My first car was a very broken, very damaged 1970 Datsun 240Z. I spent 2 years with my then girlfriends father, who sold it to me, restoring and repairing it to near new condition with recycled and NOS parts. It ran when I bought it, so I paid $700 for it in 1986. By 1988, it was in very nice condition. He owned an auto upholstery shop, so the interior was mint. I learned to rebuild the two Weber carburetors and how to rebuild an engine on that car. I learned how to do body work on that car. I became a mechanic and body tech because of that car. Sadly, I had to sell it in 1999 because I was having a child and needed a downpayment on a house. I sold it for $6000. Biggest auto regret of my life, and it's the only car I actually miss. I can afford to buy another now, but it won't be mine. I still have the last four of the VIN memorized. If I ever see it for sale, that'll be the one I bring back home.
13:18 I'm from Indonesia, and i can assure you that the new Datsun (Mostly Go Panca) is popular because it was the bottom of the barrel price car (Or LCGC Cars). The car is known to be fuel efficient because it has a light weight and an efficient engine. In addition, there are minimal problems so it is worth considering. However, like other cars, the Datsun Go also has common diseases, like The cabin insulation is very poor, all outside noises are audible. The suspension is also noisy and wobbly, and also There is an issue that this car tends to overheat due to the poor quality of the radiator, but I have never experienced that. So, the Datsun Go+ had enlivened the Indonesian automotive market as a cheap car or LCGC. It was first launched in 2014 with a 7-seater 3 rows, so the body shape is elongated. Even tho the Cars that Datsun rarely have problems, but there are no demands for it so INDOMOBIL (Company who own Datsun Indonesia) Killed it in 2020, and Toyota Agya, Cayla, Daihatsu Sigra, Ayla, Honda Brio and Suzuki S-Presso Dominated the LCGC market.
I remember my dad test driving a Datsun D50 and having me jump out to lock the hubs for an off-road run before taking it back to the dealer. That little diesel was pretty capable. Fun times.
My first car was a 1982 Nissan by Datsun Sentra. My parents bought it new, and it was gutless. I drove it 11 years later and managed to total it in 2 months and a day after I got my license. It was a good move to not gove me any power when I was 16 as I was a crap driver then. I still like the Datsun name better.
Near the beginning the video with the kid caressing a 280ZX really brought back memories. After a Mercedes salesman test driving somebody's 300D trade-in ran into my '78 Celica. As a 17 year old, I had to sue the 40-something salesman who himself lied and had other salesmen lie for him in court. My lawyer was able to show the judge pictures proving they were lying. The judge recessed and came back and chewed all of them out and awarded me 2x what I was asking. I immediately went out and bought a used '82 280ZX with that same burgundy paint. I loved that car and I still miss it.
We still run a Datsun forklift where I work. I have no idea what year it was made, but our property has been in business since 1974.
Its not turbocharged is it!? I read on wikipedia years ago that they could be
I’m willing it bet is has the SD22 or the SD25. I have the same diesel engine in 3 of my Datsun pickups.
Those things are indestructible!
You can't imagine, as maintenance in a factory, how much punishment we applied to those things.
Am I the only one who prefers the name "Datsun" to "Nissan"?
Datsun>Nissan
no I remember the Datsun my first ever to see a japanese car in person the 210 if I remember the gym teacher in my school had one it really looked great took the maxima first generation to accept the name
No, you're not! The "Datsun" name is legendary.
My first truck was a Datsun. Couldn't kill that thing, and I tried. My family had many Datsuns.
I always say Datsun sounds better than Nissan. Proud owner of a 79 Datsun 210😊😊
Our family had a78 B210. I remember how excited I was when mom bought that new. The odometer stopped working at around 180k. We had it for about 4 years after that... It may not sound like a lot of miles today, but in the 70's getting your car to 100k miles was the goal. That car only ever had a water pump replaced. OH and a clutch.
I remember the Datsun name well, and remember them going through the name change. Thanks for all the back history, now it makes more sense why they did that.
I still don’t understand :( I want Datsun to come back
I wouldn't buy a Nissan today, but 30 years ago, they were hot!
They were amazing cars back then
2000 model year Maximas (and a few other years) had the 4DSC decal!
RWD/manual transmission = decent.
Nissan Sentra SE-R 1st gen (1991-1994) !
@@jeffshadow2407 Right, the 4 door sports car. I drive a 96 Maxima, and that decal was not used.
My dad switched from a '74 MonteCarlo (with swivel seats & CB radio) to an '81 Datsun B-210. I have no memory of the MonteCarlo, but that little B-210 was the first car I remember him driving and allowing me to "drive" while sitting on his lap. Rest in peace, dad. 🥹
We had a 1980 Datsun 210 but there was no B in the name, was the B for a 2 doors variant?
@@MR-si2cd B210 is a "Honey Bee"
One of your best videos! Your narrating is always great but for some reason this one had a little something more. Keep um coming absolutely love your channel.
I've been following your channel since about your 5th video. Every Saturday (now every other Saturday) at noon, I'm watching your newest upload. This one was very special because it was my birthday. Keep up the good work. I love your channel.
The badge confusion also included the car models themselves. 1983 was the first year for the new Maxima model. It replaced the Datsun 810. I remember the "810" and "Maxima" badges were both on the car at the same time that year. Also, when the first year the Altima came out, the back of the car said, "Stanza" and "Altima" next to each other.
_Car & Driver_ said the Stanza/Altima naming was a way to get around government certification requirements. A new trim line is less of a hassle to approve than a new model line, so we got -- nudge, nudge, wink, wink -- the Altima trimmed Stanza.
I missed the Stanza name but got used to Altima and it's now inoffensive to me...which is a moot point since it's been discontinued, I think.
As much of a car guy as I am, I can’t believe I didn’t know this. When I was a kid in the 80’s, we had a neighbor that owned a Datsun Maxima and I had wondered why some said Datsun and some said Nissan. I thought the two brands (both owned by Nissan) coexisted like Chevy and GMC and then the Datsun brand was eventually phased out. Great video! Thanks for clearing that up!
I had a 67 Datsun 411 . I painted it in rally colors of black and orange put on mag wheels and a cherry bomb muffler. It was a pretty crude car underneath with body on frame, single circuit drum brakes and a cast iron 3 main bearing 1300 cc engine. But I drove the heck out of it until I rolled it over on lake shore drive in. Chicago in 1979.
I was only about 8 years old when they switched names, but I took note and was confused because our family car was a little Datsun. I remember some cars having badges that read “Nissan by Datsun” in the first few years of the name change.
Great video! I remember the name change to Nissan, but I didn’t know that the corporate name was already Nissan. Nice bit of history, thank you.
I really appreciate you showing off the old commercials for the first Gen B11 Sentra's
They need to bring back singing in car ads 😂😂😂
I think this is one of your best videos so far. Great job. I was in HS in the early 80's and was also confused about both companies.
Happy new year to you, awesome commentary those commercials brought back great memories when I was a teenager yeah I own a Datsun 200x
My first car was a brand new 1982 Datsun 280ZX. Black with gold pinstripes and T Tops too. My biggest mistake was not buying the turbo. The car I had had transmission issues and crunched gears from 1st to 2nd. The turbo had a stronger Borg Warner unit.
I had a 1983 280 ZX turbo with a Borg Warner transmission five speed. It was loaded with every imaginable option for the day. Wish I never sold that car.
My dad had one of these. It was nice.
Excellent video. I learned a lot-especially about the origin of the Datsun name. I still remember my grandfather's 1970 Datsun 510, which he had for years. The 280ZX has always been a favourite of mine.
That was a great idea, doing an episode on Datsun!
Or was it Nissan?
I made a whole channel practically revolving around them!
Thanks!
Woohoo! Thank you!
It may not be the video I have been asking for, but it was still good and you did show some of the earlier SX cars.
I may have what you’re looking for!
I bought a used 1972 Datsun 710 coupe in 1979 after a car accident totaled my ride. It was a quirky car, but it gave me my first taste of Asian cars. I bought a Honda Accord in 1982, and I've been a devoted fan of Honda ever since.
Great informative video I grew up in a 210B In the 80s I remember my mom letting me shift it. Still have a frontier !! Thanks
I think Nissan used the "Sunny" name outside North America for a few more decades (until about the 2010s), but it was different from the contemporary Sentra, at least in styling.
They still do in the Middle East but they're practically just a rebadged Versa at this point (even being sourced from Mexico and all).
Correct!
The Sunny model name was used throughout the 1980's in the UK until about 1996, when the Sunny was replaced by the Nissan Almera. Both the Almera and the outgoing Sunny, was based on Nissan Pulsars sold in other markets.
@@puntomk1uk64 Yes, it's a bit of a mess. N13 and N14 were sold as Sunny in Europe, even though N series is Pulsar series. B series is the "real" Sunny.
B11 Sunny was sold in Europe, but Nissan decided to replace it with the N13 Pulsar and they rebadged it as Sunny...
N12 Pulsar was also sold in Europe in the early 80's, but it was Called Cherry...
Learned a lot from this video. I had no idea nissan/ Datsun was around for so long. Also, it's very interesting about the ww2 history from this brand.
Good video. It was great for the content and information. I enjoyed the footage as it brought back memories. I also appreciated the effort to explain the name change and model integration to Nissan. Thank you again.
'75 Datsun 710. Bought it brand new from Reed Motors in Orlando. It was yellow with a black interior. My friends called it the lemon because it ALWAYS knew when payday rolled around; that's when I would have to take it to the shop for repairs! Like a clock, it always knew when I got paid!!!
What id do to go back in time!
I never knew the real reason why Nissans were sold as Datsuns here in America until now.
I was born in 1982 and became a car enthusiast by the age of 5, along with having big collections of Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Sonic Flashers, and 1/24 scale cars or bigger by the time I was 10. I was very familiar with the Datsun Z cars from the 1970s and the Nissan 300ZX, but never understood what led Datsun to become Nissan.
A Nissan product from the 2000s you should do a video on is the Xterra. They were popular when first released before sales crashed. There aren't many on the roads anymore.
I had a Datsun 610, very comfortable and fun to drive but with average reliability. I traded it on a "Nissan by Datsun" badged Sentra. The Sentra was a nice example of an econobox of the time. It regularly got 50 mpg highway mileage; never had any mechanical problems whatsoever. I got a nice set of Ginzu knives for taking it on a test drive.
Always great videos!
Great info and very proud of you calling the names of many Datsun’s and Nissan’s l have owned and still owned a few. I would like to pt y hands on a clean B12 Datsun, it’s a keeper.
My grandmother drove a Datsun 280ZX back in the early 80's - Sadly she was in a pretty bad wreck in it, tho not her fault (blind corner into stopped traffic on a freeway offramp at night in th rain - thank goodness she survived, but the car didn't). It was a beautiful car, and I still love seeing restored Datsun 280ZXs to this day
I was so excited to see the new My Old Car video was on Datsun! Finally had a chance to sit down and watch and it was just as good as I hoped. I have an '85 300ZX and I kind of want to slap the '84's dual Datsun/Nissan badges on mine just because of the history.
Back when I was in high school I worked for an autoparts store that did repairs in the back.
They had a fleet of mid 70's Datsun 620 pickups and a fw B210 cars they used for delivery. What I remember most about them is that they rusted faster than a 60's Chevy and the motors were only good for about 80,000 miles or so before they either started to smoke or they dropped a valve seat Head gaskets were also fairly common. In the repair shop, and likely because they were associated with a Datsun dealer nearby, the shop saw a lot of them even hiring a few of the former techs from the dealership. When that dealer failed, not long after the Nissan changeover, VW/Audi/Volvo became their main business in the shop as they didn't work on domestic cars.
In the beginning, they were seeing so many Datsun motors with dropped valve seats they spend considerable amounts of money to set up the tooling to repair those cylinder heads in house.
My biggest issue with any of the Datsun vehicles was a lack of headroom. At 6ft 3in tall I couldn't sit in a pickup, B210, or the Z cars without hitting my head on the roof or having to duck to see out the windshield. The Toyota's and Honda's were much better in that aspect.
The 720 pickups brought a whole new batch of issues, including timing chain problems and more blown headgaskets.
Second time putting this out there: I'd love to hear about the creation of the VW Type 3 series for the American market. Their enduring history as modified cars from the beefed up engines (Porsche and Subaru boxters) to retro surf style wagons to tricked out lowriders would also be cool to hear about.
I've owned a 1976 280Z, 81 280ZX as well as a 1981 310SX. Loved them all... I've never owned a Nissan.
Nissan 240sx’s are fun. Not as cool as the 240z’s though!
Love this video 📹 ❤️ 😍 💕 💗 great stuff.
I remember commercials talking about going to your "Nissan-Datsun dealer." It was weird, but I don't remember really being up in arms about it, though. My dad had a 1981 280ZX Turbo and then a 1985 300ZX Turbo (5-speed with the turbine wheels from the 1984 50th-anniversary model (they were way cooler than the normal ones, especially with the car also being gold), T-tops (always off), digital gauges, and voice warnings ("Fuel level is low", "Left door is ajar.")) The car was really advanced for its time. I inherited that when I was in high school after he got a 1987 Porsche 911 Carrera Targa. The badge changed at the same time the model changed, so it was less odd.
I just bought a 280z with 40k miles. Good timing with this video.
Nice
Bet it's an automatic
@@tenossos 5 speed.
@@quinnpd Cool. Most old cars with low miles are automatics.
How do you like it so far?
After seeing this video Friday night I watched Rocky 3, released in 1981, Saturday night. Early in the movie Pauly is leaving a bar and you briefly see a Datsun commercial on TV but you hear the whole audio of it. In the credits they listed thanks to Nissan. How cool knowing the backstory after seeing your video.
I think their luxury division would’ve fared better if they kept the Datsun name.
Ending decades of brand recognition and creating Infiniti (with a very questionable ad campaign, at that) in less than a decade left people scratching their heads.
Toyota did it right (even quickly replacing the initial ES with a car more suitable to their luxurious aspirations). I wish Honda would’ve brought their A game with a big-bodied, rear-wheel drive V8 Legend.
It’s kinda cool to imagine an alternative reality where Toyota, Honda, and Datsun were seen on the same level. I feel like the change to Nissan essentially turned a lot of people off and they just went to other Japanese brands… leaving the Accord - Civic and Camry - Corolla to dominate.
Thanks for your videos 🙌❤️
I lived in Kuwait in the 1970s and the 1980s, they used to have two dealerships one for Datsun and one for Nissan. The Nissan models had names like skyline, gloria, stanza, liberty, Miller pick up truck, add Nissan patrol. While the Datsun dealer sells models with letters and numbers only like 280zx, 240L, 280C which is also sold as a rebadged Nissan Gloria. What amazed me was the neighboring country of Saudi Arabia never had a Nissan dealership and they never had some of the Nissan models like Skyline.
Datsun for pickups and sports cars; Nissan for low- and mid-level cars; Infinity for whatever they want to charge far too much for.
Oh trust me their pickups are top notch I own 4 of them and they all run and drive
My first car was a 1971 Datsun 510
Luckyyyyyy!
My step dad had a white Dadsun sedan when he first met my mom. It had light blue interior and no seat belts in the backseat. It died in a bank parking lot in Ocean City Maryland. That was the first time I ever rode a bus, as we needed to get back to his cottage. I remember my step dad telling me that Dadsun became Nissan. Thanks for the cool video
Nissan didn't want to use the name in the American market because of WWII, however Mitsubishi always did and they made the Zero fighter planes, probably the most notorious example of WWII Japanese war machines due to the Kamikaze.
The twist of fate is that the 'Zero' was a Howard Hughes design that the US Navy shunned and failed to buy & build ...
Yes. But Nissan came to the US in the 1950s. Mitsubishi wouldn't arrive until "mixed" in with Chrysler-Dodge in the 1970s.
There was more time to heal from WW2.
The old joke I remember from my auto-shop teacher was that... A group of Japanese businessmen went to a German engineer group to design a new passenger car for the American market, and told him he only had a couple of months to do so. And a one of the German engineers remarked "Dat soon!", (in a German accent). And that's how the Datsun name came about. Sorry, the joke is better in person.
That was the joke when I was playing on the swings in grade school in the 70s, for sure!
@@sergioleone3583 Well, it's been over 30 years since I told that joke, so sorry if I told it differently. Plus my teacher told it a little different.
That soon?
A variation of what I heard after buying my first new car, a Datsun '72 240z. Now look at the emblem on them back then, a rising sun at the end of the name.
No this was great! Made me chuckle
I never knew why they used the Datsun name in the US and Nissan elsewhere, especially when the badge on the car started to say "Datsun by Nissan". Thanks for the history lesson! They were quite popular in the late 70's to mid 80's when I was in High School and College, and I especially remember the pickups and the Z cars.
He completely missed the part where Nissan sounds like Nippon, the Japanese name for Japan.
Great video!
We owned several new (and used) Datsun cars as did other family members through the late 70's. Only a few Nissan's made it to our driveways though.
As a kid, I remember the Datsun Nissan Pulsar NX Turbo written on the back of the trunk.
I’ve never heard of this.. what model?
My mom used to drive one, back when my family lived in the US in the early 80s.
Back in ‘73, both my parents and my aunt bought new 610s. My aunt got a coupe, we got the wagon. They were so new to the US market that the fender badges read “Datsun 1800” instead of “Datsun 610.” Ours lasted until ‘84. I still miss that little car.
I bought a nearly new , 800kms, '78 Datsun pickup. Outfitted it with white mags, g 60 tires and a white roll bar. I loved that truck and drove it about a decade. Remember when the switch to Nissan happened. It was kind of confusing. Great video, thanks!
I own a 79’ Datsun pickup. Should be the same 620 model as 79’ was the last year of that model.
@@pnwDatsun Is it still running? I traveled all over with mine including two trips from Canada to the Texas Mexican border.
@@pnwDatsun I went to your channel and there it is! Isubbed and look forward to checking out your videos!
That was my brand over three separate car purchases. By about 1987 nissan-datsun had become lackluster. Today I'm hoping my 2018 ford focus stays alive awhile. There are few vehicles I could afford to buy new.
When I was 10, my dad bought a new '76 Datsun pickup as his to-and--from work vehicle. Six years later he retired and that little truck became my high-school sled. We beat the hell out of it and it never failed us. I miss it and the Datsun brand in general.
I remember when they changed the ZX from Datsun 280 to Nissan 300. That and the newer Pulsar models were my only favs from that brand. Seeing all the dealership signs changing was mind-boggling then as a kid.
I remember an orange Dastun 260Z parked at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles in like forever. Always wondered if anyone owned it. It just sat in the parking lot getting flat tires and fading paint.
My parents bought a new 1978 yellow Datsun B-210 , then my aunt and uncle bought a blue one shortly after because they were impressed with the mpg. Around 1990 my mom bought a 1989 Sentra and offered to keep the yellow B-210 for my brother that would be 16 soon. He didn't want it, because he thought he was going to buy something cooler, like 60s Mustang. Probably about 6 months later, my uncle decided to update. At this point, reality set in and my bro accepted the blue one 😅. I guess at least blue was cooler than yellow.
Funniest of all, his nickname soon became B2 after the car, which he still goes by to today. At least most strangers probably think it's from the B2 Bomber plane and not the little Datsun.
In early 1983 my dad ordered a Datsun Micra for my mom. When it finally arrived at the dealership the brand had been renamed Nissan and our brand new Datsun Micra was somehow already outdated.
Would be great if you did a review in the Nissan 200Sx. Love these vids 👍🏾
I feel like Nissan should have retro editions of their outgoing models with Datsun badges. Like a retro Altima could be a Datsun Bluebird retro edition.
Good video!
I currently have a 92 Nissan Hardbody and an 05 Pathfinder R51. And I love them both.
What i like is all the old datsuns and nissans had their own feel and character and felt very japanese. Today all the brands look and feel too similar and there is not much individual flavor. Honda and Toyota couldnt be told apart if you took the name off.
Just bought brand new 2025 orange Frontier pro4x. It’s fantastic. No turbo and still very fast without trying. Outside of a wide turn radius it’s great.
My great uncle had an old 70s Datsun 210 he bought at a junkyard in the 80s for $200. He bought a carb for it out of J.C. Whitney and drove it til around 2010! It was still running when he sold it.
My grandmother had a Dotson back in the early 80s. It was the only new car she ever bought. Everything else was used. I remember she got rear ended and it ended up being totaled. After that, she got a 78 Lincoln. Talk about a beast! But it was cozy.
In 1980 my mom bought what 16 years later would be my first car, a Datsun 210 sedan not hatchback with 4 doors. The Badging said Datsun by Nissan. It was a well built car, super strong. It got rear ended once and it would’ve been total by today standards. The trunk completely smashed and blended like an accordion in between the front and rear doors but the shop was able to stretch it back out and fix it just like new and pretty much lasted another decade with no problems until my mom sold it to a friend of mine and he was just a bad owner but that’s another story. We all fondly remember that 1980 car.
I drove a 79 Datsun 210 for just over 8 years. I bought it in 91 in Sacramento for $400 from a co-worker while stationed at McClellan AFB. When I finally junked it, one cylinder had 15 psi and the other 3 had 0 psi. Nevertheless, it still started and drove. It would start to overheat after 2-3 miles. Had a lot of adventures including a cross country road trip.
I am surprised you only mentioned the 1967-72 510 as a 2-second afterthought, a car that sold over 1 million units worldwide. It was a BMW2002 clone and very loved still.
Oddly enough saw a Datsun 240 driving yesterday
That’s a treat!
I had a 1980 Datsun Nissan 200SX. It had a Datsun badge on one side and a Nissan badge on the other side at the rear. Pretty cool first car. I taught myself how to drive stick on the way home from the dealer in the dark, the car had a cool aim-able map light that helped me out though.
Nice looker in notchback form.
@ Yup that’s what I had in silver.
Nothing like driving a stick on the way home from buying a new (to you) car. You learn very fast. It's like being thrown into the deep end of a swimming pool. I did it on a '68 Ford Falcon, and then bought a '72 Plymouth Road Runner.
@@bwxmoto I almost grabbed an 81' in the 2 tone tan and black with the SL pkg like the one shown at 7 minute 57 second mark in the video.Decided against it and wound up with an 82' Ford EXP..That was a good car too.
@@emeyer6963 Yeah I almost bought an EXP once. A buddy in high school had one.
Nissan peaked in the 90’s
2005.
And was losing money.
You think they peaked before the R35? Are you high?
@@tenossosceo stole the money
Good Video on the History Nissan's Datsun Brand, My Mother had a Red 1980's Nissan 2 Door Santra that she got from a Datsun Dealership that is now a used car lot today, the Red Sentra would have some problems over the years until during the 1990's she & my father would get another car and would later give the Red Sentra over to one of my cousins who needed a car.
My parents owned a Datsun 1600, believe it was a 66, also the pickup was advertised in the early 70s as the Lil' Hustler.
Early to late 70’s they also called the short beds the lil Hustler, and the long beds the stretch! I own a 79’ 620 longbed myself
Datsuns hold a place in my heart. They are just amazing.
Pretty sure my love affair with Japanese sports cars and coupes began in the mid 80's with my 2 older cousins, brothers, one who bought a 1982 280Z and the other one bought an 1982 Honda Prelude. Between the sexy swoopy 2 seat looks of that ZX and the mind blowing power moonroof that disappeared into the roof of that Prelude, my 8 year old mind was blown!! Plus watching them row your own gears in both cars was mesmerizing for me!!
We were baffled when Datsun became Nissan in South Africa too, my grandad only owned Datsuns from grandma's car to all the pick up trucks ( called bakkies in South Africa ) on his farm. Thanks for the memories 👍🏻
My uncle had on of those tiny Nissan pick ups. And another one shad a c-10 pick up. Many memories
Was it a 620 like I have?
Great video, extremely informative and in depth. In HS I had friends with the 240Z & 280Z while I had an uncle with a Datsun 620 Truck in red. They were all so cool and I'm still not sure how my 6; 6" 300# uncle fit in that truck, lol.
You should do a Video on the Nissan Xterra
What a great video.
You should do a standalone video for the 210 Datsun.
in the summer of 1996 I bought my only sibling and older brother, a 1974 Datsun 260Z at an auction along with two other cars. One of which has been shared on this channel (a Subaru XT). when we lifted the hood on the Datsun 260Z the motor had Nissan molded on the engine valve cover. Unfortunately a year later the 260z was stolen.
My uncle had a 77 Datsun 280Z Zap edition. Sweetest looking car i had ever seen.
One of the best lineups with the Datsun name
That 81 280zx Turbo was an azz kicker!
Parents had a Datsun B210 2 door without the hatchback. Very reliable and fuel efficient but very tight in the back seat even for elementary school age kids. Friend from school had a late 70s 200SX as a first car before she wrecked it. Strange looking car. It was either a love it or hate it styling.
I remember when Datsun changed to Nissan. I worked at the DMV. My brother drives a 2018 Rogue, and I drive a 2024 Kicks. Great driving cars.
Mom my mom got a second generation 200SX in 81. A few years later when I started driving (and the sidewalls on the tires on that poor car took some abuse...) my buddies would always say "see if you can get your mom's Nissan tonight". It was always "the Nissan" to them even though it was still technically a Datsun.
I had a 1985 Sentra and a 1991 Stanza, I wish I still had the Stanza I loved that car.
It’s been a while since you done a whole brand
Did.
Fantastic upload as always Mr My Old car!
I never got the pronounciation thing in US of Nissan, it doesn't have an E in the name, then it would be Nesan.
Vive le differance, it's the same with no W in Jaguar, and Harry (Not a car), sounds like Hairy the way Americans say it
My first car was a very broken, very damaged 1970 Datsun 240Z. I spent 2 years with my then girlfriends father, who sold it to me, restoring and repairing it to near new condition with recycled and NOS parts. It ran when I bought it, so I paid $700 for it in 1986. By 1988, it was in very nice condition. He owned an auto upholstery shop, so the interior was mint. I learned to rebuild the two Weber carburetors and how to rebuild an engine on that car. I learned how to do body work on that car. I became a mechanic and body tech because of that car. Sadly, I had to sell it in 1999 because I was having a child and needed a downpayment on a house. I sold it for $6000. Biggest auto regret of my life, and it's the only car I actually miss. I can afford to buy another now, but it won't be mine. I still have the last four of the VIN memorized. If I ever see it for sale, that'll be the one I bring back home.
13:18 I'm from Indonesia, and i can assure you that the new Datsun (Mostly Go Panca) is popular because it was the bottom of the barrel price car (Or LCGC Cars). The car is known to be fuel efficient because it has a light weight and an efficient engine. In addition, there are minimal problems so it is worth considering. However, like other cars, the Datsun Go also has common diseases, like The cabin insulation is very poor, all outside noises are audible. The suspension is also noisy and wobbly, and also There is an issue that this car tends to overheat due to the poor quality of the radiator, but I have never experienced that. So, the Datsun Go+ had enlivened the Indonesian automotive market as a cheap car or LCGC. It was first launched in 2014 with a 7-seater 3 rows, so the body shape is elongated.
Even tho the Cars that Datsun rarely have problems, but there are no demands for it so INDOMOBIL (Company who own Datsun Indonesia) Killed it in 2020, and Toyota Agya, Cayla, Daihatsu Sigra, Ayla, Honda Brio and Suzuki S-Presso Dominated the LCGC market.
I remember my dad test driving a Datsun D50 and having me jump out to lock the hubs for an off-road run before taking it back to the dealer. That little diesel was pretty capable. Fun times.
My first car was a 1982 Nissan by Datsun Sentra. My parents bought it new, and it was gutless. I drove it 11 years later and managed to total it in 2 months and a day after I got my license. It was a good move to not gove me any power when I was 16 as I was a crap driver then. I still like the Datsun name better.
My Wife drove a Datson 210 when we were young. She still talks about that car to this day.