(first posted 7/9/2015) Datsun 120Y. Sunny. B210. Whatever you called it, whatever market it was sold in, this quirkily-styled subcompact was regarded as being reliable and dependable, if unexciting. In the UK, the 120Y helped put Japanese automakers on many buyer’s shopping lists during a decade where domestic automakers’ build quality was at an all-time low. In North America, the B210 helped cement Datsun as part of a powerful triad of Japanese automakers. Finally, in Australia, the 120Y was a strong seller but with time it has become an object of ridicule. All in all, over 2 million of these little Datsuns were sold in dozens of markets over five years.
The little Datsun was significant in helping familiarize Westerners with well-built and reliable Japanese cars. It may not have been a pioneer or the best car to come out of Japan, but it was a solid citizen that helped bring Datsun (and Japan’s automotive industry) into the mainstream.
The little Datsun was an utterly conservative compact in the vein of the Corolla. It was rear-wheel-drive, with MacPherson struts up front and a live rear axle with leaf springs at the rear. Brakes were discs up front and drums out back, and lacked power assist.
After a period of sometimes blatant adoration of European design, Datsun took bold steps in defining its own design language. While the sedan is dainty and somewhat cute, the hatchback coupe was harder to love with its severely raked roofline and odd detailing. The wagon, in comparison, was quite conservative.
The 120Y looked like nothing else and Datsun happily embraced the 1970s trend towards avocado green and burnt orange paint colors. Datsun also didn’t introduce the first 200SX or F10 to Australia, so the 120Y became a design whipping boy. Of course, journalists may have scoffed years later, but the 120Y’s quirky styling certainly didn’t hinder Aussie sales. Nor did the plasticky interior, as it was very well screwed together.
The 120Y’s predecessor, the 1200, was an enthusiast favorite and a critical darling. 1200 utes, for example, remain one of Australia’s most cherished classic cars and are a common sight. The 1200, thus, was always going to be a tough act to follow.
The 120Y was safer and more comfortable than its predecessor, being 5 inches longer and 2 inches wider, but it was slow. American automotive journalists were critical of the US-market B210’s 1288cc and 1397cc four-cylinder engines’ performance, but Americans were lucky. The Australian market received only an 1171cc engine with 70 hp and 70 ft-lbs of torque, although the 120Y’s bumpers were of course much lighter than the American-spec units.
Perhaps the lack of power wasn’t so bad considering the little Datsun’s ride and handling were hardly exceptional. Under its challenging sheetmetal, it was little changed from its predecessor but it was almost 200lbs heavier. An unsettled ride and feel-free steering meant it wasn’t extremely fun-to-drive, but it started every morning and bits and pieces didn’t fall off with regularity. We take that for granted these days, but in an era of cars like the Morris Marina and Chevrolet Vega, those were some pretty strong attributes in an economy car.
The B210’s performance and challenging styling wasn’t enough to dampen enthusiasm in the North American market. Arriving around the same time as the fuel crisis, the B210 proved to be a hot commodity in a market thirsty for small, efficient vehicles that weren’t thirsty. Datsun pushed the B210 heavily, running its “Datsun Saves” advertising campaign that highlighted the car’s excellent fuel economy.
Because of Australia’s generally quite dry climate and absence of snow, older Japanese cars are still to be found with some frequency and with little rust. A high school friend drove a bright yellow 200B (aka 810) wagon, which certainly stood out in a parking lot full of Corollas and 323s. The 120Y remains pretty well-remembered, despite the nameplate being retired after one generation (its successor was renamed Sunny). Amusingly, one of my brother’s high school text books featured multiple 120Y-related math problems like, generally involving car loans with compound interest and a woman named Sally who bought a 120Y. This was in the 1990s, mind you.
The 120Y/B210/Sunny was an important car for Datsun, in that it offered a well-built and reliable option for economy car shoppers in dozens of markets around the world.
But most people just remember it because it was ugly.
I’ve had just about every brand of Japanese import except for Nissan/Datsun. There was something about them that never appealed to me, not even as a second-tier Japanese car. They seemed like a third-tier, behind even Mazda and Mitsubishi, the equivalent of Hyundai and Kia before they hit US shores. To this day, Nissan is still one of the primary brands people with poor credit turn to when they want a new car.
I had a ’74 Datsun 710, the next model up, whereas these 210s were very common, the 710 was almost invisible, being between the 210 and the 610 large model.
It seems back then (and even now, my sister owns a ’97 240SX she bought new) we were a Nissan (Datsun) family, said sister previously owned a 1990 Toyota Tercel, but that’s the only Toyota in our family. Back in ’76, my Dad looked at the then new F10, wanting a FWD car (we lived in Vermont back then, so winter traction was a big deal) but there wasn’t too much to pick from. VW had the Dasher and the Golf, but both were really pricey; my Dad didn’t care for the F10, not due to its (pretty much panned) looks, but he was put off by an air vent on the hood…to him, an engineer, it looked like a cobbled together engineering change, maybe to help with cooling, but it put him off such that he bought a new Subaru DL instead. Back then Subaru maybe had one AWD wagon, this was before the BRAT came out, the rest were FWD. Still, he didn’t want or afford a Jeep or a 4WD truck, which were about the extent of the choices beyond FWD. We had a RWD station wagon which was OK, but it was also heavier, and took a lot of fuel to run, so the Subaru was it. I had a Fiat 128, but it was not very rust resistant, so my Dad never considered a Fiat, a Saab would have been too much money. Anyway, eventually my 2 youngest sisters owned qty-4 200 or 240SX models (one still owns it as I mentioned) so Datsun/Nissan was the most popular Japanese car in our family.
Back to the 210, when we moved back to Vermont, from Virginia, the people who bought our house had a 210, as I mentioned, they were very popular, and of course Virginia gets a fraction of the snow we got in Vermont, so traction isn’t as big a deal. Of course the transition to FWD was well underway, such that by the mid 80’s, it was starting to get hard to find a RWD car as many of them had been discontinued by then, There were a few models that persisted with RWD, the Datsun 510 that came after my 710 was RWD as was the successor to the B210, but I think the next generations in ’83 or ’84 were FWD. My sister’s 200 and 240SX were all RWD, but they were gone after 1998…everyone seems to want to buy my sister’s car (unfortunately it is an automatic) since the 240SX has become pretty scarce, and lots of people still prefer RWD coupes….good thing we now live in the sunbelt. Only thing for her is that she’s getting older (as we all are) and the 240SX is a pretty low car to get in and out of, great for when she was 20, but not so much in her 50’s. My car isn’t too high, but I really feel like I’m squatting down when I get in and out of her car the few times she drives me somewhere.
When we 1st got our 4 door in 1974, I did not like it. Thought it hideous. Dad should have bought yhe used Capri on the lot.
As the years went and I learned about cars and engines and cams and carbs,it just grew into a beauty. Dropped about 2 inches on 6 x 13s. It is a knockout. I scrapped my own in 2022. Heartbreaking. My fleet now has a 90 Z32 tt, 99 Aristo now single and a 2000 S2000 replacing my 120y. Here is a pic of a recently redone one in Trinidad. Guy also has a 60s Corsair with a Ford v8 for drags..9sec I think.