We don't want to forget the Japanese pickups on DOTS Truck Monday, and it's been quite a while since we looked at the '79 Datsun pickup (the '74 Courier was more recent, of course, but it has a Detroit nameplate). Here's a solid '74, with faded paint but otherwise in pretty nice shape. Will these trucks start getting obsessively restored someday, or simply driven to death?

Why the owner of this truck hauls around a bunch of rusty bedsprings is a puzzler. Maybe it's for passenger comfort when he takes it out on street-sign-shooting expeditions.


Got to love that Malaise Japan grille treatment. For the millionth time, why can't we buy truly small pickups any more?


That sure looks like an automatic shifter. Acceleration is probably on the leisurely side with that setup.

Send an email to Murilee Martin, the author of this post, at murilee@jalopnik.com.