NPOCP: 1983 Datsun 720 Pickup

"All Motor Is Best Motor" (acidicheartburn)
08/15/2014 at 23:08 • Filed to: NPOCP, Datsun 720

Anyone know anything about these? A friend is thinking of snatching this up. It's got a lot of miles, but it's less than his 80's Civic and he says they're supposed to be reliable. This example looks really clean.

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Gotta say, it's a really nice looking truck.

DISCUSSION (13)

Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur > All Motor Is Best Motor
08/15/2014 at 23:10

That is a clean-ass truck.

All Motor Is Best Motor > Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur
08/15/2014 at 23:11

I know, it looks really REALLY nice. I have no idea what these are worth, because that price seems nice for such a clean truck. I'm sure it's really slow but it's got a 5 speed, so there's that.

Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur > All Motor Is Best Motor
08/15/2014 at 23:12

It's worth as much as someone will pay
/shrug

All Motor Is Best Motor > Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur
08/15/2014 at 23:14

I'm not really a truck guy but this thing is really sweet looking.

Agrajag > All Motor Is Best Motor
08/15/2014 at 23:14

My Dad bought one of these when I was a kid. He set the wiper nozzles just so, so that they would spray his children which he let ride in the bed. Good fun.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > All Motor Is Best Motor
08/15/2014 at 23:22

I'm sure everyone on here and their mother will disagree with me because they drove their Lotus Elise across Alaska in January and snow tires are magic witchcraft, but if Seattle gets any significant amount of snow, your friend will be staying home. Other than that, seems like a nice truck.

GhostZ > All Motor Is Best Motor
08/15/2014 at 23:29

Ooooohhhhh. These came with a Z24 engine, which was rather rare and we only had it for a few years. I've never actually seen a car for sale with that particular engine in the US before (though I haven't really looked at pickups).

Not a particularly good motor (I believe some of the parts swap very well with earlier L engine 4-cylinders, and the conrods/pistons are desirable for L24 engines because they can bring compression down on a stroker motor) but definitely unique.

Basically, in terms of stock output:

L < Z < KA < SR

In terms of aftermarket availability:

Z < KA < L < SR

In terms of rarity:

KA < SR < L < Z

It's a crossflow motor with dual spark plugs, so while it's still not a 4v DOHC unit, if you fit fuel injection, a shorter crankshaft, a turbo and an aggressive cam, it will perform for you. There really isn't an aftermarket though, so it would be expensive to hit good numbers. Otherwise, you're stuck at an extremely reliable 100HP.

The truck itself looks to be in awesome shape. Given how hard it is to find a light truck these days, I would totally buy this up.

In other words, this is the truck equivalent of a Datsun 510 Wagon, but with a better engine.

This would be the perfect winter beater if it wasn't just so damn clean and unique.

GhostZ > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
08/15/2014 at 23:39

He would be better off in this than in an 80s civic though, on the snow, I imagine. He could at least load up the bed full of salt, and the larger, wider tires definitely help.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > GhostZ
08/15/2014 at 23:44

If he got snow tires and a TON of weight i the back, he might be okay. But with RWD, no traction control, and less than no weight over the bed, I'd be very cautious. At least the Civic is Fwd and has some weight over the wheels.

GhostZ > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
08/15/2014 at 23:49

An 80s civic also weighs 1000lbs less than this would. (2000 vs 3000 lbs) If both cars have a 60/40 distribution, they'd still have the same weight over the drive tires. The Civic's would just be over a smaller contact patch. If you get stuck, wouldn't be harder to get out with less weight over the tires?

EDIT: Also, did civics have traction control in the 80s?

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > GhostZ
08/15/2014 at 23:51

If they both had a 60/40 weight distribution, yes.

sdwarf36 > All Motor Is Best Motor
08/16/2014 at 00:17

Real NP. To be that clean at 233k-it had to be loved its whole life-not beat to death like most pick ups. Its got plenty of power-and all my Datsun pick ups were decent in the snow with tires + wieght in the back. (Not that I'd take this clean one out in the snow.) 30 years rust free could be reversed way too quick.

DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully > All Motor Is Best Motor
08/16/2014 at 00:42

My grandmother has a 1984 720 that she's had since new, and it's been nothing but awesome. So awesome that it's still her daily, 30 years later.