The number of Datsun 710 wagons in this town is actually growing! This addition to our streets makes the fifth one that is still being driven regularly. I posted about number four here, and the full 710 CC is here. And I rather liked how this one is parked next to another RWD Nissan. Is the Infiniti G35/37 the spiritual heir to the legendary Datsun 510/610/710 family?
I’d like to think that some G buyers once owned a 510 or such. The Gs brought back the formula that made the original 510 such an icon, in a more grown-up format. One that Nissan foolishly abandoned for way too long, handing it over to BMW and such. But the G has done a credible job of reclaiming it, even if it seems to not be quite in the limelight thta it enjoyed when it first appeared.
Now if only a 710 sedan or coupe would appear. But then wagons are cool, and unfortunately, there’s no G-wagon. Come on Nissan; these 710 owners can’t keep driving these forever.
When was the last time we saw a Nissan wagon, now that I think of it? Unless I’m forgetting something, there hasn’t been a legitimate Nissan wagon since the 80’s, when they could be found on the squared-off Sentras and Maximas, plus the Stanza “tall wagon”. I think the wagon was dropped in the subsequent generation of each, and there’s never been an Altima wagon (nor Versa though the 5-door hatch has a very upright profile).
Not sure if the Cube counts.
The Altima has the potential for a great looking wagon. Build it on a 370Z chassis for RWD.
A RWD G wagon on the 370Z chassis? I love my EX35!
I _love_ the Rising Sun Tailgate ! .
I made a similar graphic for the Vintage Japanese Motocycle Club of Los Angeles .
I used to have a 1978 PL620 Datsun Pickup Truck , I put Datsun 710 full size wheel covers on it and still have the prefect spare one hanging in my laudry room .
I should prolly toss it in the scrap bin but it’s *so* late 70’s kitsch .
-Nate
There’s a website called Japanese Nostalgic Car that is dedicated to vintage, older cars from the Land of the Rising Sun.
http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/
Both in and outside of Japan.
Chris M.
The Infiniti G20 was available in other markets as a station wagon and a sedan-hatchback for a few generations. I wouldn’t be surprised if the 2000 and up Sentra wasn’t also available as a wagon.
Of the Nissan (Datsun) wagons from this period, I would want a 610 or 810 wagon, although the 810 now strikes me as a bit stodgy. The 710? Like the odd numbered Star Trek movies…out shown by it’s even numbered “siblings”.
That G37 looks especially sinister in the first shot. I did initially consider one last time I was car shopping, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the interior design, and late-model pre-owned ones were still quite pricey at the time. I still like the car, but they’re really common in my neck of the woods. I like the exclusivity of the TSX, which isn’t as common.
I find the Datsuns of the 70s to be crap. While they were quality cars mechanically, their bodies rust like there’s no tomorrow.
And if you live where there’s no rust, they seemed to hang around forever.
I never thought of the G-series as being a successor to the likes of the 510, and still don’t, really, but the BMW analogy lends some weight to idea, since the 2002 and E21 cars weren’t explicitly luxurious themselves (but have since morphed into very different machines).
I suppose the perspective of several extra decades might change one’s view, but to me, keenly aware of the car’s shared architecture with the Z-car and shared lineage with the Skyline (though it’s not much of a successor to the Skyline cars, either, since the V35 chassis really meant a reimagination of the Skyline itself), the G35/G37 is a successor to many other high-end Nissans, including the J30 (which shared a lot mechanically with the Z32 300ZX) and the J30 Maxima (which was a solid entry-lux contender).
On the other hand, the Maxima was an offshoot of the Bluebird which is what the 510 was, and the G35/G37’s name itself suggests it’s a successor the G20 (which replaced the Bluebird in Europe), so a case can be made for the G35/G37 as a 510 successor. Both have been uncommonly excellent driver’s cars.
Such a shame the current Q50 replacement has proven so disappointing. Steer-by-wire? Why? A Mercedes four-cyl (set to come online in the next year or so) when Nissan’s expertise could make for a good turbo-four on its own? Why? And why can’t Nissan take some of the GT-R’s magic out of its ghastly looking shell and create a high-performance G37 variant? Nissan is terribly inconsistent.
I’ve often thought Nissan is inconsistent to the point of being bipolar.
Looks great without the bumpers. Love the yellow lensware and the faded paint. Not a shape I’m a big fan of but this one really works. Could see myself owning it.
Yes, Datsun got so caught out in the US with the mandatory big bumpers, just as their product line went from squared off (1200, 510) to swoopy. The 620 pickup, which never had to adopt the big bumpers in the US, is a classic. I sometimes wonder if the later 1970s Datsuns (280Z, B-210, 610, 710, 200SX) would have been more widely appreciated, if they had been able to use the Japanese Domestic Market smaller bumpers, which complemented the styling, rather than wrecking it, as the big bumpers did in the US.
Perry Shoar:
What’s really crazy is that Nissan/Infiniti has included a redundant mechanical steering system into the Q’s drive by wire setup. It looks like the idea was to sort of leap frog BMW’s switch to the electric steering system used in many (most?) new BMWs.
BTW, a recent Car&Driver test of hydraulic versus electrically assisted steering showed most drivers could NOT detect a difference in feel/performance.
It’s not electrically assisted, it’s electrically powered with a mechanical back-up as you mentioned. There’s basically no way to feel what the wheels are up to. Electrical steering assist is bad enough–and I’ve noticed the difference in most cars I’ve driven (at least at lower speeds), but this is just depressing.
Meanwhile, Cadillac (ATS) and Mazda (MX5) have figured out how to make electric steering assist work by placing the assist motor off of the rack and the column and connecting it to the steering shaft with a belt, ensuring that the driver is aware of what the wheels are up to before the motor fully assumes assist duties.
That’s the kind of minor innovation one could reasonably hope for, but instead Nissan blows a bunch of R&D money on this nonsense (and why? there are self-parking cars with “traditional” electric power assisted steering, so I don’t see the utility of this system). Surely that money could’ve gone toward making the likes of the Sentra or Altima less mediocre or at the very least, been saved, making the Q50 a cheaper car to have developed.
What is the point of electric power steering kicking in any boost at all above, say, 25 mph? It’s not like a hydraulic setup where if there’s no boost you end up fighting the pump’s drag.
I’m glad to see the number of the Datsun 710’s are growing in popularity, I’ve always liked the 710’s a lot and I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen one, I remember an old family friend had a ’75 Datsun 710 2 door with a stick shift (4 speed I believe) sometime back in the early 90’s, for some odd reason I always liked the mid 70’s Datsun 710’s over the early 70’s Datsun 510’s.
Shame on you! Datsun built 510s. Oh, and some others too. I think. I’ve owned 510s for decades now however there have been other Nissan/Datsuns that I have owned as well as in the family including two 710s. Neither 710 had a long roof though. One was a ’74 coupe with the small bumpers. The coupe had a lower roof line than the hard top or the wagon and was sometimes mistaken for a Javelin from a distance. In the dark. In profile. Yeah, you’ll have to squint a bit and it helps to not be so much of a car guy. The next one was a ’75 two door sedan. Both were solid and very reliable. The ’75 unfortunately had the large bumpers. Painted black they were not as “in your face” as shiny chrome but still didn’t do the design any favours.
I still have a bunch of 710 parts kicking around. Parts that don’t fit on a 510 that is. Both of those 710s have a long and unfortunate history. I find myself longing for another one every so often.
I had a ’74 710 4 door sedan up until 1981, when I hit some black ice driving to my parent’s house up 89 just past White River Junction, and my front bumper wrapped around that cable type guardrail and pushed in a fender pretty good on one side…fortunately it didn’t hit on the battery side, so I limped it to my parents house…I had the damage fixed, but fell under the spell of “front wheel drive” which was becoming popular at that time and sold the 710 and bought my first of several VWs (the Datsun was the last VW I was to own, continuing up to the present day)…I figured I needed something with better traction, and the 710 was pretty light on its drive wheels. On the positive side, the car got me thru my undergraduate studies, despite being parked outside, it only failed to start the week of the blizzard of `78. Also had to tell my sister to put the car in neutral while driving it until it warmed up in slippery weather at stop lights, otherwise the rear end would try to keep going and slide out due to the front brakes being engaged (it was an automatic). My only car with a white vinyl interior, with brown? carpeting, it was starting to seriously rust despite having been treated with Rusty Jones.
Salvador Dali’s 610.
When was the last time you saw ANY wagon? For those of us who don’t want a truck no SUV will cut it!