That car is a symphony. Every door opening, closing and hood slamming was an orchestra of metal and memories. I'm befuddled on why I've never seen this producer, but this is a class act. Amazing production!
I learned to drive in a b210. It was a family car that was handed down to each kid, we called it the Ratson. It was a rusty, oxidized blue that always smelled like gasoline. We all loved it and was so sad when our dad sold it.
Loved my '78 Datsun B210 coupe. 0-60 wasn't impressive, no, but I've pinned the (110mph) speedometer before. That was one of the reasons I got only about 85k miles out of mine before the engine gave up the ghost (they are also almost roll-proof given my experience - though they are not very difficult to get some air under, or to lift (guys in high school once picked up my car and reparked it sideways behind their trucks). They're super fun to thrash around dirt, feather light shifter, had very predictable handling (and was absolutely RWD, not FWD like in the craigslist ad). Never had rust issues. Nice footage of Vasquez Rocks, too. Pretty spectacular.
Good stuff! Yes the B210 is sloooow but I agree it can be fun to drive. I don't think I've ever gotten my B210 past 70mph. Might be possible going downhill! Thanks for checking out the vid!! :) :)
Took mine off roading to a dry lake bed and could never get it on three wheels. Tried to jump train tracks that ran across the lake bed. Got stuck on them. Took about 5 guys to pick it up off the tracks and onto the other side because it was a shortcut.... Pegged the speedo going downhill once.
Had a b210 in the late 80s ran off the road and rolled in a feild with tall grass had a farmer flip it back over with his truck it didn't have a single scratch on it👍🤣🤣
I LOVE B210s!! I had 2 of them back in the 1970s I had a 1975 2 door coupe and a 1977 B210 plus. They both got great gas mileage, and ran like champs! I would love to find one in good shape to buy again!
The Gorn didn't die...he was merely incapacitated by the boulder Kirk tossed on him. That's why the Metrons let Kirk go on his merry way. I love that you bought a B210 and drove it up to Vasquez Rocks.
you all prolly dont care at all but does anyone know a trick to log back into an instagram account?? I was dumb lost the password. I would appreciate any help you can give me
Love it! I remember as a 10-year-old kid in the 70s, my young aunt in Canada had a brand new red B2 10. I would sit in it for hours running through the stick shift gears pretending I was driving. Yes, after some years, it had rust below the doors! Was a great dependable car. Good times.
My dad's first car. The original commercials for them are gold. The one with it barreling down a river like an old Chevy ad was great. And that tag line at the end with the goofy dude saying "Haaang tough, Datsun!" lmfao
That was awesome. When I first clicked the link, I saw the time on the advertisement and thought it was the timing for your show. I thought, cool, only a minute and a half, that won't take long. Once it started I totally forgot the time and was totally entertained. Great story, great storytelling, great concept. Love it.
Ok, I finally broke down and watched this video. Excellent! The Datsun B210 has a special place in my heart - at the very bottom. I say this with all good intention. In the late '70s, I was living in Phoenix and had no car. A friend loaned me her B210 and 4 of us took a day trip (up to and back again) the Grand Canyon. Oh, the car had no AC. That was 460 miles in one day - July - over 100 degrees and no AC. We made it home, but I'm pretty sure I passed out from heat exhaustion somewhere near Cave Creek.
Thanks Ryan! Appreciate it :) Actually I did not write the music for this vid. It's a ton of work so it didn't leave much time to write original music. Hope to do that for future vids! A list of the music I used is in the video description above. :) :)
Great video and profound insights! My dad had a blue '76 and it was passed down to my brother then me. The engine made it to 155,400 miles. 60 mph was the max. The key got stuck in the ignition twice and the gas smell is likely from loose carburetor bolts or a leaking fuel line, which is just rubber in places. Dad loved the car, especially the heater. It was the cheapest car in America, at about $3,500 back in the day. Thank you!
As a kid in the 70s, I remember going into Hugh's supermarket and seeing an entry from to win a new Datsun B210. I remember pointing it out to my mom to enter so that if we won it, it would be my car when I was old enough to drive. I was always fascinated by the honeycomb hub caps for some reason.👍
Hello Road, if you ever have the chance, pounce on a 280z....not the zx, but a true s30 car. I'd also love an sx. Heck even one of the pulsars would be a blast. May not be 80s, but the very first Sentra se-r was hella fun too. Although, one of the hands down coolest, most functional, reliable, comfortable, and capable vehicles I've ever had was a Datsun 720 King cab, 4x4, with the factory brush guard, bed liner and lift kit. I got in a bad place financially and had to let it go, but regret that mistake at least once a week. The gear reduction in low gear was crazy. I pulled a skid loader out of the bank of a pond, the damn thing pulled a trailer with a car on it, and even yanked a 1990 Chevy King cab 1500 up a 45 degree incline. The only modification was a Weber 32/38 carb and a nice CD player. If ya ever get the chance, drive one, even if ya can't afford it, just test drive one.
Cool! I'll definitely check out an old Datsun 720! I've seen a few for sale around me. Sentra SE-R is fantastic-almost bought a used one back in '98. I have a 200SX SE-R race car (Liam NIssan) which is very similar and incredibly fun. :)
I have 4 cars. All with over 200,000 miles. That is my obsession. I just drove my kids down to Orlando on. 2,200 miles round trip in my 03 MDX with 245,000 miles. It was just as much of an adventure to drive as it was to experience Universal. Would never change it.
My "aunt", really my my dad's lifelong bestfriends sister, bought a Yellow 1975 B210 brand new when she was in the Navy and stationed in San Diego and then brought it back to Missouri when she got out and drove it back and firth while she was in college, I was a kid then but she always loved that car.
My late father had this car 120y from 1977 to 2017 till my brother sold it off. A true rugged, durable and tested car and a beauty inside out if you notice the difference in design details...
Passenger side-view mirrors were options on most economy cars in the 70s. As were rear window defoggers. As an old man (get off my lawn!) it kinda blows my mind when I see Toyota Corollas with heated seats and nav. If you want to see a comically bad movie featuring a B210 check out the movie Go with a pre-Tom Cruise Katie Holmes.
I purchased a new 1976 B210 Hatchback with a 5 speed manual and drove it all through the mountains of Pennsylvania everyday. I don't remember it being that slow actually. What I do remember is that it got fantastic gas mileage. But as fussy as I am about cars, I sold it when the drivers side quarter panel started to rust out.
I had that very same hatchback model, you are underestimating how much those cars last, how reliable they are and the fact that every engine component is reachable by hand and easy to replace. I am definitely looking for one to buy and restore.
Had that same car, same brown! Got me around in college years. Good on gas, basically a tin can with wheels and an engine. Turn the radio up and no more road noise!
I bought a new 1977 B-210 Hatchback with the Borg Warner 5 speed at age 19, drove it for 8 years and 160,000 miles and never let me down.I wonder how much better it could have been with today's modern ignition systems instead of that inefficient points and condenser? I changed the oil every 3000 miles and tuned it up every 6000 miles ( plugs, points, condenser, rotor). I still remember pushing the car in 5th gear to get the #1 cylinder at top dead center to gap the points. Averaged 33mpg for my ownership. R-2-4 1-3-5
This Datsun model may not be a fast car, but sure as hell is reliable, it will take you to wherever you want... also the body of the coupe is pretty nice, lot's of people seem to really like the shape it has, I'm in love with my 78 120Y, and will probably keep it until either I or it can't run anymore. Loved you video, great stuff
My dad always loved VW bugs. He had one way way back when he was in college but always bought performance sedans by the time I was around. We were Indy car fans soo.. Well, I grew up with a Buick GS 1970. But in college Somehow I ended up with a Datsun B210. It was all I could afford. At first I was ashamed of it. But it grew on me like a VW Bug. I never floored an accelerator pedal as much as I did owning this car and it never complained. Never accelerated good either, but I learned to accept its limits because it was absolutely reliable and people kinda liked it. Same color...
Some fun facts from a current b210 owner. They came with a massive clock option instead of a tachometer in automatic and a tachometer in manuals only, the clock replaced the small D emblem above the radio in that case.
Wow! I can't believe there are still some of these around. In 1983 when I was 20yrs old I had this exact Brown B210, I loved it!. Mine even had rear window louvers wich made it even sportier. I never really thought it was that slow and mine actually had some decent pick up. I will agree that the back seat was not really for sitting passengers but I definitly put it to use with some of the girlies I knew back then.😉
I loved my 78 mustard colored in 4 speed hatch like yours, I could get to 60 in around 15 seconds drove it from Ontario to Culver City everyday for 3 years, never left me. took it to central America, so much fun to drive and cheap. As far as room, could place 7 Mexicans in it easily.
Love this video. I had this in white my first car. Loved the hatch back. held my surfboard, bike, waterskis, even camped. this was first non four wheel drive SUV! and very reliable!
My mother had one of these and seeing that backseat brings back memories, and smells! So when I was 3 my mothers Pinto (Brown) was stolen on my birthday...and she bought a Yellow B210 to replace it... It may have been reliable-ish but my mother swore the B210 was the reason Datsun changed their name to Nissan and she refused to ever even entertain buying one for the rest of her life.
My first car was a B210 the butterscotch color. ran great. top speed 70mph rusty floorpan fixed with an old stop sign and sheet metal screws to pass inspection. LOL
@Robert Gar...My first car was a 74 Butterscotch b210 also. It didn't even have power steering, or an AC. It was an automatic, and didn't have honeycomb wheels either, which seems strange considering my parents bought it brand new.
My first car was a 78 with a trunk, 2 door 4 speed manual. Block cracked, heater core shot, but it would get me everywhere, even hundreds of mile round trips. I off roaded it, water over the hood , mud to middle of the fenders, snow, and deep snow (car deep like 12"), jumped it (all 4 wheels off the ground) and i just couldnt kill it. Not the prettiest car, kind of ugly really, but def a suprisingly capable car. Lots of rust for sure. Truly a fun car.
Fun fact...I hauled home a king-sized wood framed waterbed kit from Costa Mesa in mine. The frame boards were sticking way into the front but it worked.
WOW! you got a Great B210. I was 12 when this was new and I remember lots of these on the road just as many as the Corolla. All cars back then had only 1 mirror on one side.
A Datsun 12Y as it was called in the U.K. I had been reading at column about cool cars in the 1970`s that had vinyl roofs. The 120 Y was one. Which is how I found your video... Any way back in the 1970`s there was loads of these on the roads in the U.K and the the reliability was the major factor. I was a kid and in the UK roads then there was loads of old British cars from the 1960`s and that Datsun just looked so modern. A neighbor had one and I remember a very cold 1975 winter and the Datsun was one of the few that would start 1st time, we had to push my dad`s Morris Traveller to get it going quite a lot. The dashboard looked so futurist then as well again compared to Morris or anything else that came from the European car makers.
I'm subscribed to this channel for two years now, but just saw this. My dad use to have a red 210. This video brought back memories. I can attest that a 210 can make it up the grapevine 🤣😂🤣😂
1977 B 210 Orangeish tan color 300,000+ miles Only died when the engine fell out of the bottom of the engine bay. RIP ol' Trusty Rusty. My sister kept the grill.
I had a bright red one of these for my first car. I crashed it at 75 mph into a JCB before a bridge that I used to jump off (like the Dukes of Hazard) . The car wrote off the JCB, flipped up and landed on a Ford Cortina on my side of the road and the JCb took out a car on his side. My car set on fire and the dashboard was pushed up nearly under my chin! I had to recline the seat and slide into the back seat before getting out. It was my favourite car and it had a particular smell to the interior that I sort of liked. I wasn't too badly hurt and about three months later, my Dad sneakily bought another B210 in brown li,e this one) and left it on our drive without telling me. I was stoked when I saw it! I got it resprayed to look exactly like my old one and I was back in business. I didn't jump anymore bridges and only got rid of it when the strut mounting on the front suspension popped away from the bulkhead. Thanks for posting this video. Memories, memories....
girl at taco bell tonight said my porsche reminded her of her old datsun so I googled till i found the car she might have been talking about then found your video. watched it all the way through with tacobell in hand. great video man.
My Brother had a '74 Datsun B210 Coupe he bought new 'Citrus Orange', and in relatively short time was reduced to rolling rust (S.E. Ct.) that ran great! Not sure what became of it, but if memory serves he drove it into the ground...very little maintenance was ever done to the car unless it had to be, and it took him over a decade to kill it...
OMG, I too love econobox cars. My family bought this exact B210 model, shit brown, when I was 8 years old. We drove it every weekend 4 hours to and from our beach house. Great memories. Was like a tin can... but I loved the dash design. We later had a Datsun 810 wagon in the same color. It was much more luxurious, basically a Z-car in wagon form. Great video! Glad I discovered your channel.
I had one that was the easiest thing to work on EVER. You could change the front brake pads without jacking it up or removing the front wheels. Turn the wheel to the left, go to the left side, remove a clip with a pair of pliers, pry the piston back with a screwdriver, remove the old pad out of the top of the caliper, drop the new pads in, replace the clip, turn the wheel to the right, repeat. Done. 5 minutes.
I had one back in the day, it is very reliable and very ECONOMIC. 35 MPG on the middle of the oil crisis was great. I was a student back then so it fits me so good back then.YES it was sloooooowww..m
This is the same color and year I had and it was the best car i ever owned. Me and a buddy literally lived in mine for months. I loved that thing. We called it the beast because the odometer was stuck on 666
I live in New Zealand and have a Nissan NZ built Datsun 1200 SSS which they made 800 off up to 1973. They where raced and a favored car to steel. Delarto carbs, modified head, hi back seats and SSS badging. Les
I had 1977 B210, exact same color in about 1979. It was a great car and ran very well. I don't remember it being slow, as it had hot firing, high spark plugs, per California standards as I remember, or something like that. I'd love to have that car again.
Datsuns rusted in California too. My moms 510 rusted in front of the windshield. We lived in LAs southbay and there was hardly any rain from 1980 to 1990, while she had it.
OMG. Thanks for the great video! I'm 52 and this was my 1st car. Yes, it was slow and ugly, but it was mine. It helped having a swap meet stereo though.
I like the shape of it, a LOT. IMAGINE one with 8x the engine, somehow MORE space, with sturdier aesthetic parts?! 🕺🏼👯♀️... EVERYTHING that cheap car wishes it could have, if it could talk about it desperately wanting to have.
One of my best friends had a sedan version of this model Datsun with automatic transmission. I could walk faster than it could get up the hill near my parent's house!
In 1985, I was visiting a family that was staying at a camp site at a Methodist religious camp meeting, in Binghamton, NY. Their friend, a man in his 40s, showed up in his 1974-77 Datsun B210. While chit-chatting with us, he used is tire replacement jack and pushed the front corner of the car up and replaced the brake pads real quick. Then he did the same at the other front corner wheel. He did all this while chit-chatting, with the car parked in the grass under a shade tree. It made me think the car was easy to work on. I was a little alarmed at how thinned out his brake rotors were. He probably should have replaced the rotors too.
In college my buddy and I looked at a number of these around th $50. That's right, all of them were around $50. my buddy bought a Plymouth Valarie for $40 and drove it for 2 years. and sold it to a junk yard for $15. Ah, the late 1980s and early 1990s where great.
I bought a Datsun B-210 brand new in 1976 for $3200.00, it was a great, rough riding little car but I can attest having driven it over the Rockies that they do NOT go uphill well.
New subscriber here! The first video i watched was the new corolla cross. I liked that. Then i suscribed and went thru the playlist....lol...i find this 1974 Datsun B210! I was a young kid, but i do recall being driven in one a few time in the late 70s/early '80s. I think it was then when i started to notice and like Japanese cars. My only vehicle experience were the big old american V8 sedans and coupes my father/uncles/Everyone drove back then. This video brought back a lot of memories of being young and riding around in something ''different'', and eventually growing up and buying my own new and used japanese cars and trucks. (Mind you, i still will always love the old American cars from the 1930s thru early 1970s....just cannot afford to buy/drive/restore the ones i like.).
Yes, the Datsun B210 does come with a tachometer.. that is only for the B210GX version. I daily drive a 1978 Datsun B210GX every day which is also a beautiful brown color like this one, and I am 17 years old. My brown beauty has 303,XXX miles on it with much more to come. The engine size for the GX model is a 1.4L and the non-GX model is a 1.2L. This car is amazing and really fun to drive around and great project car to have some fun with. amazing video and I love the edits. Thanks!
I love those Datsuns! I was looking at cars way before I was old enough to egally drive and I thought I'd get one of those for my first car. Alas, it was not meant to be.....Now my actual first car, a '73 Ford Maverick, actually taught me a lot; like the importance of tie rods! LOL
Love the show! Can’t wait for the next one. I'm partial to old VWs. My parents still have a ‘67 beetle and a ‘60 bus. I think my arms are still bruised from all the slug bug punches my sister gave me as a kid. One of these days I’d like to have the beetle but I’ll need to get it from Sacramento to L.A. The last time I saw it running, my dad was driving, sitting on a plastic bucket in lieu of a seat and there was no windshield. Safety first!
One of my favorite old videos I just had to come back to, searched for it and everything. If you're reading this buy a Trabant 601 it is like no other car.
I learned to drive stick in a 79 B210 hatchback. If memory serves, it had the 1.2L 4 in it, rated at 65 bhp. With the a/c on, it wouldn't do more that 70 mph..What it did do, was sip gas. Many times we thought the gas gauge was broken or inaccurate. Nope. The car was really getting low 40s mpg highway, 30 city. Cool lil car!
@@HelloRoad In case you care, that 79 had a unique badge on the back, Datsun, by Nissan, which I am told they only used from 79 through early 80. My grandfather bought it from a college student who got into an accident with it and curled up the frt end pretty good, for $100.00, in 1986. He was bored and wanted something to do. My older cousin and him bought used fenders, hood, frt bumper, grill, headlight assemblies, plastic trim, etc, for $500.00. They used a come-along attached to a pecan tree to straighten out the frt unibody, and for amature hr, got it dead on, as proved by an alignment shop. Being an AZ car, it was rust free. He, we, drove that car another 8 yrs until the clutch let go and damaged the trans case beyond repair. He couldn't find a used trans and scrapped it. 1 thing I'll never forget was the sick sounding buzz/beep sound for the reverse indicator. It was as if the car said 'yeah, I'm letting you know you're in reverse, but I'm tired, leave me alone.' It was the same buzzer for the key in the ignition. Neat content. Keep it up!
Yes, these vehicles were unbelievable! My girlfriend had a brown Datsun B210 in 9th grade back in the late 80's. She let me drive it around with no license, drove us both to work Early weekend mornings, she knew this spot in town where it would jump nicely, and we had tons and tons of SEX wherever we wanted in and out of that car!
I used to have a descendant of the B210, a 2003 Nissan Sentra Spec V. A butt-ugly bubble but man was it fun. I highly recommend finding one of those, especially in garish yellow!
