It’s early October and over here, in Central America, rainy season is approaching its end. The time of the year when the last remaining corn crops are harvested and the grains are put to dry for storage. With that reality surrounding me, what better way to check out how those corn plantations are doing than with an old Datsun truck?
So let’s take out this handsome crew cab version to the fields, and let’s have a brief tour through Central America’s corn traditions. And if you’re having some cornbread for breakfast, all the better.
But first, if you were born after the fall of the Berlin Wall and wonder what we’re looking at, it’s a 1973-1979 Datsun (620) pickup produced by Nissan. The kind of light truck that gained Japanese car makers their foothold in international markets. Of course, by the time these 1970s models rolled around Japanese makers had earned that foothold and then some, heading toward dominance.
If you see a lot of MoPar influence in the styling of these, you’re not alone. Nissan was going through a heavy Mopar-influenced phase at the time, and some of the final results seemed to have additional inspiration from hefty intakes of Sake. However, these 620s are probably some of Nissan’s better-looking models of that period.
Of course, these and their background have already been covered in more detail at CC.
620s were truly sturdy and long-lasting, as long as the tin worm was kept at bay. If one drove around Central America, these 620s would seem the quintessential form of transport for all agro-related activities. They’re awfully common in daily traffic, particularly around marketplaces; like the one shown above in San Salvador.
Along with the rare crew cab featured today, I’ve previously posted the quite questionable Ute version too. If you’re in the States and the crew cab or Ute don’t seem familiar to you, don’t worry. Neither reached North America.
Image, Wikipedia.
Back to our main dish. I would assume most of you are familiar with corn, a crop that alongside wheat, rice, and soy serves as humankind’s sustenance. However, if you come from an industrial nation the vision you may have is of vast fields filled with endless rows of the crop, a product of modern production methods. Though is not like such images lack a serene and pleasant quality, regardless of how they came to be.
Meanwhile, in Central America (or Mesoamerica, more precisely), corn is an ancient tradition. Very much part of the daily lives of its inhabitants and harvested in ways that have changed little over the ages.
True, some industrial-scale production exists, but a good deal of the harvest still comes from countless small plantations scattered all over these fertile lands. It’s, as some would call it, subsistence farming. Over here, it’s the natural rhythm of life.
Should you care to know, the crop began to be harvested sometime around 3000 years ago. At first, a tiny cob with minute grains, perfected over generations into what we sort of know today. And this being the region where it comes from, a larger genetic pool of the crop is still found. Even if not common, varieties with the grain rendered in all colors under the rainbow are available. Some even sought after for special dishes, as we’ll later see.
The crop and its cycle is a tradition heavily embedded into our local culture. That said, the harvesting of corn is mainly a blue-collar affair. Regardless of a laborer having a full-time job, many find the time –in the early mornings or weekends– to have their own plantation. However small it may be.
And it isn’t rare for a security guard or janitor in an office building to ask for an unused plot of land in the premises so that he (it’s usually a he) can sow a few rows. It may seem little or pointless to the white collars he works under, but to that fella, those few rows of corn are weeks of tortillas.
The cycle is well-known; come rainy season, the seeds are planted in what is usually a two-harvest process. From May to August, and August to October. Midway through each, beans are planted alongside the stalks to harvest the two veggies by the season’s end.
Once the corn reaches the desired growth, the stalks are bent and the husks are pointed toward the soil to dry out. As with all crops, it will depend on the weather allowing it to grow as expected. Much depends on how those rains play out; too little means meager returns, while too much could mean a total loss.
Now, the local government enjoys extolling to the world just how “modern” we are over here. Sure, we have cell phones and we’re up to date with Netflix’s latest shows. But when it comes to corn, we’re strictly old school. To dry the corn seeds properly, most farmers use any open space to expose the grains to the sun. In a common practice in the countryside, main road shoulders are used for this purpose, the final step before storage.
Not quite the most “modern” of solutions, but it does the trick. On the other hand, most of these farmers do own cell phones nowadays…
Blue-collar families naturally stress over the whole harvest process; a few sackfuls of corn and beans mean weeks of sustenance. Talking about which, in the ensuing months the grains are taken to small mills scattered all over the nation for processing. A process called nixtamalizado, where the grains are turned into a mushy pulp (flour) that’s the basis for tortillas and tamales.
This “flour” is perishable, so it’s a task that’s done on a rather regular basis. As can be seen above, these nixtamalizado mills are gathering places where small talk and daily gossip are freely exchanged.
Being this region’s main sustenance, the variety of corn-based dishes is naturally bewildering. Most being a form or another of a tortilla, but not all. Here’s a sampler from a Salvadorian cafe’s menu, with much corn to choose from. Center and foremost, pupusas at the center front –a tortilla-looking dish stuffed with cheese and beans. To their right, variations of Mexican-inspired chilaquiles. To their left, Salvadorian pasteles shaped from fried corn tortillas and filled with meat and vegetables.
Not corn-based; the fried Yucca snacks in the center dish. Still tasty, though.
And about those colored corn grains? Those find their way into more exotic-looking dishes, like special soups or tacos wrapped with black corn tortillas.
We’ve talked quite a bit about corn today, but back to our curbside find. To be honest, this 620 isn’t near a corn harvest area but rather in Juayua, a region better known for its coffee plantations.
Our light-green crew cab may not be near corn stalks, but the local scenery’s spirit still surrounds it. The cobblestone roads around the main plaza, a sleeping dog by its side (showing just its feet on the left), and well, that guy who seems annoyed and suspicious of me taking photos. At least he didn’t approach me to talk me into buying today’s subject car (as it’s happened on quite a few occasions).
These 620 crew cabs are not necessarily common but some show up from time to time. Unlike the restored example we’ve featured so far, here’s a more representative one of the many 620s that roam our streets, though still in crew cab form.
Despite being a workhorse this one is still recognizable; it’s a nice survivor. It has a few mods, as it’s inevitable around here. But aside from the additional non-Fuselage rear bumper, nothing too egregious.
And talking about MoPar matters…
Do you see Plymouth on this face? Or Dodge?
I see Datsun, out of familiarity. But I agree with all that this face is certainly fuselage-inspired. Or Fuji-lage, as is CC’s official term for these.
So what do you think? Did we pick the right vehicle for today’s task? These are certainly sturdy and long-lasting, and with the crew cab, at least four of us made the tour in relative cabin comfort.
However, I remember reading that these are credited to have quite a bouncy ride. Something I can’t tell from experience, as this is one of the few Japanese 1970s trucks I never rode on. But as you can see there are still quite a few survivors around and will be for some time. So the chance to try one may still come.
Related CC reading:
Curbside Classic: 1972-79 Datsun Ute Coupe 620 – Meeting The Ugly
The Long, the Short and the Ugly – by Don Andreina
Datsun King Cab Pickup – Yes, We’ve Long Legs in America – by PN
COAL#16 Datsun King Cab – King of Space Mountain – by Ed Hardey
Great read! Still some 620s around here but very scarce. Here in Iowa, ag is very different so it was great to read about your production methods. I like yours better.
These all rusted away many years ago in my midwestern salty locale.
On the food angle, I love how the infrastructure remains in place to support small growers of crops. And I noticed a restaurant that will be opening soon in my area – the sign says it is a Salvadoran-Mexican restaurant, so perhaps I will soon get to sample some of the Salvadoran treats you describe.
Thank you for the tour. Where I live there is very much a dividing line in the types of crops one will have due to the sudden change in terrain. To the north is row crops, to the south is four-legged crops, to the east is grapes for wine production. Like some of your examples, I have many coworkers who farm but they are primarily to the south and have many heads of cattle.
There is a definite Mopar influence to these, but like with JPC’s experience, these all rusted away decades ago.
Stephanie and I were talking just the other day about how we used to grow “Indian” corn, with that multitude of bright kernel colors and cob shapes. And the stalks are so much taller than modern corn. We grew them when the kids were young, for fun and used them ornamentally.
Moving to Iowa in 1960 was an eye-opener in many ways, the farming being one of the biggest. Of course the farms were much smaller than now, but they were so much bigger and productive than what we saw in Tirol. Farming on the rocky mountainsides there was not very different, and almost totally unmechanized. One of my distinct memories is seeing cobs of corn hung from the sides of barns and houses to be dried. It was called “Turken”; not sure of the origin of that except perhaps it came to the area via Turkey? It was a minor crop, not really a staple. Not sure if it was mainly for animal feed, although folks did make polenta not uncommonly.
When my father was a POW in the Midwest, they could choose to work on local farms for a few coins, picking corn by hand on large fields in western Kansas and Nebraska.
Nice truck. These double cab trucks really are the ideal multi-purpose vehicle in many parts of the world that need to haul both loads of goods as well as people. In the US they mainly hauled dirt bikes (and beer) out to the desert or boonies. 🙂
If the menu is from a Salvadoran cafe, what’s with “sticks de yuca frita”? Surely there’s a Spanish word for sticks?
I hadn’t noticed that, and it’s funny. We usually just call that dish “yuca frita” with none of that “stick” nonsense. I guess the menu is just trying to make it sound “exotic” to San Salvador’s public.
Numerous manufacturers built pickup trucks with four-door crew cabs and short beds in this era, but almost none of them were sold in the US. Americans obviously would never want short-bed crew cabs. What fools! The single-cab long bed trucks we did get from Datsun and the other Japanese brands were often the lowest priced vehicles those companies sold, driving sales amongst people who weren’t explicitly truck buyers. Short-bed crew cabs would allow them to substitute for a car that was a bit more rugged and roomy, with an easier time carrying messy stuff.
I see more Dodge than Plymouth in the grille. The thin vertical bar electric-shaver* look = Dodge to my eyes.
*only if that electric shaver is a Braun or Panasonic. My Philips/Norelco looks nothing at all like a ’60s Charger or Cougar XR7 or other cars described as looking like electric shavers. My razor does vaguely resemble a ’50 Ford or Studebaker if there were three bulletnose grilles arranged in a triangle.
No doubt, Nissan (Datsun as it was then known), Toyota and Mazda all looked at the sales of the Volkswagen Type 2 Double Cab. It was a slow seller back then, and may have influenced their decisions not to market small crew cabs here until the 2000’s.
All of those small Japanese trucks rode hard in order to have stiff enough springs to accommodate the payloads they were designed for. In ’73 I bought a new Toyota Hi-Lux from Schaeffer & Strohminger Toyota in Dundalk as a daily driver (for $2300!) and it rode like a buckboard, plus it was a tight fit for my 6’1″ 190 lbs (much lighter than nowadays lol!). So kept it for only a year and bought a new leftover ’73 SAAB 99… so much more comfortable!
Wow that is in incredible condition. Even here in the PNW most of these rusted away years ago, were just plain used up or became victims of the owners customization. But once upon a time the 620 in regular or King Cab versions were very common sights, probably the best selling mini truck in our area. Probably due in no small part to the class exclusive, at the time, King Cab, that made it much more accommodating for the average height or taller US male.
By the start of the 1980’s, many of these were already off the road in Southeastern Ontario. Rangers and S-10s, were a popular replacement. My parent’s neighbour, had a rusty bright yellow standard bed Datsun pickup, replaced by a beige long bed GMC S-15. Which seemed, vastly more modern. The subdued colour on this one, improves its looks. At the time, it thought that mini tail fin dated its looks. It never reminded me then, of any Chrysler products.
The talk of how these rusted reminded me of the one some people in our neighborhood used to have and it’s existence played a part in deciding to purchase our current home in the late 2000’s. See we have a HOA that had me a little scared. The Datsun pickup that was parked in the driveway with a severe case of rust, so much so that there were huge holes in many panels calmed my fears of an over zealous board. A late 70’s or early 80’s Camaro that definitely didn’t have an engine didn’t hurt either. Finally the full size steam powered locomotive sitting on a section of rail in the front yard of another house sealed the deal.
I later meet the lady of the house that owned the Datsun and she actually commented on how she liked my Scouts. She said they bought the truck shortly after they bought the house for dump or gravel runs and apparently it had spent some time in the salt belt before coming to the PNW prior to their purchase. I guess it was far and away the cheapest truck they found that ran and drove properly.
I’m not sure if I see the Mopar styling influence on these handsome trucks but the tapered B pillar definitely reminds me of the Cadillac Sixty Special from the late 1930s.
Nice to see one still in VGC all these years later .
Indeed, these had a real frame and brakes etc. etc. -but- the entire body was tinfoil and so rusted away even here in Los Angeles .
The firm ride is the hallmark of an actual work truck .
I had two of these, a ’79 long bed / automatic and an orange ’73 5 speed .
I bet I still have a factory tachometer buried in my garage .
-Nate
Good write up ! .
I too love road rallies, I prefer the less co$tly and relaxed one like the defunct No Frills Iron Bottom Motoring Tour, no modern care at all and affordable eats (IN-N-OUT Burger etc.) .
The Fall TT Run is nearly upon us .
-Nate
The 620 was a big hit in Southern California back in the 70’s. Having my Cougar in the garage and a company car for general use I toyed with the idea of buying one in 1975. Went down to the local Pacific Beach dealer to look at a bright yellow one. However, once I sat in the driver’s seat I knew it wouldn’t work as the position was to cramped with my longer legs. Oh, well…
It’s too bad we never got the crew cabs here until 2000 or so. A Colombian blogger I follow drives a more modern Nissan double cab an routinely loads 1000kg of construction materials. The “bullet side” Datsuns still have a following in the US so so I’m sure at least one has been privately imported
We’ve grown corn in planter tubs but our growing season is short and our plants have been compost since August
Who knew the “lil trucks” had “4dor cabs” back in the day? Would love to see how much legroom, was /wasn’t there for the backseat.