Nissan’s sporty coupe, the Silvia, reached the US in 1977 as the Datsun 200-SX. The model arrived to a red-hot import market, ready to make an impression with its funky styling and Datsun’s (Nissan) known quantities for economy and reliability.
The new 200-SX was arriving to a rather cluttered Nissan-Datsun USA lineup. A lineup that showed the company had left its economy-performance 510/240Z days behind, as each product reflected a shift towards style and luxury trappings. Though always well assembled and offering good value.
The 200-SX’s hardware was as conventional as could be. Its chassis came from the humble B210, and power was provided by the 710’s (Violet) 1952cc engine. Suspension was very traditional; with short wheel travel, McPherson struts upfront, and live axle/leaf springs on the back.
With its pedestrian mechanicals, and its peculiar-looking compact body, the 200-SX offered little in sporting pretenses and little as a family hauler. For all effects, it was a ‘stylish’ 2+2.
With those limitations in mind, the question came; what sort of buyer was Nissan pursuing with the model?
Back in its native Japan, the model had actually been launched in 1975. The economy-oriented sporty coupe was Nissan’s response to Toyota’s Celica and Mitsubishi’s Arrow. A vehicle for an upcoming young professional who wished for a stylish ride, at an accessible cost. A niche Nissan was not to ignore, and part of Japan’s market dynamics, where automotive segments had quickly exploded in the previous decade.
The sporty coupe took its name from Nissan’s limited-production Silvia GT of the mid-1960s, which carried some cachet in the corporation’s lore. That said, the new Silvia/200-SX had little in common with its predecessor other than being an “image” car.
Few can talk about the 1975-79 Silvia/200-SX without addressing the matter of its styling and R&T is no different. Inevitably, there’s been some debate as to what were Nissan’s designers thinking with the car. Not easy to pin down, as the Japanese are eclectic cherry pickers with their influences. Yet, the Citroen SM seems to be the car’s biggest reference to many.
However, the model does have two styling motifs Nissan was obsessed with at the time. They’re the “human-eyeline” side windows, and the C-pillar’s shape evoking Mount Fuji’s silhouette. If you have a hard time seeing either, at least one is clearly shown in the 1971 Nissan Cherry brochure (more on that here). See that green ‘eye’ over that exploding head in the image above?
Once the ’75 Silvia was created, bringing the little ‘personal coupe’ stateside made all the sense in the world, even if it took it a couple of years. After all, the US was swamped with similar vehicles at the time.
Aside from its curious styling and questionable packaging, R&T found the car to be an adequate vehicle at a reasonable value. Assembly, fit, and finish were commended. Meanwhile, reviewers found the driver’s accommodations to be well arranged, and its Citroen-influenced dashboard befitting the car’s sporty pretenses.
Under driving, the 200-SX’s drivetrain behaved as expected. The car’s handling wasn’t “conducive to continued hard-driving… Suspension travel is minimal, so the car doesn’t respond well to changes in road surface… on the other hand… overall riding comfort must be considered acceptable for most driving.”
Cornering capabilities scored an unimpressive 0.68 g, low even by the standards of the period. Meanwhile, the 200-SX’s braking was considered very good, with no signs of fade. Less satisfying was the car’s 5-speed manual, with reviewers struggling with its unusual shift pattern and finding no fun downshifting. As for the engine, after reaching operating temperature, it was “very willing and quiet for normal driving.”
As mentioned, R&T found the car to be “a fairly pleasant car to drive moderately, and quite successful at steady cruising… For those who like its distinctive styling and aren’t looking for over-the-road precision, it is an acceptable car at a good price.”
Ultimately, the 200-SX was another dependable -if curious- Nissan offering; from a period where their products offered middling performance and lots of peculiar styling. As time passed, the company would show to have a knack for such sways; with bursts of excitement and daring, followed by quick retreats and pedestrian lineups.
In true form, the 200-SX followed such patterns. The model’s sales paled against the contemporary Celica, with the latter outselling the former by a 5 to 1 ratio. However, the 200-SX’s 1980 replacement was a much better offering and became a steady seller in the company’s lineup. Part of another upswing in Nissan’s fortunes.
Further reading:
Curbside Classic: 1977 Datsun 200-SX (Nissan Silvia S10) – The Many Faces Of Silvia
Curbside Classic: 1977 Datsun 200-SX (Nissan Silvia) – Not All Shots Hit The Target
Vintage Review: 1980 Datsun 200-SX – Samurai Stocking Stuffer
Datsun went thru a weird styling phase around this time.
Remember the B210, just as strange as the 200.
Liked the B210. Did not like the “harsh, spartan, ride of the “B210”.
The Wikipedia article on this car says that this car was intended to have a rotary engine, except the OPEC embargo intervened. I knew about GM and Mercedes-Benz aborting rotary projects due to the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, but I didn’t know that Nissan had one that progressed to the point of cars having been developed to receive the engines.
It was planned to be rotary powered, yes: https://www.nissan-global.com/EN/HERITAGE_COLLECTION/new_silvia_ls_type_s.html
Nissan had progressed with development significantly, and were heavily touting said rotary during 1973. As for the Silvia / 200-SX, once the rotary was formally cancelled during 1974, Nissan quickly adapted the car for L-series four-cylinder engines, thus making its debut in Japan the following year. The “production Datsun sports coupe” mentioned in this article undoubtedly is the S10:
Thanks for refreshing my memory; I’d quite forgotten about that. But then the rotary was the hot new thing at the time.
Had a 77 710 wagon bought used privately… Was a great running car.. Rusted terribly in upstate ny.. Would have run forever.. Changed the exhaust system and couldn’t get over the fact they actually used brass nuts to secure it… Was a breeze to remove thanks to that
Wow, not many 710 owners….a ’74 4 door was my first car, had all 4 undergraduate years and almost a year after that. Interestingly, this first Datsun 200SX came out while I had the 710.
Slid out on black ice in 1981, I wanted FWD since I was still in snow country. I bought a used ’78 Scirocco, my first watercooled VW…and I haven’t owned any other make since then (43 years now)
However, my youngest sisters ended up owning qty-4 200 or 240 SX’s (2 each) though none of this generation. Youngest sister owned a 1986 200SX, then middle sister bought a 1992 240SX, youngest sister bought 1993 240SX, and then middle sister bought new 1997 240SX (which she still owns). All coupes (no hatchback) and all automatic (my VWs all are manual).
Few people seem to like Datsuns of the mid-late 70’s. Seem to not be able to get over weird styling and also after the original 510 Datsun seemed to cop out, the later cars weren’t quite like the 510. They were conventional cars, pretty ideal for someone in school, pretty simple to fix, and not very fast. Didn’t need that in snow country, just getting to your destination could be enough of an adventure.
It’s interesting that they derided the “dogleg” shift pattern, as the five-speed manual transmission was fairly new to the US at this point.
On one hand, it’s often found on cars with a racing intent, as first gear would only be used for starting off, and easier access to the 4 more commonly-used gears was the point.
On the other hand, the “dogleg” shift pattern is very similar to the (still common in the era) floor-shifted 3-speed manual, only with 2 more gears.
I’m not really sure the “dogleg” pattern is as horrible as they made it out to be, once the driver gets accustomed to it.
Professional road testers tend to be much harder on nonstandard ergonomics than the public, in general, since they drive dozens of cars a year.
I read that the shift pattern was much less of an issue than the very balky linkage, which is a bit surprising. realistically, the dog leg pattern really is less convenient than the more typical version. By the late ’70s three-speed floor shifts were mostly a distant memory. An overdrive 5th really is an extension of a typical 4-speed, thus it makes sense to have it be out by itself. As you noted, almost all dog leg 5-speeds were sports/racing types, where the 5th gear was normally not an overdrive, but the equivalent of 4th in a four speed box.
I’m surprised at the balky linkage, if it really was B210 based. Our B210 (admittedly a 4sp) shifted quite nicely.
5 MPH bumpers ruined these cars to an extent it did to few others. Most other cars that had straight-across bumpers in RoW form just had bigger ones (think Rabbit/Golf) didn’t do too badly but this car’s required filler pieces and a different grille and still couldn’t pull it off. They should’ve kept the original sculptured bumpers and put them further out on struts. I think the only other import that fared as poorly was the Fiat Strada which looks far older and frumpier than the Euro-spec Ritmo.
My older sister nearly bought one of these in 1975. She resisted listening to her car-guy brother, but I finally dragged her around to look at other cars. The 200SX fell to last place; she bought a new Celica GT and has listened to me ever since (at least on cars).
The (apparently) Cansun ad renderings are very nicely done. I wonder how long they took to create??
Despite those renderings I still find the car’s styling to be “strange”, to be very nice about it! I would think that few car persons would have shopped one of these vs. a Toyota Celica GT??!
DFO
Man i wanted one of these in “H/S”, “Community College”, days!! Favored the ”
blue ones as i recall.
The 1969 Mercury Cougar is another obvious influence, albiet most apparent with the original bumper design, the Buick style side sweep and the bladed fender and shape of the corner of the bumper is a dead ringer
Neat little car .
I thought Datsun 710’s had the inline 6 cylinder engine .
-Nate
710’s were all fours, at least in the US. It was smaller than the 610. The 810 was the larger six cylinder car. In a partial CC Effect, I saw a 610 wagon yesterday on the road.
After the 510 and 240/260/280Z cars; I found this one’s styling something of a muddled let down.
I really like the styling of the 200. A LOT. Same with the B210. As time has gone by, these cars have come to remind me of what I thought of Japanese pop culture in the ’70s — a mash-up of sci-fi, shiny, bright, hyper-modern and weird. Very cool stuff.
And Tatra had a pic of a 200SX caught out in the wild. Tastefully customized, sans striping, aftermarket wheels. Baby, it was the jazz
We were spared this model in Australia. So it’s a rebodied 120Y with an engine from the pickup. Hmm, no thanks, what else ya got…?
I reckon this must be Peak Datsun Weirdness. I’m allowing for the fact that it wasn’t designed for US-style bouncy bumpers, in JDM form it looks even weirder. It looks long and narrow. Those taillights wrap around way too far to look pleasant. And much as I find the profile of the Mt Fuji C-pillar pleasant, you’d have to see past it for parking.
Sleek, but weird.