The Datsun of Your Dreams

Sometimes you have to admire a car, not just for it’s funky retro design, it’s brown vinyl seats, it’s 70s primary colour or it’s old school simplicity. But also for its very existence nearly half a century after its birth. Many 120Y sedans and wagons were assembled in NZ, first in Mt Roskill and then in Wiri, but only a handful survive today. And maybe only one in Kermit green. Read on...

1976 was 49 years ago. Nissan were called Datsun, John Walker won Olympic gold in the 1500m and the first McDonalds opened in NZ. These were heady times. But NZ was also in a recession and unemployment was high. So cheap, reliable cars were popular, and the Datsun 120Y was perfect for the times. It was affordable, cheap to run and a novelty for the time – didn’t breakdown constantly.  So why don’t more still exist today, I hear you say?

In 1976, and every other year in human history, rust was a thing. Sadly, rust protection was not a thing in 1976, particularly in cheap cars that were assembled in NZ. This was an open goal for rust which rust didn’t miss. So in reality, most Datsuns (and Toyotas, Mitsubishis, Fords etc) turned into piles of flaky red dust on owners’ driveways decades ago. The Datsun 120Y was here for a good time, not a long time.

Nearly 50 years on, if you want to re-live the vibrancy of 70s Japanese cars, with their bright paint colours (and often beige, also), cheap but groovy vinyl and plastic interiors, then your choices are understandably limited, but, luckily, not non-existent.

This 1976 Datsun 120Y 3 door wagon not only exists but it’s in pretty good shape. It has a WOF, is registered and is ready to drive off into the sunset with ABBA’s 1976 monster hit, Fernando, as a soundtrack. 

More details here.

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