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It's a Long Way To Empty In a 1980 Datsun 210

Red-blooded Americans normally don't give a rat's ass about fuel economy in their vehicles, but certain events in Iran made gas sippers such as the Datsun 210 look quite appealing. Every time you pass a gas station, you'll want to kiss your 210 (unless you're angry at it because there's no place to set your Big Gulp and the lack of 400 pounds of sound deadener means you're forced to hear road noise).

4:00 PM on Mon Mar 10 2008
By Murilee Martin
1,213 views
16 comments

Comments

  • Thanks, guys, but I'd rather keep it real with a B-210. The Honeybee, if possible.

  • I had 2 different 1980 210s that I drove about 80,000 miles each. GREAT pizza cars (until the tinworm gets to them).

  • Image of Mad_Science Mad_Science at 04:25 PM on 03/10/08 *

    My dad had one of these. Got 40 something mpg. At some point, the dog (or her puppies) ate the passenger seat foam.

    Definitely an exercise in minimalism.

  • Image of graverobber- Same great taste, new low price! graverobber- Same... at 04:26 PM on 03/10/08 *

    A 1980 210 gets 31 city and 43 highway. A 2008 Versa gets 24 city and 32 highway. Now I know the Versa has 72 airbags and A/C and power-this and bluetooth that, but seriously, WTF?
    Is decent mileage only available through the purchase of a $25K-plus hybrid? Even that little Korean Chevy- the Aveo gets rotten mileage, and that's a tiny little car.

  • Image of charles_barrett charles_barrett at 04:27 PM on 03/10/08 *

    In 1980 $3,749 would buy a Datsun. In 2008, it might cover one or two tanks of gasoline...

  • My first non-American car was a Datsun 210 like the one in the video (except lt. blue). I put 100K trouble-free miles on it. Sold it to my brother-in-law who drove it (more like crashed it) for another 50K before he sold it. The car never had a lick of mechanical problems. I replaced it with a 85 1/2 Escort Wagon that ended up being the worse car I've ever owned. My wife affectionately called the Escort the "Penalty Box" and "Road Apple."

  • @graverobber: More and more, I realize I'd buy a new 1978 Honda Accord tomorrow if I could.

  • i owned a 1979 B210.
    that car was awesome!!!!!


  • @FLB: Ditto. Or maybe a 1982 VW Rabbit.

  • My folks bought a '77 blue, two door sedan B-210.

    What a heap, though I remember thinking the tail lights were cool.

    I still can't believe my mother, who got it in the divorce, traded it in on a '79 Regal. Turned out the '79 Regal was decent, unlike the '83 which replaced it.

    I've since convinced her to just run her vehicles 'till they die. I'd like to surprise her with a one-year-old Accord, one of these days.... She'd never kill it.

  • my dad had a JDM Nissan Sunny (B210) with the kammback hatch design ..yellow with the honeycomb wheels
    [www.adclassix.com]

    he apparently broke the speedo twice for going over the limit..the pointed snapped off on the highway where he set a cruising time of 40 minutes from Tokyo to Yokohoma
    taking my mom back home. the distance between the two cities is roughly 17 miles hardly what you call a long trip but if you have ever traveled on Japan's highways out of Tokyo you then have a vague idea on how incredibly hellish a place it is to travel on....

  • graverobber: You aren't going to get it in a hybrid, either. Check out the Jetta TDI.

  • Wow, that red 210 hatch with the racy stripes, trim rings and white lettered tires.... now that's straight sexy. DO WANT!!

  • @graverobber: The versa also has about twice the horsepower 122 vs. 65, and weighs 700 pounds more.

  • My old roommates got one of these for free from a bodyshop that was tired of it sitting around. Full-on beater: primered, rust, dents, just plain fugly. They got it running and drove it for years. Called it "The Beercan." I swear, it was slower than the forklift at work, but guess who was grateful to borrow it to get parts for his Cadillac whenever it died?

  • My dad had a '78 or '79 B210 when I was 6 years old. Dark metallic green. It had vinyl seats that would leave tiny basketweave imprints the back of my legs whenever I wore shorts. He pimped it out by stitching up the steering wheel with race-inspired leather wrapping, and ICE consisted of the AM/FM head unit, 8-track tape deck, and CB radio. Man, life seemed simple back then.

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