Tag: datsun 120y

Better view of the pair of 2000GT or 2400GT with the visible surfline

Watch Hakosuka Skylines being Unloaded in 1972 – Friday Video

November 17, 2023 / banpei / 0 Comments

Back in 2008 I started to research early Datsun and Nissan history. One of the things I quickly discovered was that the Hakosuka Skyline was sold here in the Netherlands as the Nissan 2000GT and 2400GT. Ever since, I have been on the hunt for old brochures and other memorabilia proving its existence!

Nissan 2000GT or 2400GT?

Today we have one such a things: a short newsreel from 1972 covering unloading of Japanese cars in the Rotterdam harbor. I was very happy to spot various early 1970s Datsuns and most of them were of the type 100A (Cherry E10), 1200 (Sunny B110) and 1600 (Bluebird 510). My jaw dropped to the floor when I spotted two Nissan Skyline C10s driving down the ramp!

If this screencapture is too blurry, a few frames advanced you can clearly see the surfline on the first of the pair of Skyline C10s:

Brochures: Datsun Sunny Mario 120Y

June 22, 2015 / banpei / 0 Comments

The Mario character from Nintendo appeared for the first time in the Donkey Kong game that got released in 1981. So how could Mario show up on the inside of this 1975 Dutch Datsun Sunny 120Y brochure?

Miyamoto, the creator of Mario, never acknowledged anything about the origin of the character and the wildest stories have been told. Could it perhaps be modelled after this Datsun Sunny 120Y character?

The page shown above is taken from a Dutch brochure that is in typical mid 70s style: Continue reading

Picture of the Week: Dutch Datsun car dealer in 1977

December 20, 2014 / banpei / 0 Comments

I found this scanned newspaper photo of a showroom of the Dutch Datsun car dealer Rhenoy (in 1977) posted in japanseklassieker.nl Facebook group and immediately thought to share it here:

What I quickly spotted in this photo was (from top left clockwise):

Datsun 160B / 180B / 200B coupe (aka Nissan Bluebird 810)
Datsun 260Z (aka Nissan Fairlady Z S30)
Datsun 200L coupe (aka Nissan Laurel C130, aka pigsbutt Laurel, aka butaketsu)
Datsun 280C sedan (aka Nissan Gloria 330)
Datsun 160B / 180B / 200B sedan (aka Nissan Bluebird 810)
Datsun 100A (aka Nissan Cherry E10)
Datsun 160J coupe (aka Nissan Bluebird 710, or plain 710)
Datsun 100A F-II two door sedan (aka Nissan Cherry F-II F10)
Datsun 100A F-II coupe (aka Nissan Cherry F-II F10)

Now the big question is where is the Datsun 120Y (aka Nissan Sunny B210) in this photo? Or did I guess the first car wrongly here?

In my opinion the most interesting cars at this Datsun car dealer are the first four cars. Styling wise the late 70s was when Nissan shifted from coke-bottle styling to ruler styling and that’s quite visible in this showroom. The all new 160B/180B/200B (Bluebird 810) just arrived and also shows the arrival of the ruler styling with its sharp lines. There is just one tiny coke-bottle hip left over at the rear quarter of the car. Even sharper lines and more angular design would arrive with the all new 1977 Datsun 200L (aka Nissan Laurel C230), 1977 Datsun 160J (aka Nissan Violet A10) and the 1978 Datsun Cherry (aka Nissan Pulsar N10).

If I had to pick one car from this Datsun car dealer showroom back in 1977 I probably would have taken the four door Datsun 180B sedan. Simply because of it practicality and fuel economy for as far as you could call it economical at all. However if I had to pick one today I would choose either the Datsun 200L coupe (I just love the word butaketsu!) or the Datsun 200B coupe.

Another genuine Dutch Datsun catalogue

September 12, 2009 / banpei / 2 Comments

Got another present from the postman earlier this week:

Dit is Datsun: Dutch catalogue (cover)

This is a 28 page catalogue to celebrate the 6th anniversary of Datsun in the Netherlands. It also featured a small part about their almost finished new HQ near Lisse.

Dit is Datsun: Dutch catalogue (fold out)

The mid sections contains a few fold outs from which this one is the most interesting: the 1972 lineup:
– Datsun 100A (Cherry E10)
– Datsun 1200 (Sunny B110)
– Datsun 1600 (Bluebird 510)
– Datsun 1800 (Bluebird 610)
– Datsun 2400 (Cedric C230)
– Nissan 2400GT (Skyline HGLC10)
– Datsun 240Z

Yes, that is not a mistake I made there: Nissan sold the Skyline on its export markets under the Nissan brand. There could have been various reasons to do so from which I personally think it had to do something with the Prince merger…

Dit is Datsun: Dutch catalogue (2000 Hardtop Coupe)

As you could see there was a gap in the lineup: the only car not featured in the lineup was the 2000. In the next fold out this car is highlighted as the new model of the 2000 range with a nice drawing of the 2000 Hardtop Coupe. The 2000 is also known as the Nissan Laurel C130 and is very very popular car as a zokusha. ( ? ??)

Of course this catalogue will be scanned and posted here, just like the Nissan 2400GT catalogue I’m currently scanning. (?-´)>

Scrapyard drawings on Flickr

May 4, 2009 / banpei / 0 Comments

I came across these great drawings by reallyloud on Flickr:

Scrapped green Datsun Sunny 120Y

Most of his drawings are done during the 90s and made available through his flickr sets. This Celica is done really fantastic:

Rusted Toyota Celica TA22

Also most of his other drawings consist of piles of cars and it is some how a bit of a game to recognize them all!

And this drawing of a Datsun 100a really reminds me of the red Cherry my stepdad used to own in the early 80s:

Deteriorated Datsun Cherry 100a

You can find the whole set here:
Scrapyard drawings on Flickr
It mostly contains Japanese tin, but you can see some British metal (rust?) in there as well.