the reason you saw that is because the ones without them were sold for cheap for their unreliability by responsible people before 30k mi. then the people who bought them cheap, literally like a year after it came out, are poor and stupid.
I purchased a new 1983 Toyota truck. It was essentially the same configuration with no amenities as well. As a 21 year old I was happy to have it. I spent $5900 back then. Boy times have changed.
The 1985 720 4x4 ext cab I had cost $8500 I just sold it last year. 40 years old still all original running great. I take that back on all original I replaced the Carb with a Weber Carb gave it more HP and it ran much better, but gave it worse gas mileage. I also put a set of mag wheels on it, but had the original steel wheels when it sold they got a complete truck. It had 136k miles on it and still ran fine it was never used as a hwy truck though, but saw a lot of trails through its life. I would buy one in a second right now if you could buy one new still.
I still have my 1984. It's badged Nissan. I bought it in 1986 used with about 20,000 miles on it that's when I broke out cable splicing as a contractor, I used it for seven years until I became a company employee for the telephone company. It was very basic just like that one except it was four-wheel-drive and still didn't have a passenger side mirror It's been a great truck it just stays on the ranch now with square bales of hay stacked in it Think the odometer reads right at 240,000 miles on the original engine and transmission minus one clutch and a few starters
Got 2023 Frontier, transmission issues with 6200K miles, That pickup is bullet proof, My dad owns a 1983, yes first owner, same exact color, was repainted by one day body and paint in 2018. It got 446K miles.
That old truck is about as basic as a truck can be, cool! Tommy and Kase are good at these types of comparison videos, keeping it interesting even if the vehicle isn't the 'most' special in the world. They have that great chemistry that makes for good talk, whatever the subject. Keep it up!
This truck isn't base. Base had Black walll tires, silver painted wheels with no trim rings, short bed, manual transmission. Colored vinyl floor covering also. Carpet was only in upmodel versions.
1983...I remember the ad campaigns during the change from Datsun to Nissan...with the ending statement of "The Name Is Nissan!" From what I recall, many of the options were dealer installed, like the radio, door mirrors and air conditioning. The 1980s was a great time for small trucks and they were perfect for the college student...low price, small foot print for parking and great for hauling your stuff when moving out of the dorm or apartment at the end of the semester. The only issue that impacted life spans...road salt, as these weren't the most corrosion resistant at the time.
All of the options were dealer installed and the base items came in a box marked accessories, which included mirrors, wheel trim, etc. This started out as a way to save transit damage and import tax. Parts were taxed different than a whole vehicle.
One thing you guys might not be appreciating, because you're too young to know this, back in those days trucks like that weren't sold so much on their utility; they were sold much more as cheap basic transportation. Which is very often how they were used
When I was 19 in 1983, I had a job delivering medical supplies in a Datsun just like that. I drove the crap out of that truck. It took it and then some.Great truck.
I owned a 1985 Nissan 720 4x4 it is all original still on the road today I sold it last year because parts were becoming very hard and I mean very hard to find for them. You mostly had to buy junk truck parts and rebuilt parts to keep them going, but it lasted 40 years all original!
You guys seemed surprised that Nissan would build a 2WD as their first truck built in the United States. However, what you guys are too young to understand is that 4x4 trucks didn't become mainstream until sometime in the 2000s. When I was a kid, I only met two guys that had 4x4s because they worked in remote locations that didn't have any roads. Most people drove a 2WD truck, and in the winter or on muddy dirt roads, they would put tire chains on to get similar traction to a 4x4. In the summer, my dad worked on road construction and had a 1980s Chev 2WD farm truck with Mud Terrain tires on the back for maximum traction and street tires on the front. I saw him drive through deep mud with a 2WD truck and never felt the need to buy a 4x4. My current truck is a 2WD Canyon, and I put A/T tites on the back and H/T tires on the front like the farm truck that I remember from my childhood. You guys also mentioned that in the comments, people say they want a more low-tech truck. John Hennessey, in an interview, mentioned a new trend in car customization that he called Retro-Mods. There is a dislike or hatred of modern technology in vehicles because it constantly beeps at you and is as annoying as possible until you do what the computer wants you to do. The traction control system in my 2016 Canyon would flash on the multifunction screen when it detected wheelspin. I live in Canada, and in snow, you need to spin your tires sometimes to maintain momentum and avoid getting stuck. But the traction control system would cut input from the gas pedal when it detected wheelspin, and the truck would stop, and I would get stuck. So I removed the fuses for the traction control system, and now the light will flash, but it can't interfere with my decisions as the driver. I also want analog gauges, so I will need to build a new dash and replace the gauges and infotainment screen. When John Hennessey mentioned Retro-Mods, I was surprised because I thought I was the only person that hated the annoying technology trends in modern vehicles.
Just want to say that I own a 2022 Nissan Frontier SV 4x4 and it has a button(switch) you can press to disable the Traction Control, if for some reason you need to spin your tires.
@majorhemroid I don't mind a warning light or a couple of dings to notify me that the doors aren't fully closed or the wheels are spinning. But the constant dings that get louder to annoy the driver into compliance are unnecessary. As the driver I should be 100% in charge and choose when to turn on traction control. I hate that the computer in modern vehicles take the decisions away from the driver. Modern vehicles are programmed by people who seem to assume that the driver can't be trusted to make the correct decision and give the computer override authority. When I'm driving I should be in full control because in an accident the driver is responsible. A simple switch with a light that illuminates when turned on and is dark when turned off is a universal way to know when something is on or off. The system in new vehicles of turning a system off but it isn't really off unless an elaborate procedure is performed is idiotic.
@jimmyrichards5595 My 2016 Canyon has a traction control button as well, but I couldn't tell if it was off or on. I admit that it could be my lack of knowledge about modern systems. I pushed the button and couldn't see an indicator light when it was on, and I think it automatically turns on every time you start the truck. I heard that some traction control systems don't completely turn off but only go into "sleep mode" and reactivate under certain circumstances. In certain trucks like Toyota, there is a complex procedure to actually deactivate the traction control so it can't turn itself back on.
@@aerynlovell4754 I hear you and understand. I don’t completely disagree. But I would say that I like that my 2022 Frontier can detect and stop the vehicle from hitting a car/pedestrian in front of me, just in case. My mom recently rear ended someone, because she thought they were going through with a left turn, but they slammed on the brakes and came to a quick stop. I told her she should get a newer vehicle like mine, because mine wouldn’t even let you do that! However, I think that too, can be disabled if you want. I’d have to look to be certain on that one.
My papa had one of those awesome trucks. Lots of memories sitting in the bed cruising around the neighborhood or to the beach. Just some of the best times in my life. It was So easy to work on. My papa absolutely loved that truck. He ran it till it fell apart. Literally.🙏🏼❤️
I love these classic new car reviews! Please keep them coming. The size and simplicity of that old Nissan Datsun appeal to me. I loathe how fussy, big, and expensive modern "small" trucks have become. That said, the new Frontier is my favorite midsize truck. It looks handsome and rugged. I like the simplicity. I like the standard V6 instead of a turbo 4 like the competitors. Nissan did a fantastic job overall.
If Nissan would just get back to their roots and make a small little truck to just get basic jobs done, no thrills, sell it for 20k, it would sell like crazy! Cloth seats, basic infotainment and a small 4cyl engine for the average joe to get stuff at the Home Depot and go home again, that's all most people will ever need. Nissan is straight up struggling right now, they need a winner.
@@Hebrew42Day- nah you are wrong. Has nothing to do with EPA regulations. It’s that’s not what people want. People are buying the new Ford Maverick. They’re still buying F150s and big superduties. Even if they don’t use them for work. Half the houses in my neighborhood have full-size trucks and only one actually uses it for his job. Guys buy trucks to make themselves feel like a bad ass. These little gutless hundred horsepower four-cylinder little trucks, although a good economic idea of a simple Truck just got steamrolled by options and bigger and faster and more and V8 power and diesel trucks and blah blah blah.
@@cconnon1912 He is definitely not wrong. But neither are you. The government makes it impossible for small cheap vehicles to be sold here, or even imported realistically. Between the Chicken tax, safety regs, and all the other tyrannical controlling of the automotive industry including mandating EV's, it wouldn't matter if everyone wanted one, it cannot happen.
I wish we still got cool colored interiors like this. A full blue interior is pretty dope, and outside of luxury cars, and a couple of Lincoln products, I can’t think of any modern vehicles that offer something like that.
Wow! Nice to see a manufacturer can keep a collector vehicle running! I loved working on these back in the day as well. My big question is, how long today’s vehicles will last compared to the older ones. The pathfinder in front of you were SO popular back in the day here in Colorado. Worked on a ton of those as well. A great vehicle to work on along with the customers that owned them. Can’t think of a better way for two automotive journalists to appreciate what was going on back in the day. Wonderful to see Tommy and Kase embrace the vintage vehicles. Another true TFL classic!
If only you had been able to get the 2.7TD (turbo diesel) Frontier (Pathfinder/Terrano) version. Gear drive to the camshaft (OHV) and of course the mechanical injection pump.... all cast iron block and head, pre chamber IDI, legendary reliability and spare parts for Africa (and most Asian countries since that engine was also used in vans...)
*I'd love to buy one of these brand new with a manual transmission, you could actually afford to buy it, and it would last forever if you didn't live in a rust prone area!*
Exactly. I remember my dad looking at the bumper display at the dealer, for which one they would install on his new Chevy truck. And if he wanted, he could have ordered one from JC Whitney to install himself.
Today, we employ bumpers to protect more valuable components in an accident. But since tailgates and tail lights were simple to replace back then, bumpers had nothing worth protecting. If you got into a minor accident in the rear, you just went to a junkyard and replaced parts for less than the cost of a new bumper. That or you just just hammered out whatever got tweaked. For most truck guys from yore, the bumper was more of a finishing aesthetic piece. You didn't care about damage to the truck.
@@AkioWasRight Seems like they knew best back then. Build it simple, inexpensive, easy to repair, and affordable to buy. Somehow those of us that were buying those cars survived perfectly without all the extra safety junk.
Nice look-back video. The first car I ever really drove was my grandfather's 1974 Ford Courier, when I was 14. He bought a series of trucks to tow behind a motorhome and use around a remote forest cabin - and I drove all of them some. He had roughly a 1974 Courier, 1978 Courier, 1981 Tacoma, and 1984 Ford Ranger. Now a couple weeks ago I bought a 2024 Ranger; sort of "completing the circle" 50 years later.
Many frontiers from 2008 all the way to 2014 have 300k - 500k miles on them I personally had a 2014 with 131,000 miles on it and there’s been nothing replaced on it besides fluids and batteries which is just regular maintenance.
@jeanclaude7018 oh I also forgot to mention that I have a 2023 Tacoma, the single only thing that Tacoma has better is the ride quality everything else just straight bad. for example rusty frames, shitty transmission, no power, no torque, flimsy plastic bed, horrible sound system same plastic interior I can go on, but apparently all that doesn’t matter and nobody wants to talk about that because it’s all about the logo.
@ the transmission on the Tacoma is geared a lot towards fuel economy, and the truck is relatively heavy so therefore the transmission has a hard time holding fifth and six gear so it just starts jumping around all over the place, making it not very pleasant to drive. I think Toyota could’ve geared it a little bit better to where it wouldn’t do that.
When I was a freshman in high school (88-89), my boss at my summer landscaping job drove a Datsun badged truck in those exact colors with a manual transmission, complete with an 8 ball modified to screw onto the shifter.
That’s great just like my first Nissan truck 5 speed manual transmission didn’t come with radio you put your own in. Just like my mom and dad’s 1983 Mazda 626 manual transmission didn’t come with radio at all but you got cruise control, and AC and power windows. All cars came with no radio that was your option back then until 2002 when they start putting them all in the vehicles, but people were still changing them out. As a matter of fact, a lot of people are looking for the old style vehicles. They are hot demand right now the ones in the 70s ,80s and 90s.
My father bought a brand new 1984 version of this truck with the SD25 Diesel engine in it. It was the first vehicle I drove when I was learning how to drive. For the time it was a higher spec'ed model as it was a King Cab with the 2 jump seats behind the front seats, the front seats had head rests built into them, and I seem to remember they were bucket seats as opposed to the bench in this model. It didn't have 4WD or the top radio (was an AM radio with one speaker on the driver's side) but thankfully had the 5-speed manual. It was the slowest vehicle I've ever driven and I've driven a Hyundai Pony with the 1.4 engine and a Pontiac Firefly with a 3 cylinder engine and and automatic. If you started up a hill from a stop it struggled to get to 80kph and that was holding it in 3rd gear. If all you ever had to do was drive it in urban traffic where you never had to get over that speed it wasn't that bad. Beyond 80kph it had a hard time maintaining speed on any sort of grade. The biggest issue with those trucks was the rust, the box rusted out after only a few years and the rest of the cab followed soon after. That engine though provided you had a decent battery would start right up no problems at all. Would have made a fantastic woods truck if I had somewhere to use it for that purpose. And unlike modern diesels this one was loud, it shook the truck at idle, if you revved it out at all it sounded like it was going to blow up and on cold starts it rolled to coal for a good few minutes until it warmed up!
I miss my first new 1991 Nissan pickup. 30mpg just no power when going from Oklahoma to Colorado mountains. With the camper shell it was as they say now my first over-landing vehicle. Had 3 more in the 1990s but the first one seemed to be the best one. After 1997 they got to expensive and the mpg sucked.
We had a JDM 720 double cab until 2001. It was diesel powered by the SD22 engine. Ours had factory AC, and a rear chrome bumper. The tail gate however didn't have a handle like that, it had the older catch loop lever style handle on either side. It's still running to this day, as I see it in my village every now and then. It also had the three spoke sports steering wheel. I believe the trim was SGL.
Lots of 2 wheel drive trucks around in the 90s here in Wisconsin. Guys would just throw sand bags in the bed in the winter. Trucks were used for truck things, not driving to walmart or mall crawling.
Yeah, it was a parade of Nissans for the whole drive of the classic truck. Almost like a Secret Service escort 😄For the new one? Zero effs given, go nuts with your little TH-cam review.
@@lrich8181 Me too. My guess is that the reason they only provided the auto box is because bringing out the manual would bring up more questions about why there are no manual Frontiers available today. I'm sure they have the manual twin version stored somewhere.
Actually this truck isn't base which had colored vinyl floor, argent steel wheels, no trim rings, blackwall tires, and manual transmission, plus long bed This is the nicer trim level.
In the mid 80s I drove a few of those small Japan brand pickups. All were company trucks with no radio, no AC, stick shift, never had any problems ... just kept on truckin’. We put sandbags in the box for winter driving ... when roads became slick simply push the sandbags to the back. Those old pickups are EASY to maintain and repair.
My Dad bought a new 1985 King Cab Deluxe long bed 2WD automatic as his first vehicle purchase once he moved Stateside and drove it for 25 years . Light blue with that all-blue interior right down to the dash faux wood veneer. Grew up riding in that truck. Served us well until it had to be retired. If I ever come across a decent condition 720 King Cab in the same color and spec my Dad had, I’d snap it up and restore it.
Everybody is drooling over this, but back in those days most regular Americans still hated “rice burners”. It took a long time for the Japanese makes to become widely accepted.
My brother and I used to drive a 1988 Nissan Pathfinder. It had two doors and a tire carrier also had a button to stiffen the shocks. See if you guys can find one of those to review!
My 1991 2.7TD Terrano Wagon JDM import had those shocks wear out about 2003. The cost then ex Japan was $800 each! Replaced with good Monroe 4wd normal single tube hydraulic shocks @ $150 a pair....
hey, growing up, my family had till 91. was a 1983 nissan, kingcab 4x4 softbody, 2.4 4x4 kingcab, red was a show truck, great truck from the 80s. i learned to drive stick driving this also learning to drive 4x4, little hack cup holder try was the glove box drawer that flap is the where the radio would go. the lower center console was the where gauges would be optional. the blanks on the dash was also for tac. and other gauges that could be spec. my friend had a 86 softbody with 2.0 auto ye 2.0 they put 2.0 in the 4x2 but then 2.4 in the 4x4 due to the tires sizes and extra weight to the truck.
Seeing that old Nissan really brings me back to when I was a just a kid and into though my teens. I didn't own a Nissan but I did own a 1988 Ford Ranger Custom with a 4 speed manual and overdrive which i guess it was kind of a 5 speed. My father bought it new in 1988 and when I turned 16 and got my license in 1994 the truck gradually went to me. I loved that truck and drove it daily till around 2000 or 2001. It had a 2.9 V6 which was kind of rare in a 2 wheel drive Ranger because most of the 2 wheel drives usually only had the 4 cylinder. The 2.9 V6 usually only came in the 4x4 Ranger and the Bronco 2s. It was a tough truck the motor had over 500,000 km's and the only reason I parked it because the body was rusting out quick than i could fix it. I live in Atlantic Canada so the winter's killed it because of all the salt they load on the roads every year. Great video and thanks for the flash back of simpler times. Cheers
That's how most of those trucks were sold back in 1983, very few people buying back then bought the auto box. I know because I was a teenager just starting to drive and I remember these being sold brand new and most on the lots were manual.
Back in the 80s, dads didn't have to hang out with the family except for vacation, church, holidays, and graduation. They could drive their truck to work, go fishing, and hang out at cheers to watch the game all in their non family truck.😂
I'm still driving a 2012 regular cab Tacoma. I love regular cabs, and as someone without kids I see no reason a man's vehicle should have 4 doors. And the best thing is I can sleep in the back (the only case where being shorter than 6'1" is a good thing).
That was back when you could drink all afternoon, then drive home without worrying about losing your license. Police need to stop harassing hard working men and start going after criminals instead.
Awesome! I have an '82 Toyota 2wd and it's a great daily driver a lot of the year. I love the low, 7.5 foot bed--I can bring home a load of dirt and reach over the side of the bed to shovel it out. Even for newer 2wd trucks, the beds are so deep you can't possibly do that. I liked your phone test where you couldn't possibly reach anything in the bed and I'm pretty sure I'm shorter than you guys.
I always think its funny when a journalist says there is no market for a no frills truck at an affordable price. Meanwhile the affordable Maverick which is pretending to be a truck is selling like hot cakes.
Those engines were literally A Mercury boat engine 😊, Had one 4 a demo, Filled up in Messco for 15 cents Per gallon,😮 handed the young fellow A $5 bill for fill up, and told him to keep the change, Drove to San Diego, and back to AZ.😎
I owned a 1981 Datsun King Cab with the 2.2 liter diesel and 5-speed manual. Good little truck. I understood that SD22 engine was also used in forklifts.
Man that 84 is fantastic! If they made that today I'd buy one tomorrow. Love love love the colored interior! Most pickups back then came without rear bumper. Several different styles available from the dealer.
Memories: went motocross racing in my buddy's (I think, '74 620), enough room for two passengers and three motocross bikes in the back. Did some racing in '75 and '76; good times and memories, for sure. I, personally, had a '95 S-10, and lament the loss of a proper sized pickup (at least for me).
My dad still has his Datsun by Nissan 720 MVP 4x4. It still has the original blue paint with some striped design on the side. It came from the factory with a lift kit, roll bars, and off road bumpers. I learned how to drive manual transmission in that truck
You know what was so cool about those little compact trucks from the 80s? Regular people could afford them. I had a friend in high school who worked at a McDonalds after school and weekends. He was so proud of himself that he bought a no-frills Toyota pickup with his own money.
A truck back then was a working truck todays trucks are suv's with a bed no one uses if you had a 4x4 back then it would look the same inside but without carpet just wash it out with a hose
Bingo. The 1983 was everything MOST people needed in a basic pick up truck, and you could actually afford to buy it in cash and still pay for all your other bills. USA has become a third world country today. Only the rich live well.
@@volvo09 Exactly, if you are working with that truck you don't want to waste time having to go around and dropping the gate each time to get materials out. Modern pick up trucks are not really used for work anymore most of the time.
My mom bought a 1981 Datsun 720. Such an awesome truck. They slowly transitioned the trucks from Datsun to Nissan. The biggest change is what was said on the tailgate
Fantastic vid, gentlemen! My D21 was still one of my all time favorite trucks that I've owned and would be overjoyed if we could get back to small trucks like that again. I really enjoyed seeing the comparisons here and would have loved to see you boys do another road trip in this truck like you did that other old car that you went to california in. I'm also furious that we didn't get to see more of that pathfinder that was in this vid twice. I was on the parking level and then in front of you when you were driving
I had a ‘79 620 same colors back in the day. Awesome truck, punched way above its weight. Pulled a boat, lots of loads of seed and fertilizer. Would love to have one like it.
I had one of those original Nissan Datsun trucks. Mine was baby blue and I think the interior was close to the one you were driving. I loved that truck, it was the first one I bought for myself without my parents help. It was a 4 speed manual. I ended up trading it for a hard body Pathfinder 4X4 (original version 1) with hand cranked windows and a 4 speed manual. I hated it. The transfer case would pop out of gear when I was stuck an it was a roll over hazard. It was a good camping truck. I think they call it overlanding now.
We bought a 1985 Nissan 720 short bed. It was even more basic then the truck in this video. It had rubber floor covering instead of carpeting. It didn’t have armrests on the doors, they were pull straps. It didn’t have a rear bumper either. It did have a AM/FM radio in it. We also had A/C added at the dealership. Out the door, I think that truck was around $6k. We kept it for 13+ years. It was pretty “well worn” and beat up and rusty by the time we sold it, but it did everything I asked of it.
One thing to be aware about that smooth, carlike ride: although durable and long-lasting, these were LIGHT-duty trucklets. My dad had a “king Cab” and made the mistake of trying to tow a medium-sized tent trailer with it. At anything over 50mph in a crosswind, the trailer would start to drive the truck, and could send it into frightening oscillations!
I had a 1986.5 Nissan King Cab E that I bought new when the Hardbody models first came out, I just sold it only a few years ago and everything still worked, had been the spare family truck for quite a while. I bought it new for $9500 and got the dealer to throw in the optional factory rear bumper, and the jump seats which it didn't come with being a base trim. It was a great basic truck for sure
Very cool how they kept this in their inventory. Almost as if they predicted the importance of it back then. This one in 4x4 was very nice. That 2 door Pathfinder in the back would be nice to watch a video on too.
My grandfather had a 1982 Datsun identical to that one - including the blue interior! Sadly, it was a total loss after a crash he had a few years after buying it. He wasn't injured, but really regretted having to sell it for parts.
Back in January 1984, I bought my first new car: a Nissan Stanza. It only took a few months before my wife took the Stanza and "let" me have her 1980 Mercury Capri (because the A/C stopped working). In June of '84, I traded the Capri for a 1984 Nissan 720 pickup that was a carbon copy of this truck (white with blue interior) except mine was a short bed with a 5 speed manual and had vinyl floors (no carpet). The only option on my truck was A/C (pretty much a necessity in Mobile, AL!) and it was stickered at $7200. My first addition to the Nissan was a cheap stereo and speakers (and an antenna!) I drove it for over 13 years and missed it terribly after I traded it in on a Mitsubishi Expo. Six years later, I traded the Expo in on a 2003 Dodge Ram 150 and enjoyed having a truck again.
The type of truck I would love to get brand new. I do like the Frontier, but a cheap and simple truck that doesn’t take up a lot of room, would be great to have.
Wrong, @4:00 you said it was a single wall bed… @4:20 you can see it is a double wall bed. Also, I had a 1984 blue version of one of these, it was my first truck. I LOVED it, it ran great and was very durable and useful having just bought a house. I always thought the styling was great. In fact I’ve been looking for one many years that I could buy and fix up!
I drove a Datsun 620 with a fibreglass canopy with all my restaurant spare parts and tools in 1978 when I worked for Russell Food Equipment, it was the 4 speed version and was a very handy service vehicle in getting into tight back alleys to access city restaurants in Edmonton Alberta. It was great year round even in the very cold Edmonton winters of -35Deg.C.
I love the 720! My Grandaddy had a 1983.5, the first Nissan branded vehicle in the Columbus, Ga - Chattahoochee Valley area. He drove that thing every day for 20+ years. It was crap brown with a yellow camper shell. Not very pretty but I sure loved riding with him in it.
I worked for a dealer in that era and all accessories either came in a box for transit, or were through the dealer's parts department. That truck could be had with a pair of those mirrors (optional) or the single one you showed. Bigger ones were also available. Radio went in that storage hole, center of the dash. (AM / FM / Stereo / Cassette options) AC was available (factory package) and that came with a different set of controls plus some vents / ducts. If the installer was good you couldn't tell it from factory. In that era we had a steep import tax on complete vehicles so many were shipped "plain Jane" and even the bed was installed after reaching the USA. Those parts had a different tax base. Some of this carried over to US assembled vehicles because of the diverse customer taste. People in the greater NYC area wanted every option and 150 miles away in the hills they wanted a base truck... maybe with 4WD. The USA market is completely different and larger than the market in Japan. The easy way to tell a US from a Japanese truck was ours had Sylvania headlamps plus US made tires (Bridgestone?) and battery. The imported units had Toyo tires and Panasonic battery. Bottom line is that basic truck is about the company legacy to the working man with basic taste and a budget.... in the country of origin. BTW, the 620 trucks (circa 1979) and earlier units were built for smaller people and most Americans complained the seats / leg room wasn't enough. If you go back to the 60s vintage trucks an average guy over 5ft 8in had to squeeze in there.
18:15 Claim by Case is clearly incorrect. The overwhelming majority of these rusted back into the dirt. They are _not_ still around. That's what makes the one you guys drove so special...
Hey guys, that engine series with the two spark plugs per cylinder was referred to as " the NapZ engine'! Nissan offered that similar engine in a few of their cars in the early 80's. Keep up the good work guys!!
I love the look of those 80’s truck, and I absolutely love the hooks on the bed. I have an 85 s15 that is still in good shape. I just need to fix the ac and touch up the paint. Lots of heads turn when I pass by in this little 4x4 beast lol
This truck was once a favorite of the kids in the hood in LA. We would drop the hell out of em with deep dish rims with speaker boxes in the back the size of dog houses. One could hear a Nissan truck coming blocks away. Dudes even put hydraulics in the bed where the whole bed would lift out and dance. Those were the days.
Great video…… love the old/new Datsun/Nissan pickup! I had an ‘83 Chevy S-10 pickup, back in 1983. It was gutless at 110 hp 😅. It was a manual 5 speed. What I loved also about your video was No Traffic 😁! I’m in SoCal near Disneyland. I’ve gotta drive 50+ miles to find a road with no traffic 😳😂! Keep your great videos coming!!
Nice to see you guys driving around my hometown. The railroad tracks you went over are about two miles from where I grew up. I still ride my motorcycle around that area. Hope you enjoyed the Trace and got a chance to stop in Liepers Fork. The Nissan HQ is about a mile away from my office. When they built the Nissan plant in Smyrna, TN I was in elementary school. We took a field trip to watch them build trucks like that white one. When I was in high school, the Saturn plant opened up not far from where you were driving in Spring Hill, TN. Needless to say, all the GM families that moved into my neighborhood had some really cool cars. The road you turned off of to get on Coleman road is Columbia Avenue. One of my GM transplant friends and I were in his Firebird Formula 350 and put it in the ditch just down from where you turned at a funky intersection. :)
I bought a 1985 Nissan truck basic-5speed stick-no rear bumper-no radio.Price $5995 but they put body stripes and low profile wheels and tires that added $2000- to the sticker..Nissan trucks were the smoothest riding trucks because of fully boxed ladder style frame. Toyota trucks and Ford Rangers frames were only boxed in the front
That old truck rode nice because it has NORMAL tires on it and not stupid sport rims with low profile hard riding tires. Also, the good ole days of chrome bumpers, chrome trim rings on normal steel rims and whitewalls was a great look
I had a Dotson and I had a Nissan, the Nissan was a 1991 model I believe I bought it in Colorado used drove it to years there, moved to Texas drove it a year, moved into Florida drove it until my son turned 16 and it was his first truck he had it a year or so and then decided he wanted a Toyota forerunner and he always regretted getting rid of the truck because it was a tank! He had air conditioning high speed not much more and it was a great little truck and it was a king cab. I didn’t really want to give it to my son but it was a great starter vehicle for him for sure but we both regret getting rid of it out of the family.
I had an 87 Corolla FX. It was definitely more refined but very basic. 5 spd, bucket seats, A/C, digital radio w/cassette and fold down backseat. Everything i needed at 20. Great car, fuel injection would of been nice.
I love watching the Videos on the old Nissan my dad had that when I was a kid only his was the extended cab with the jump seats in the back and a crome rear bumper, he added the aftermarket Nissan AmFM radio too went right were the little flip door is on yours. Boy did we put that truck to its paces though it surviced alot bought new in 84 and sold in 99 or 2000
I sat in that old nissan years ago. Nissan keeps its car collection at the lane motor museum in nashville tn. Nissan north America has its headquarters in Franklin/Brentwood part of nashville.
I had a 1985 720 4X4 for 30 years and wish I had never gotten rid of it. The original motor went 307,000 miles and my only complaints would be that the sheet metal was pretty thin and the door cards were basically vinyl covered cardboard.
I bought a new 1984 Nissan truck like this one except even more bare bones being a 5 speed manual transmission. It was about $5900. Mine was tan in color. You get what you pay for, including the bench seat deteriorating from day one with chunks of foam appearing on the floor under the seat. At around 40,000 miles and just out of warranty it developed electrical problems. The engine would sometimes shut itself off when I was driving down the road and wouldn’t restart for about 5 minutes. The dealer never could figure out why it did that as it wouldn’t happen at the dealership. Mine did come with a left side mirror, but the door began rusting out where the mirror was mounted when the truck was only 4 years old in Southern California (not the rust belt area). I had to add a radio, but I never had air conditioning. When the radio was installed it went into a hole that was covered by a piece of plastic that said Nissan on it. Under that was another identical piece of plastic that said Datsun on it. The only thing I liked about that truck was that it got almost 30 miles per gallon. I sold it to my cousin in 1988 and he wrecked it shortly afterwards.
As the owner of a 1984 720, I really appreciate seeing one of these without crumpled front fenders and a bent front bumper.
the reason you saw that is because the ones without them were sold for cheap for their unreliability by responsible people before 30k mi. then the people who bought them cheap, literally like a year after it came out, are poor and stupid.
@coffee838 The bumper is also bolted directly to the fenders, too, so all of the force from a front impact goes straight into the fenders.
@@tethylterrible design, but maybe kept costs down
same i also have an 84 Nissan 720.
I purchased a new 1983 Toyota truck. It was essentially the same configuration with no amenities as well. As a 21 year old I was happy to have it. I spent $5900 back then. Boy times have changed.
“Girl times” have changed, too.
@@jpquebec123 LOL well you live in the rust zone.
If you didn't that truck would have lasted and still be working on the road
today!
Still driving my '89 toyota pickup only complaint is that it's a 2wd but i still love driving it around town great on gas also.
The 1985 720 4x4 ext cab I had cost $8500 I just sold it last year. 40 years old still all original running great. I take that back on all original I replaced the Carb with a Weber Carb gave it more HP and it ran much better, but gave it worse gas mileage. I also put a set of mag wheels on it, but had the original steel wheels when it sold they got a complete truck. It had 136k miles on it and still ran fine it was never used as a hwy truck though, but saw a lot of trails through its life. I would buy one in a second right now if you could buy one new still.
The 20R ENGINE was bulletproof.
If only Frontier had a long bed and a single cab it could be a real truck for doing work. That old Datsun is so sweet!
they still offer a king cab 6' box
They do still offer the long bed
@@carsnstuff1344 king cab has a 6' box
I still have my 1984. It's badged Nissan. I bought it in 1986 used with about 20,000 miles on it that's when I broke out cable splicing as a contractor, I used it for seven years until I became a company employee for the telephone company.
It was very basic just like that one except it was four-wheel-drive and still didn't have a passenger side mirror
It's been a great truck it just stays on the ranch now with square bales of hay stacked in it
Think the odometer reads right at 240,000 miles on the original engine and transmission minus one clutch and a few starters
Does it say Datsun on the tailgate? Usually in the lower right hand corner if I remember correctly.
@@bennetfoxlower left, I have one
Blue is the most underrated interior color. More new vehicles should offer blue interiors.
I have a white '91 Toyota pickup that also has a blue interior.
I had an old F250 with a blue interior. No complaints.
The Ford Maverick does.
Got 2023 Frontier, transmission issues with 6200K miles, That pickup is bullet proof, My dad owns a 1983, yes first owner, same exact color, was repainted by one day body and paint in 2018. It got 446K miles.
620 thousand or 6.2 million?
Beautiful truck. I love my old and simple vehicles.
That old truck is about as basic as a truck can be, cool! Tommy and Kase are good at these types of comparison videos, keeping it interesting even if the vehicle isn't the 'most' special in the world. They have that great chemistry that makes for good talk, whatever the subject. Keep it up!
This truck isn't base. Base had Black walll tires, silver painted wheels with no trim rings, short bed, manual transmission. Colored vinyl floor covering also. Carpet was only in upmodel versions.
1983...I remember the ad campaigns during the change from Datsun to Nissan...with the ending statement of "The Name Is Nissan!" From what I recall, many of the options were dealer installed, like the radio, door mirrors and air conditioning. The 1980s was a great time for small trucks and they were perfect for the college student...low price, small foot print for parking and great for hauling your stuff when moving out of the dorm or apartment at the end of the semester. The only issue that impacted life spans...road salt, as these weren't the most corrosion resistant at the time.
All of the options were dealer installed and the base items came in a box marked accessories, which included mirrors, wheel trim, etc. This started out as a way to save transit damage and import tax. Parts were taxed different than a whole vehicle.
One thing you guys might not be appreciating, because you're too young to know this, back in those days trucks like that weren't sold so much on their utility; they were sold much more as cheap basic transportation. Which is very often how they were used
When I was 19 in 1983, I had a job delivering medical supplies in a Datsun just like that. I drove the crap out of that truck. It took it and then some.Great truck.
I owned a 1985 Nissan 720 4x4 it is all original still on the road today I sold it last year because parts were becoming very hard and I mean very hard to find for them. You mostly had to buy junk truck parts and rebuilt parts to keep them going, but it lasted 40 years all original!
That's a shame, you can still find most parts online. Except for the king cab parking brake cable.
You guys seemed surprised that Nissan would build a 2WD as their first truck built in the United States. However, what you guys are too young to understand is that 4x4 trucks didn't become mainstream until sometime in the 2000s. When I was a kid, I only met two guys that had 4x4s because they worked in remote locations that didn't have any roads. Most people drove a 2WD truck, and in the winter or on muddy dirt roads, they would put tire chains on to get similar traction to a 4x4. In the summer, my dad worked on road construction and had a 1980s Chev 2WD farm truck with Mud Terrain tires on the back for maximum traction and street tires on the front. I saw him drive through deep mud with a 2WD truck and never felt the need to buy a 4x4. My current truck is a 2WD Canyon, and I put A/T tites on the back and H/T tires on the front like the farm truck that I remember from my childhood. You guys also mentioned that in the comments, people say they want a more low-tech truck. John Hennessey, in an interview, mentioned a new trend in car customization that he called Retro-Mods. There is a dislike or hatred of modern technology in vehicles because it constantly beeps at you and is as annoying as possible until you do what the computer wants you to do. The traction control system in my 2016 Canyon would flash on the multifunction screen when it detected wheelspin. I live in Canada, and in snow, you need to spin your tires sometimes to maintain momentum and avoid getting stuck. But the traction control system would cut input from the gas pedal when it detected wheelspin, and the truck would stop, and I would get stuck. So I removed the fuses for the traction control system, and now the light will flash, but it can't interfere with my decisions as the driver. I also want analog gauges, so I will need to build a new dash and replace the gauges and infotainment screen. When John Hennessey mentioned Retro-Mods, I was surprised because I thought I was the only person that hated the annoying technology trends in modern vehicles.
No, you're not the only one.
Damn Big Sister watching over us.
Just want to say that I own a 2022 Nissan Frontier SV 4x4 and it has a button(switch) you can press to disable the Traction Control, if for some reason you need to spin your tires.
@majorhemroid I don't mind a warning light or a couple of dings to notify me that the doors aren't fully closed or the wheels are spinning. But the constant dings that get louder to annoy the driver into compliance are unnecessary. As the driver I should be 100% in charge and choose when to turn on traction control. I hate that the computer in modern vehicles take the decisions away from the driver. Modern vehicles are programmed by people who seem to assume that the driver can't be trusted to make the correct decision and give the computer override authority. When I'm driving I should be in full control because in an accident the driver is responsible. A simple switch with a light that illuminates when turned on and is dark when turned off is a universal way to know when something is on or off. The system in new vehicles of turning a system off but it isn't really off unless an elaborate procedure is performed is idiotic.
@jimmyrichards5595 My 2016 Canyon has a traction control button as well, but I couldn't tell if it was off or on. I admit that it could be my lack of knowledge about modern systems. I pushed the button and couldn't see an indicator light when it was on, and I think it automatically turns on every time you start the truck. I heard that some traction control systems don't completely turn off but only go into "sleep mode" and reactivate under certain circumstances. In certain trucks like Toyota, there is a complex procedure to actually deactivate the traction control so it can't turn itself back on.
@@aerynlovell4754 I hear you and understand. I don’t completely disagree. But I would say that I like that my 2022 Frontier can detect and stop the vehicle from hitting a car/pedestrian in front of me, just in case. My mom recently rear ended someone, because she thought they were going through with a left turn, but they slammed on the brakes and came to a quick stop. I told her she should get a newer vehicle like mine, because mine wouldn’t even let you do that! However, I think that too, can be disabled if you want. I’d have to look to be certain on that one.
I bought one these brand new in 1996, Hardbody, manual, no radio, no a/c, no bumper for 6,995
I had a brand new 1991 manual, 2WD with a/c and a radio for $7,100.
My papa had one of those awesome trucks. Lots of memories sitting in the bed cruising around the neighborhood or to the beach. Just some of the best times in my life. It was So easy to work on. My papa absolutely loved that truck. He ran it till it fell apart. Literally.🙏🏼❤️
I love these classic new car reviews! Please keep them coming. The size and simplicity of that old Nissan Datsun appeal to me. I loathe how fussy, big, and expensive modern "small" trucks have become. That said, the new Frontier is my favorite midsize truck. It looks handsome and rugged. I like the simplicity. I like the standard V6 instead of a turbo 4 like the competitors. Nissan did a fantastic job overall.
If Nissan would just get back to their roots and make a small little truck to just get basic jobs done, no thrills, sell it for 20k, it would sell like crazy! Cloth seats, basic infotainment and a small 4cyl engine for the average joe to get stuff at the Home Depot and go home again, that's all most people will ever need. Nissan is straight up struggling right now, they need a winner.
The EPA would have to be abolished.
@@Hebrew42Day- nah you are wrong. Has nothing to do with EPA regulations. It’s that’s not what people want. People are buying the new Ford Maverick. They’re still buying F150s and big superduties. Even if they don’t use them for work. Half the houses in my neighborhood have full-size trucks and only one actually uses it for his job. Guys buy trucks to make themselves feel like a bad ass. These little gutless hundred horsepower four-cylinder little trucks, although a good economic idea of a simple Truck just got steamrolled by options and bigger and faster and more and V8 power and diesel trucks and blah blah blah.
@@cconnon1912 He is definitely not wrong.
But neither are you.
The government makes it impossible for small cheap vehicles to be sold here, or even imported realistically.
Between the Chicken tax, safety regs, and all the other tyrannical controlling of the automotive industry including mandating EV's, it wouldn't matter if everyone wanted one, it cannot happen.
I wish we still got cool colored interiors like this. A full blue interior is pretty dope, and outside of luxury cars, and a couple of Lincoln products, I can’t think of any modern vehicles that offer something like that.
Wow! Nice to see a manufacturer can keep a collector vehicle running! I loved working on these back in the day as well. My big question is, how long today’s vehicles will last compared to the older ones. The pathfinder in front of you were SO popular back in the day here in Colorado. Worked on a ton of those as well. A great vehicle to work on along with the customers that owned them. Can’t think of a better way for two automotive journalists to appreciate what was going on back in the day. Wonderful to see Tommy and Kase embrace the vintage vehicles. Another true TFL classic!
If only you had been able to get the 2.7TD (turbo diesel) Frontier (Pathfinder/Terrano) version.
Gear drive to the camshaft (OHV)
and of course the mechanical injection pump....
all cast iron block and head,
pre chamber IDI,
legendary reliability and spare parts for Africa (and most Asian countries since that engine was also used in vans...)
*I'd love to buy one of these brand new with a manual transmission, you could actually afford to buy it, and it would last forever if you didn't live in a rust prone area!*
Back in those days rear bumpers were optional on just about every pickup truck.
Exactly. I remember my dad looking at the bumper display at the dealer, for which one they would install on his new Chevy truck. And if he wanted, he could have ordered one from JC Whitney to install himself.
Today, we employ bumpers to protect more valuable components in an accident. But since tailgates and tail lights were simple to replace back then, bumpers had nothing worth protecting. If you got into a minor accident in the rear, you just went to a junkyard and replaced parts for less than the cost of a new bumper. That or you just just hammered out whatever got tweaked. For most truck guys from yore, the bumper was more of a finishing aesthetic piece. You didn't care about damage to the truck.
@@AkioWasRight Seems like they knew best back then. Build it simple, inexpensive, easy to repair, and affordable to buy. Somehow those of us that were buying those cars survived perfectly without all the extra safety junk.
My uncle was killed in one of these when someone ran a red light and crumpled him.
The rest of us are still here though, so it can’t be all bad.
Many dealers would engrave the dealer name and phone # into the rear bumper.
I like the interior of the old Nissan. The new one looks like Matchbox (not as bad as other Brands and models but still).
Nice look-back video. The first car I ever really drove was my grandfather's 1974 Ford Courier, when I was 14. He bought a series of trucks to tow behind a motorhome and use around a remote forest cabin - and I drove all of them some. He had roughly a 1974 Courier, 1978 Courier, 1981 Tacoma, and 1984 Ford Ranger. Now a couple weeks ago I bought a 2024 Ranger; sort of "completing the circle" 50 years later.
One of my high school classmates had a King Cab version of this exact truck. Manual transmission though. Worked fine.
I had a 1986 Nissan hardbody with a 5 speed manual transmission and i loved that truck. It was my first vehicle.
Real Nissan, no crappy Renault engineering.
Many frontiers from 2008 all the way to 2014 have 300k - 500k miles on them I personally had a 2014 with 131,000 miles on it and there’s been nothing replaced on it besides fluids and batteries which is just regular maintenance.
@jeanclaude7018 oh I also forgot to mention that I have a 2023 Tacoma, the single only thing that Tacoma has better is the ride quality everything else just straight bad. for example rusty frames, shitty transmission, no power, no torque, flimsy plastic bed, horrible sound system same plastic interior I can go on, but apparently all that doesn’t matter and nobody wants to talk about that because it’s all about the logo.
@ the transmission on the Tacoma is geared a lot towards fuel economy, and the truck is relatively heavy so therefore the transmission has a hard time holding fifth and six gear so it just starts jumping around all over the place, making it not very pleasant to drive. I think Toyota could’ve geared it a little bit better to where it wouldn’t do that.
When I was a freshman in high school (88-89), my boss at my summer landscaping job drove a Datsun badged truck in those exact colors with a manual transmission, complete with an 8 ball modified to screw onto the shifter.
That’s great just like my first Nissan truck 5 speed manual transmission didn’t come with radio you put your own in. Just like my mom and dad’s 1983 Mazda 626 manual transmission didn’t come with radio at all but you got cruise control, and AC and power windows. All cars came with no radio that was your option back then until 2002 when they start putting them all in the vehicles, but people were still changing them out. As a matter of fact, a lot of people are looking for the old style vehicles. They are hot demand right now the ones in the 70s ,80s and 90s.
My father bought a brand new 1984 version of this truck with the SD25 Diesel engine in it. It was the first vehicle I drove when I was learning how to drive. For the time it was a higher spec'ed model as it was a King Cab with the 2 jump seats behind the front seats, the front seats had head rests built into them, and I seem to remember they were bucket seats as opposed to the bench in this model. It didn't have 4WD or the top radio (was an AM radio with one speaker on the driver's side) but thankfully had the 5-speed manual.
It was the slowest vehicle I've ever driven and I've driven a Hyundai Pony with the 1.4 engine and a Pontiac Firefly with a 3 cylinder engine and and automatic. If you started up a hill from a stop it struggled to get to 80kph and that was holding it in 3rd gear. If all you ever had to do was drive it in urban traffic where you never had to get over that speed it wasn't that bad. Beyond 80kph it had a hard time maintaining speed on any sort of grade.
The biggest issue with those trucks was the rust, the box rusted out after only a few years and the rest of the cab followed soon after. That engine though provided you had a decent battery would start right up no problems at all. Would have made a fantastic woods truck if I had somewhere to use it for that purpose.
And unlike modern diesels this one was loud, it shook the truck at idle, if you revved it out at all it sounded like it was going to blow up and on cold starts it rolled to coal for a good few minutes until it warmed up!
I’d buy a new 720 in a heartbeat build it
Damn right. Simple truck all I need
I miss my first new 1991 Nissan pickup. 30mpg just no power when going from Oklahoma to Colorado mountains. With the camper shell it was as they say now my first over-landing vehicle.
Had 3 more in the 1990s but the first one seemed to be the best one.
After 1997 they got to expensive and the mpg sucked.
We had a JDM 720 double cab until 2001. It was diesel powered by the SD22 engine. Ours had factory AC, and a rear chrome bumper. The tail gate however didn't have a handle like that, it had the older catch loop lever style handle on either side. It's still running to this day, as I see it in my village every now and then. It also had the three spoke sports steering wheel. I believe the trim was SGL.
No diesels in UssA,
No 4doors either….
Thx epa, goobermint 😢
Lots of 2 wheel drive trucks around in the 90s here in Wisconsin. Guys would just throw sand bags in the bed in the winter. Trucks were used for truck things, not driving to walmart or mall crawling.
I like the Zcar in the rear view
Yeah, it was a parade of Nissans for the whole drive of the classic truck. Almost like a Secret Service escort 😄For the new one? Zero effs given, go nuts with your little TH-cam review.
Simplicity, I love it
The only “luxury” feature on the ‘83 is the automatic transmission.
Few people buying that truck would have opted for the automatic, most of them were sold in the USA with the manual transmission.
@@horseathalt7308 I know I would prefer a manual in this case. Especially if you’re hauling a load in that bed.
@@horseathalt7308 I was surprised that the first one was an automatic.
@@lrich8181 Me too. My guess is that the reason they only provided the auto box is because bringing out the manual would bring up more questions about why there are no manual Frontiers available today.
I'm sure they have the manual twin version stored somewhere.
Actually this truck isn't base which had colored vinyl floor, argent steel wheels, no trim rings, blackwall tires, and manual transmission, plus long bed This is the nicer trim level.
In the mid 80s I drove a few of those small Japan brand pickups. All were company trucks with no radio, no AC, stick shift, never had any problems ... just kept on truckin’. We put sandbags in the box for winter driving ... when roads became slick simply push the sandbags to the back. Those old pickups are EASY to maintain and repair.
Gorgeous original 83! Datsun & Toyotas were fantastic!
That truck is awesome
My Dad bought a new 1985 King Cab Deluxe long bed 2WD automatic as his first vehicle purchase once he moved Stateside and drove it for 25 years . Light blue with that all-blue interior right down to the dash faux wood veneer. Grew up riding in that truck. Served us well until it had to be retired. If I ever come across a decent condition 720 King Cab in the same color and spec my Dad had, I’d snap it up and restore it.
Need to take a look at that Pathfinder as well
Everybody is drooling over this, but back in those days most regular Americans still hated “rice burners”. It took a long time for the Japanese makes to become widely accepted.
I think wen gas hit around $1.80 a gallon around 2004-5 ...sum people started buying gas sippers
@ More people gradually warmed up to them, until 70’s-early 80’s they couldn’t stand them. Mostly due to unions, I guess.
The public has been asking for a similar sized truck for a couple years. Current D41 is too long for my garage so I’m staying with my D40 frontier
Truck have gotten porky (big & heavy) while the bed and payload have suffered.
My brother and I used to drive a 1988 Nissan Pathfinder. It had two doors and a tire carrier also had a button to stiffen the shocks. See if you guys can find one of those to review!
My 1991 2.7TD Terrano Wagon JDM import had those shocks wear out about 2003.
The cost then ex Japan was $800 each!
Replaced with good Monroe 4wd normal single tube hydraulic shocks @ $150 a pair....
hey, growing up, my family had till 91. was a 1983 nissan, kingcab 4x4 softbody,
2.4 4x4 kingcab, red was a show truck, great truck from the 80s. i learned to drive stick driving this also learning to drive 4x4,
little hack cup holder try was the glove box drawer that flap is the where the radio would go.
the lower center console was the where gauges would be optional.
the blanks on the dash was also for tac. and other gauges that could be spec.
my friend had a 86 softbody with 2.0 auto ye 2.0 they put 2.0 in the 4x2 but then 2.4 in the 4x4 due to the tires sizes and extra weight to the truck.
Seeing that old Nissan really brings me back to when I was a just a kid and into though my teens. I didn't own a Nissan but I did own a 1988 Ford Ranger Custom with a 4 speed manual and overdrive which i guess it was kind of a 5 speed. My father bought it new in 1988 and when I turned 16 and got my license in 1994 the truck gradually went to me. I loved that truck and drove it daily till around 2000 or 2001. It had a 2.9 V6 which was kind of rare in a 2 wheel drive Ranger because most of the 2 wheel drives usually only had the 4 cylinder. The 2.9 V6 usually only came in the 4x4 Ranger and the Bronco 2s. It was a tough truck the motor had over 500,000 km's and the only reason I parked it because the body was rusting out quick than i could fix it. I live in Atlantic Canada so the winter's killed it because of all the salt they load on the roads every year. Great video and thanks for the flash back of simpler times. Cheers
I'd buy one like that in a heartbeat! But with a 5 speed.
That's how most of those trucks were sold back in 1983, very few people buying back then bought the auto box. I know because I was a teenager just starting to drive and I remember these being sold brand new and most on the lots were manual.
Back in the 80s, dads didn't have to hang out with the family except for vacation, church, holidays, and graduation. They could drive their truck to work, go fishing, and hang out at cheers to watch the game all in their non family truck.😂
Those were the days
That's back when men had clearly defined roles to play in society.
@@AkioWasRight We still do, you need to stop listening to the usual suspects, and their radical cccooommmuuunniiissttt dogma. lol
I'm still driving a 2012 regular cab Tacoma. I love regular cabs, and as someone without kids I see no reason a man's vehicle should have 4 doors. And the best thing is I can sleep in the back (the only case where being shorter than 6'1" is a good thing).
That was back when you could drink all afternoon, then drive home without worrying about losing your license. Police need to stop harassing hard working men and start going after criminals instead.
Awesome! I have an '82 Toyota 2wd and it's a great daily driver a lot of the year. I love the low, 7.5 foot bed--I can bring home a load of dirt and reach over the side of the bed to shovel it out. Even for newer 2wd trucks, the beds are so deep you can't possibly do that. I liked your phone test where you couldn't possibly reach anything in the bed and I'm pretty sure I'm shorter than you guys.
I always think its funny when a journalist says there is no market for a no frills truck at an affordable price. Meanwhile the affordable Maverick which is pretending to be a truck is selling like hot cakes.
They preserved that truck really well!
The first truck I drove when I was 10 was a Datsun King Cab, equipped with the slowest but strongest little diesel engine.
Those engines were literally
A Mercury boat engine 😊,
Had one 4 a demo,
Filled up in Messco for 15 cents
Per gallon,😮 handed the young fellow
A $5 bill for fill up, and told him to keep the change,
Drove to San Diego, and back to AZ.😎
I owned a 1981 Datsun King Cab with the 2.2 liter diesel and 5-speed manual. Good little truck. I understood that SD22 engine was also used in forklifts.
Man that 84 is fantastic! If they made that today I'd buy one tomorrow. Love love love the colored interior! Most pickups back then came without rear bumper. Several different styles available from the dealer.
Memories: went motocross racing in my buddy's (I think, '74 620), enough room for two passengers and three motocross bikes in the back. Did some racing in '75 and '76; good times and memories, for sure. I, personally, had a '95 S-10, and lament the loss of a proper sized pickup (at least for me).
My dad still has his Datsun by Nissan 720 MVP 4x4. It still has the original blue paint with some striped design on the side. It came from the factory with a lift kit, roll bars, and off road bumpers.
I learned how to drive manual transmission in that truck
You know what was so cool about those little compact trucks from the 80s? Regular people could afford them. I had a friend in high school who worked at a McDonalds after school and weekends. He was so proud of himself that he bought a no-frills Toyota pickup with his own money.
A truck back then was a working truck todays trucks are suv's with a bed no one uses if you had a 4x4 back then it would look the same inside but without carpet just wash it out with a hose
This was a time when anybody could afford brand new trucks 😅
Bingo. The 1983 was everything MOST people needed in a basic pick up truck, and you could actually afford to buy it in cash and still pay for all your other bills.
USA has become a third world country today. Only the rich live well.
Yea I bought a brand new s10 in 88 for 9k lol
Bingo PAL 😊
Look at how easily you can reach into that bed
@@volvo09 Exactly, if you are working with that truck you don't want to waste time having to go around and dropping the gate each time to get materials out. Modern pick up trucks are not really used for work anymore most of the time.
My mom bought a 1981 Datsun 720. Such an awesome truck. They slowly transitioned the trucks from Datsun to Nissan. The biggest change is what was said on the tailgate
Fantastic vid, gentlemen! My D21 was still one of my all time favorite trucks that I've owned and would be overjoyed if we could get back to small trucks like that again. I really enjoyed seeing the comparisons here and would have loved to see you boys do another road trip in this truck like you did that other old car that you went to california in.
I'm also furious that we didn't get to see more of that pathfinder that was in this vid twice. I was on the parking level and then in front of you when you were driving
I had a ‘79 620 same colors back in the day. Awesome truck, punched way above its weight. Pulled a boat, lots of loads of seed and fertilizer. Would love to have one like it.
My Grandpa owned a 1986 Nissan Datsun similar blue colour to that one, what a gorgeous vehicle...
I had one of those original Nissan Datsun trucks. Mine was baby blue and I think the interior was close to the one you were driving. I loved that truck, it was the first one I bought for myself without my parents help. It was a 4 speed manual. I ended up trading it for a hard body Pathfinder 4X4 (original version 1) with hand cranked windows and a 4 speed manual. I hated it. The transfer case would pop out of gear when I was stuck an it was a roll over hazard. It was a good camping truck. I think they call it overlanding now.
We bought a 1985 Nissan 720 short bed. It was even more basic then the truck in this video. It had rubber floor covering instead of carpeting. It didn’t have armrests on the doors, they were pull straps. It didn’t have a rear bumper either. It did have a AM/FM radio in it. We also had A/C added at the dealership. Out the door, I think that truck was around $6k. We kept it for 13+ years. It was pretty “well worn” and beat up and rusty by the time we sold it, but it did everything I asked of it.
I had the exact 720. 1984. And now I have the exact 2025 Pro4X in Red Alert! Thanks so much!
One thing to be aware about that smooth, carlike ride: although durable and long-lasting, these were LIGHT-duty trucklets. My dad had a “king Cab” and made the mistake of trying to tow a medium-sized tent trailer with it. At anything over 50mph in a crosswind, the trailer would start to drive the truck, and could send it into frightening oscillations!
I had a 1986.5 Nissan King Cab E that I bought new when the Hardbody models first came out, I just sold it only a few years ago and everything still worked, had been the spare family truck for quite a while. I bought it new for $9500 and got the dealer to throw in the optional factory rear bumper, and the jump seats which it didn't come with being a base trim. It was a great basic truck for sure
Very cool how they kept this in their inventory. Almost as if they predicted the importance of it back then.
This one in 4x4 was very nice.
That 2 door Pathfinder in the back would be nice to watch a video on too.
My grandfather had a 1982 Datsun identical to that one - including the blue interior! Sadly, it was a total loss after a crash he had a few years after buying it. He wasn't injured, but really regretted having to sell it for parts.
My dad had an 85 with a radio and slightly redesigned bed. In like a tan color. He used it to drive long distance back and forth to work
Omg.... I LOVED my super cab 4x4! I junked it still running perfectly ,,, 4x4 and even the A/C........but rusted completely out in 2005!!
Those engines are amazing and run well over 200,000 miles.
Back in January 1984, I bought my first new car: a Nissan Stanza. It only took a few months before my wife took the Stanza and "let" me have her 1980 Mercury Capri (because the A/C stopped working). In June of '84, I traded the Capri for a 1984 Nissan 720 pickup that was a carbon copy of this truck (white with blue interior) except mine was a short bed with a 5 speed manual and had vinyl floors (no carpet). The only option on my truck was A/C (pretty much a necessity in Mobile, AL!) and it was stickered at $7200. My first addition to the Nissan was a cheap stereo and speakers (and an antenna!) I drove it for over 13 years and missed it terribly after I traded it in on a Mitsubishi Expo. Six years later, I traded the Expo in on a 2003 Dodge Ram 150 and enjoyed having a truck again.
i love the old truck
The type of truck I would love to get brand new. I do like the Frontier, but a cheap and simple truck that doesn’t take up a lot of room, would be great to have.
It is old versus even older
Wrong, @4:00 you said it was a single wall bed… @4:20 you can see it is a double wall bed. Also, I had a 1984 blue version of one of these, it was my first truck. I LOVED it, it ran great and was very durable and useful having just bought a house. I always thought the styling was great. In fact I’ve been looking for one many years that I could buy and fix up!
I drove a Datsun 620 with a fibreglass canopy with all my restaurant spare parts and tools in 1978 when I worked for Russell Food Equipment, it was the 4 speed version and was a very handy service vehicle in getting into tight back alleys to access city restaurants in Edmonton Alberta. It was great year round even in the very cold Edmonton winters of -35Deg.C.
I love the 720! My Grandaddy had a 1983.5, the first Nissan branded vehicle in the Columbus, Ga - Chattahoochee Valley area. He drove that thing every day for 20+ years. It was crap brown with a yellow camper shell. Not very pretty but I sure loved riding with him in it.
I worked for a dealer in that era and all accessories either came in a box for transit, or were through the dealer's parts department. That truck could be had with a pair of those mirrors (optional) or the single one you showed. Bigger ones were also available. Radio went in that storage hole, center of the dash. (AM / FM / Stereo / Cassette options) AC was available (factory package) and that came with a different set of controls plus some vents / ducts. If the installer was good you couldn't tell it from factory. In that era we had a steep import tax on complete vehicles so many were shipped "plain Jane" and even the bed was installed after reaching the USA. Those parts had a different tax base. Some of this carried over to US assembled vehicles because of the diverse customer taste. People in the greater NYC area wanted every option and 150 miles away in the hills they wanted a base truck... maybe with 4WD. The USA market is completely different and larger than the market in Japan. The easy way to tell a US from a Japanese truck was ours had Sylvania headlamps plus US made tires (Bridgestone?) and battery. The imported units had Toyo tires and Panasonic battery. Bottom line is that basic truck is about the company legacy to the working man with basic taste and a budget.... in the country of origin. BTW, the 620 trucks (circa 1979) and earlier units were built for smaller people and most Americans complained the seats / leg room wasn't enough. If you go back to the 60s vintage trucks an average guy over 5ft 8in had to squeeze in there.
18:15 Claim by Case is clearly incorrect. The overwhelming majority of these rusted back into the dirt. They are _not_ still around. That's what makes the one you guys drove so special...
Not true in the Southwest. No rust to speak of there.
Read the comments...I counted at least 5 still being driven...a couple by their original owners!
Hey guys, that engine series with the two spark plugs per cylinder was referred to as " the NapZ engine'! Nissan offered that similar engine in a few of their cars in the early 80's. Keep up the good work guys!!
I love the look of those 80’s truck, and I absolutely love the hooks on the bed. I have an 85 s15 that is still in good shape. I just need to fix the ac and touch up the paint. Lots of heads turn when I pass by in this little 4x4 beast lol
I bought an 81 720 regular cab with just over 2000 miles. Great little truck.
Please preserve it
This truck was once a favorite of the kids in the hood in LA. We would drop the hell out of em with deep dish rims with speaker boxes in the back the size of dog houses. One could hear a Nissan truck coming blocks away. Dudes even put hydraulics in the bed where the whole bed would lift out and dance. Those were the days.
Great video…… love the old/new Datsun/Nissan pickup! I had an ‘83 Chevy S-10 pickup, back in 1983. It was gutless at 110 hp 😅. It was a manual 5 speed. What I loved also about your video was No Traffic 😁! I’m in SoCal near Disneyland. I’ve gotta drive 50+ miles to find a road with no traffic 😳😂!
Keep your great videos coming!!
Nice to see you guys driving around my hometown. The railroad tracks you went over are about two miles from where I grew up. I still ride my motorcycle around that area. Hope you enjoyed the Trace and got a chance to stop in Liepers Fork. The Nissan HQ is about a mile away from my office.
When they built the Nissan plant in Smyrna, TN I was in elementary school. We took a field trip to watch them build trucks like that white one. When I was in high school, the Saturn plant opened up not far from where you were driving in Spring Hill, TN. Needless to say, all the GM families that moved into my neighborhood had some really cool cars. The road you turned off of to get on Coleman road is Columbia Avenue. One of my GM transplant friends and I were in his Firebird Formula 350 and put it in the ditch just down from where you turned at a funky intersection. :)
I knew a guy who has on old datsun nissan truck and he got the biggest kick out of having the N, I, and N scratched out with the SSA painted.
I bought a 1985 Nissan truck basic-5speed stick-no rear bumper-no radio.Price $5995 but they put body stripes and low profile wheels and tires that added $2000- to the sticker..Nissan trucks were the smoothest riding trucks because of fully boxed ladder style frame. Toyota trucks and Ford Rangers frames were only boxed in the front
That old truck rode nice because it has NORMAL tires on it and not stupid sport rims with low profile hard riding tires. Also, the good ole days of chrome bumpers, chrome trim rings on normal steel rims and whitewalls was a great look
I had a Dotson and I had a Nissan, the Nissan was a 1991 model I believe I bought it in Colorado used drove it to years there, moved to Texas drove it a year, moved into Florida drove it until my son turned 16 and it was his first truck he had it a year or so and then decided he wanted a Toyota forerunner and he always regretted getting rid of the truck because it was a tank! He had air conditioning high speed not much more and it was a great little truck and it was a king cab. I didn’t really want to give it to my son but it was a great starter vehicle for him for sure but we both regret getting rid of it out of the family.
Really like the Z24. Tough, reliable engine. 1983/84 had the amber taillights.
I had an 87 Corolla FX. It was definitely more refined but very basic. 5 spd, bucket seats, A/C, digital radio w/cassette and fold down backseat. Everything i needed at 20. Great car, fuel injection would of been nice.
I love watching the Videos on the old Nissan my dad had that when I was a kid only his was the extended cab with the jump seats in the back and a crome rear bumper, he added the aftermarket Nissan AmFM radio too went right were the little flip door is on yours. Boy did we put that truck to its paces though it surviced alot bought new in 84 and sold in 99 or 2000
Great Video! Really cool getting to see a time capsule super low mileage vehicle like this.
Pretty cool to see old truck like this maintained and driven. I will say... I think I liked that old Pathfinder you were following lol.
I sat in that old nissan years ago. Nissan keeps its car collection at the lane motor museum in nashville tn. Nissan north America has its headquarters in Franklin/Brentwood part of nashville.
I had a 1985 720 4X4 for 30 years and wish I had never gotten rid of it. The original motor went 307,000 miles and my only complaints would be that the sheet metal was pretty thin and the door cards were basically vinyl covered cardboard.
80's mini trucks are just cool!!!
I bought a new 1984 Nissan truck like this one except even more bare bones being a 5 speed manual transmission. It was about $5900. Mine was tan in color. You get what you pay for, including the bench seat deteriorating from day one with chunks of foam appearing on the floor under the seat. At around 40,000 miles and just out of warranty it developed electrical problems. The engine would sometimes shut itself off when I was driving down the road and wouldn’t restart for about 5 minutes. The dealer never could figure out why it did that as it wouldn’t happen at the dealership. Mine did come with a left side mirror, but the door began rusting out where the mirror was mounted when the truck was only 4 years old in Southern California (not the rust belt area). I had to add a radio, but I never had air conditioning. When the radio was installed it went into a hole that was covered by a piece of plastic that said Nissan on it. Under that was another identical piece of plastic that said Datsun on it. The only thing I liked about that truck was that it got almost 30 miles per gallon. I sold it to my cousin in 1988 and he wrecked it shortly afterwards.