According to the seller of today’s Nice Price or No Dice Datsun, everything works on it except for the clock. That seems appropriate, seeing as the car as a whole appears stuck in time. Let’s decide if we can make time for it at its asking.
When someone mentions Saab, most of us picture a car, maybe something like the 2001 9-3 convertible we all considered yesterday. The thing is, Saab stopped building cars a decade and a half ago. Today, the company exclusively makes things like kick-ass jet fighters, stealthy submarines, and other weapons of war. Still, when you say “Saab,” I say, “let’s drive,” and yesterday’s five-speed convertible looked ready to hit the road at its $8,500 asking. That took home a solid 57 percent Nice Price win.
Say what you will about Adam Carolla, the nasally-voiced comedian, podcaster, and provocateur, but he does have a killer car collection. For the longest time, his focus for that collection has been to amass the cars once campaigned by the late great actor, racer, and humanitarian Paul Newman. That includes a series of Bob Sharp-built Datsuns from the ’70s and ’80s, and one of the most surprising of that clutch is the 1977 200SX that Newman raced in IMSA’s C Production class, winning 19 out of 22 races during the ’78 season.
Now, I’m not saying that today’s 1977 Datsun 200SX is the basis for a collection rivaling Carolla’s, but you never know. And it seems as good a place to start as any.
Nissan introduced the 200SX to the U.S. market under its Datsun brand in 1975. The company positioned the two-door as a rival to the Toyota Celica, and it followed that car’s blueprint of a semi-sporty but cheap-to-buy-and-run coupe. However, unlike the Celica, which looked like a miniature Mustang, the first-generation 200SX featured flamboyant styling with frameless windows, a pinched C-pillar, and exagerated wrap-around tail lamps. The home market cars looked a good bit better with their body-hugging bumpers, but the American cars suffered the ignominy of heavy 5-mph battering rams on each end.
This model ran through the 1979 model year, after which it was replaced by the second generation, a larger and more refined car. Four more generations would follow until Nissan kicked the car to the curb just as it had done with the Datsun nameplate.
This 200SX sports just 37,000 miles and looks like it has been completely obivious the years and ensuing models since it was built. Under the hood is a 2.0-liter SOHC L20B four, making 97 horsepower and paired with that is a five-speed manual gearbox. Together, they drive a leaf-sprung live axle in the back. Brakes are front disc/rear drum. All pretty standard stuff for the era.
Also of the era is the moss green fabric interior that the factory chose to fit to the car. It looks like somebody caught and skinned Kermit and his whole family to sew up so garish an upholstery. The rest of the cabin, from the door cards to the plasticky dash, are less flamboyant, but seem just as well preserved. Plus, look at all those guages!
That interior alone makes this a worthwhile classic, but there’s much more. The bodywork, while in appliance white, is in excellent shape and seems to need nothing. The car carries its comically styled factory wheel covers and proudly declares its gearbox choice with a “5SPEED” badge on the butt. Copious amounts of chrome trim abound, which also all look to be in solid shape.
Mechanically, everything is claimed to work except for a finicky center console clock, which does seem to wfunction twice a day. This is a true throwback and would make for a wonderful Cars & Caffeine entrant, especially in places where Asian cars are less common. The title is clean, and the price is $12,000.
What do you say? Is that a fair deal for a classic Datsun in what looks to be almost as-new condition? Or is that a price only somebody like Adam Carolla would consider?
You decide!
Long Island, New York, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Whatsupdohc for the hookup!
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