My Shite - 1981 Datsun 210 (ie Sunny)

[Dave7]

Its a 1.2L, 4spd, base model car. Rubber floor mats and no arm rests. I doubt there is a single option on it. With being a two door sedan I wonder if it was cheapest trim of 210 sold. I was told it likely had a new clutch and needed a starter. Fixed the starter, does indeed have a new clutch but the gearbox is broken. So currently searching for a cheap replacement transmission for it. If that doesn't appear then a cheap replacement rear drive motor/transmission combo with a bit more grunt - perhaps a Nissan KA motor or a 2.8L V6 / 5spd from a Chevy S10. We will see. Anyway pictures below:

 

 

 

 

[eddyramrod]

Wow Dave, what an opening post! That looks like somebody's grandma's car, which is a compliment! Any more basic and it would have to be my A40... You might be lucky and find a 4-speed; I think most of the 5-speeds have found themselves flung into MG Midgets, going by what I read on US-based forums. It seriously needs to be preserved as-is, there won't be many like it. Good luck!

[dollywobbler]

Blimey. Windscreen wipers must have been on the option list too!

 

Lovely. Welcome to autoshite.

[Dave7]

From what I can tell its was a mostly one owner family car - father passed it onto son who took it to a garage to have clutch done then didn't pick it up (probably because the tranny was broken). Years later garage was going to scrap it but the guy I bought it off saved it. If it receives a bigger engine the visuals are going to be left as is Still holding out hope for a 4spd - it runs so sweetly. The 5spds are rare and expensive when found so I don't have any interest in one of those.

 

Wipers where in the trunk for some reason - refitted those since.

 

Some of my previous shite (left out the better cars - full list here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/daveseven/ ... 165392141/ )

 

Hyundai Stellar - sold in Canada but not US. Rare these days.

 

Ford Tempo I bought for $50

 

Chrysler LeBaron with backyard flat black paint

 

owned three of these for a brief moment in time

[Jon]

Welcome! Are you near to Canadian border to import that Stellar, or had someone done the hard work for you? Surely Lada's must've come that way too - I can't see them being that popular in the US. Is it easy to register a Canadian car in the US btw, or did the Stellar not get that far?!

 

Oh, and lovely little Datsun too. Surely the original buyer had little interest in cars and saw it pretty much as a 'white good'; just a means of getting about. Got to say it somehow looks all the better for it.

[Dave7]

I am in Canada. The Ladas weren't sold in the US either. Canada got an interesting mix of cars in the late 70s, early 80s. We had Skodas, Innocenti, etc too.

 

For the US it is easy to something 25+ years registered, very hard on anything newer. Canada we can register anything 15+ years old but any newer is impossible.

[Madman Of The People]

Canada also got Minis and Land Rovers up to 1979. The last Mini sold in the US was 1967 (banned from 1968-on due to emmissions regulations). The Land Rover Series III was available in the US until 1974 when it also fell victim to American safety and emmissions legislation. American fans of British four-wheel-drive would have to wait until 1988 when they could finally puchase a Range Rover. Mini fans were left out in the cold until the new ones were made available here (courtesy of BMW) by 2002.

 

Canada also got Ladas until 1997, I think. Not that we were missing anything there!

[Dave7]

Canadian spec 70s Minis had terrible bumpers - most have been converted to earlier style. We had Vauxhalls, Rovers longer too. Plus the Envoy versions of Vauxhalls.

 

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/0 ... nvoy-epic/

 

[lovejoy]

Hi Canuk Dave7 !! - and welcome too ....

I've got an auto box for a B210 that you can have for free, if you wanna jump on an Air Canada flight down here and collect !

I had a 1979 B210 Station wagon, which ran sweetly whilst slowly dissolving in this humid environment, the only real prob was (apart from cracking my head on the low roofline everytime I got in it)was the starter motor kept giving up, because there's a core plug close to it which leaked water into the bendix gear end, so I bought a complete B210 coupe just for the starter motor !! (that's about how things work down here, they won't sell you just a bit off a dumped car, you have to buy it all

Anyway, still have that coupe engine & box in the bushes, just come on down for a holiday with a big suitcase...

[michiel]

Hello/bonjour Dave - I always enjoy your pics on flickr, nice to see you here!

[VWPowered]

 

 

hello and welcome, that is just simply divine

[dollywobbler]

Wow. Is it wrong that I actually like that rubber-clad Mini?

[Cavcraft]

Welcome along Dave, loving your Datsun!

[seth]

I doubt there is a single option on it.

 

Which is of course the best thing about it.

 

Welcome!

[Vin]

Welcome.

 

Two years ago, when I went across Canada on the train, we passed a clearing in the vast woodlands of Ontario. In the clearing was a wooden 'shack' surrounded by about a dozen Lada Nivas in various states of dis-repair.

 

Looked very

[boobydoo]

Very nice Datsun, Dave.

 

Some on here would go as far as to term it a 'surefire fanny-magnet'.

[AnthonyG]

Hello Dave - love the Datsun.

 

Which part of Canada are you from?

[Guest]

Lovely stuff - I like the squarelamp front. And a Tempo notchback, superb!

[Dave7]

Thanks folks.

 

I'm from Western Canada - near the Rockie mountains - Lethbridge, Alberta.