Junkyard Gem: 1981 Datsun 210 sedan

Nissan started promoting the Sunny in North America (with Datsun 1200 badging) for the 1971 model year, and the Datsun B210 version of the Sunny turned an enormous vendor right here within the wake of the 1973 Oil Crisis. Nissan started constructing the B210’s successor, the B310 Sunny, in its homeland in 1977; the North American-market model went on sale as a 1979 mannequin. This was the Datsun 210, the final rear-wheel-drive member of the Sunny household, and I discovered this ’81 sedan in a Colorado self-service automobile graveyard final fall.

1981 was the ultimate mannequin 12 months for the B310 Sunny (it didn’t get B310 badging right here as a result of Nissan determined to name the first-generation Pulsar the Datsun 310 in North America, in the meantime reassigning the outdated 510 identify to be used on the Americanized Nissan Violet). The Datsun identify itself began to be phased out across the time right now’s Junkyard Gem was new, with the process completed in 1984.

The automotive business had been in a frenzy to design and manufacture new front-wheel-drive fashions for fairly some time by 1981. Nissan offered the front-wheel-drive Cherry (with Datsun F-10 badges) right here throughout the mid-to-late Nineteen Seventies, however its gross sales numbers by no means got here near these of the B210.

This automobile’s front-wheel-drive successor, the B11 Sunny, first confirmed up in American Datsun showrooms as a 1982 model. That was the Nissan Sentra, which bore some vestigial Datsun badging early on however was sold here as a Nissan from day one. The Sentra received even higher fuel economy than the 210, whereas providing extra inside house on the identical time.

Like so many automobiles of its period that I discover in Colorado junkyards, this one is a California-specific mannequin quite than the “49-state” model.

The engine is the 1.5-liter A-series four-cylinder, rated at 65 horsepower. Meaning this automobile is a top-trim-level 210 Deluxe; the bottom mannequin received a 1.2-liter engine whereas the gas-sipping 210 MPG model had a 1.4.

The MSRP for a 1981 Datsun 210 Deluxe sedan was $5,389, or about $18,531 in 2023 {dollars}. The unique purchaser of this one checked the bins for the most costly choices, together with the $295 automated transmission ($1,014 right now) and the $560 air-con ($1,926 after inflation). The very least expensive 1981 Toyota Corolla four-door sedan listed at $5,458 ($18,769), and it had rear-wheel-drive just like the 210 (the unrelated and confusingly named Toyota Corolla Tercel had front-wheel-drive however was a lot smaller).

These automobiles have been excruciatingly weak to corrosion, and this one has some nasty rust for a automobile that started off in Southern California (there are upkeep stickers from Inland Empire retailers underneath the hood) and moved to not-so-rusty Entrance Vary Colorado afterward. Maybe it spent a couple of years in Michigan in between.

The inside took a beating from harsh Western daylight.

An automated 210 with physique rot and a nuked inside wasn’t more likely to be rescued and glued up by an fanatic. A nicer instance would have been a great recipient for a enjoyable engine swap.

The 1979-1981 Datsun 210 was accessible as a two- or four-door sedan, a three-door hatchback, or a five-door wagon.

Drives for 4 days on a single tank!

Put your cash within the financial institution… not within the tank.