Remembering Japanese cars from the past
This (nowadays) very rare second generation Datsun Violet is not for the faint hearted as its original color has been replaced by bubbly brown patina:
The Datsun Violet 160J SSS A10 was sold in Europe with the twin carbed L16T and was top of the line Violet back then. Given the state of this Violet now I reckon it should be currently at the bottom of the line. ;)
Can it really be that bad? Yes it can! Just take a look on the other side of the car: Continue reading
The Violet from last monday made me think about its rally heritage. The Violet A10 was Nissan’s most successful rally car and the later models were powered by the LZ20 DOHC engine we know from the Nissan Super Silhouette Formula cars. Back in 1982 Nissan still appreciated their rally achievements and showed it with this TV advertisement:
The video starts with a the normal Gazelle S110 RS commercial, but shortly after that it shows the Nissan Violet A10 splashing through a big muddy pools and going sideways on the fourth Safari Rally. As a bonus it gets followed by another Gazelle S110 RS commercial! Probably they couldn’t get enough of that 4 valve FJ20E engine of theirs! Now that is appreciation! :)
During one of my late night old J-tin searches I came across a weird German ad selling the front end of an old Datsun:
Datsun Violet A10 front clip
I recognized it as a EU Datsun Violet front end (aka the Auster/Stanza/510/160J). I’m not sure if the German license plate actually belongs to this front end, but they are the old pre 1994 German plates issued in Fürth (Bayern) which is next to Nürnberg where the seller lives. So perhaps the front clip of his old Violet?
The funny thing is that on this picture you can actually see the holes where the JDM fender mirrors are supposed to be mounted:
Datsun Violet A10 front clip
I found out that those points are available on all EU Datsun Violets and only covered with a small patch.
I still remember one of my buddies from high school had a front clipping of his old Mini in the livingroom of his apartment. Back then I thought it was one of the coolest things to have in your apartment, so I bet this front clip would have been sitting in my livingroom already if I were 10 years younger and didn’t have a child running around in my house…
(In case anyone is interested I can put you in contact with the seller)
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