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bananahamuck

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Posts posted by bananahamuck

  1. 17 hours ago, igor said:

    One in @bananahamuck country from the book of faces with the usual longwinded story often found therein. 

    “Pininfarina” and “Pickup truck” are terms that don’t usually go together, but in this case there’s a direct connection. The Datsun 520 was a very close relative of the circa-1963 410 Bluebird, which was styled by the Italian house. Launched about 18 months after the Bluebird, the lines were adapted for the truck by Nissan’s in-house designers, and they would (arguably) age even better on the 520 than they did on the car that spawned it.
    The origins of the 410 and the 520 go back to Nissan’s tie-up with Austin. In 1952, the Japanese company had signed a licensing and technology-sharing agreement with the British, and it built Austin A40s and A50s under license for most of the 1950s.
    This led to a very strong Austin influence on the Japanese-designed products that gradually replaced the British cars, and a lasting technical influence. The J-Series four-cylinder engine in the green pickup you see here is based on the Austin/BMC B-Series engine.
    But by the early 1960s Nissan/Datsun had rebuilt itself from the postwar years, and it was keen to shake off the visual relationship with Austins, and that’s why Pininfarina was hired.
    While Pininfarina’s efforts yielded the cool-looking 410/411, Japanese firms never wanted to be too closely associated with having outsiders create their cars. The design has never been credited to any specific Pininfarina staffer and gets only a passing mention in the company’s own accounts of its history. After the 410 was finished, the Italians also helped shape the 1965 Nissan Cedric, but most future efforts were done in-house thereafter.
    Although Datsun had been building small trucks since 1934, the modern versions of its trucks really started in 1955 with the 120, which was based on the 110-series Bluebird sedan. The slightly larger 220 appeared in 1957, and finally, the even larger 320, based on the 310 Bluebird, arrived in the summer of 1961. The Bluebird’s evolution took a sharp turn with the Pininfarina connection, and it was launched in late 1963 to be ready for the 1964 Tokyo Olympiad.
    When the 410 appeared, it was only natural that the practice should continue, and so it was that in 1965 the 410 design was adapted into the 520 truck family. (420 was supposedly skipped because in Japanese it sounded too much like the word for “rudeness.”)
    As in the earlier generations of Datsun trucks, there were several body styles. The regular, separate-bed pickup would be the most famous, but there was also a fully-enclosed, wagon-like Van and a four-seat, “double cab” coupe utility. The two-door coupe utility, a feature of the 320-series (one of which we showed last year) was deleted. The lines worked well on the truck, and there are many nice details to be seen, like the flush door handles for improved aerodynamics.
    While the 220-Series was the first Datsun truck to be imported to the U.S., and the 320 the first to get real attention from American consumers, the 520 would be the truck that put Datsun on the map nationally. Its first model year was 1966, the same year Datsun signed up its 500th U.S. dealer, and it was a big seller right from the start.
    There had already been small European and British trucks like the Morris Minor and VW Type 2 on offer here, and the Volkswagen had enjoyed a fair degree of success, but none had the popularity of the Datsun, and the Japanese also got some help from the Johnson Administration’s “Chicken Tax” blunder. Although it raised the price of the little Datsun, it made all the European trucks totally uncompetitive on price, and while they withered Datsun and Toyota swooped in - but mostly Datsun.
    The Japanese automakers were able to produce the vehicles for less, and they partly circumvented the tariff through creative assembly practices, but the 520 was far more popular than Toyota’s first offering, the Stout.
    At first, 520s had two 7-inch front headlights, which gave them a faintly Alfa Romeo Giulia-like look, but 1967 brought a slight reshaping of the hood and quad-round units, as on the 410. Early ones used the 1.3-liter J13 engine, but later used the 1.5-liter J15, both mated to a four-speeder. An independent front suspension made them decent handlers, too. The mechanical pieces were absolutely indestructible, and although it wasn’t fancy, the 520 was very well made.
    It was handy too, with a much larger cabin than the 320-series, although it would still feel very small compared to any modern pickup. And there were cargo tie-downs and handy storage areas.
    While the 410 eventually seemed to be eclipsed in Japan by the popularity of the Toyota Corona, the 520 dominated the Stout. It wasn’t until Toyota absorbed Hino and started marketing that company’s Briska pickup as the Toyota Hilux that it began to catch up. The flagging appetite for the 410/411, however, sent Datsun’s designers to the drawing board for what became the famous 510.
    The ultimate 520, really a version of the facelifted 521, was the 1.6-liter L16 version, which used the 90-ish-hp SOHC engine from that car, but that came a little later.
    The 520’s biggest impact came here in the U.S. While all of Japan’s automakers built trucks like this in the 1960s (including some you rarely hear about, like the Briska) and sold them in huge quantities domestically, the 520 was the first Japanese truck to truly command national attention as a sales force in America.
    Sales were still best on the West Coast in 1966, but by then Datsun was a national name, and the 520 was by far the best-selling small truck in America and would continue to be until production ended in 1972.
    Detroit took notice. In 1970, Ford and GM began exploring importing Japanese trucks of their own, and by 1973 the “bulletside” Datsun 620 would be facing off against the Chevrolet LUV, Ford Courier, Mazda B Series, and the Toyota Truck. By the end of the decade even Mitsubishi would be in on the game and “Mini-trucks” would be a huge market here.
    This is a ‘67 model, upgraded with the dual lights but still a 1300, though a similar spec was still available into 1968 when the updated 521 arrived. We spied it recently near the Washington/Oregon border.

    datsun520.jpg


    Earlier today I was over at neighbors borrowing aluminum floor jack …

     411 and the early style 520 .. he has the 4 headlight truck but it was to cold to move when I was over there 

    IMG_6010.jpeg
     

    although they look very similar, the pickup is quite a bit wider . 

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  2. We still have mounds of snow, and neighbors with trees still have snow covering south ends of yards. We are out near Littlerock 

     Like i mentioned ,, you should go even if your car is still apart..  i aint in need of meet-up or anything just go all secret squirrel.. I'm usually talking too in heated arguements with,  guys i only get to see in person once a year. 

    A dude named Hogie drives a NL320 ( working on a 312 wagon but it needs everything) and if it's nice Wayno drives either his NL320 or his U320,, and both those clowns would love to talk about 312/320  type vehicles.. 

     I have an older brother that doesn't like going because people might talk to him,, lol.  the only people he hates more than strangers,,,  are family ,,, haha

     

     

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  3. Hello,, are you still in the northwest ?  Have you heard of a Datsun show that was held in a town called Canby ( south of Portland) .. Well that show was ran out of fairgrounds by the powers that be ,, so it has been moved to a place just north of Salem called Powerland NW .. It's a huge place that normally hosts tractor/thresher shows...

    Anyways,,,, if you never been,  there is usually over 200 Datsuns from many states and Canada..  Even if your car isn't done you should go to it,, it's a great way to charge your Datsun batteries.. A 2 day event,,  Saturday ( there is camping on the grounds)  , and ,, Sunday is usually a early end ( 2pm-ish) as there's tons of guys from SoCal that need to start their trek home.. There is apparently tractor museums you can go in, on the premises ( first year being held at location so don't know what's in them)  

    Very low key and such,  and most owners are older so not a shitshow of 20 somethings doing donuts.. 

    This isn't my show i only go 

    June 8-9th 

    http://www.antiquepowerland.com/index.html

     

    http://www.antiquepowerland.com/html/calendar.html  <<< calander,, It says Japanese vehicles but it's only Datsuns and older Nissans / Cedrics 

     

    Really bad video i did in 2017(?) ,, there are about 30 or more cars behind where i started walking from and some that never really leave "camping" area all weekend

     

     

    Not sure what My son and i are driving this year yet,, but probably one of my usual 411s   OR 410 project i am putting off because of bathroom remodel .  and sons got a A10 2door project ( he normally drives A10 wagon)  he was hoping to waddle down there in. He's behind on that as it's been so cold,,, and being a 23 year old he is easily distracted .

     

    Did any of that make sense ??  lol 

    .

    • Like 1
  4. On 16/02/2019 at 17:46, Styles said:

    Saw this pair at Ardmore. Sunbeam proving that jelly beans are at home on anything, and my god, the C1 is a thing of beauty! First C1’s were of course cleaner, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of them in the wild.

    BA0EACFB-DACA-488B-82D3-7FE292C1B27B.jpeg

     

    Fender trim says Tiger,,,,,,,, which gives me a boner

     

     

     

     

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  5. I'm in the states so i don't know anything about what cars are still around over there BUT , looking at the engine setup in the 66 ambassador I got,,  it looks just like an older Chevy L6.. Why not search out older rear wheel driver,  that is way beyond rusted,  and have the garage you choose harvest everything,, boom. I saw awhile back you guys got a Chevy(?) L6 with fuel injection ,, that would be cool and retro at the same time . 

      But again ,,  i can't really say i know anything to actually help you though,,,  because those old Chevy straight 6xers run damn near forever and are cheap as a sand castle over here .

    • Like 1
  6. Yo. i heard you like pictures of old trucks in your thread about old trucks.. 

    So i have owned this early 50s IH backhoe truck since the mid 90s and a guy i know has been hounding me for awhile to let him buy it . and make a yard ornament out of it,  at his place .

    Yesterday i succumbed 

    Here's the old girl,, in the front yard since about 1998,  digger arm removed

    Ck53S2d.jpg

     

    The "battling"  Davis brothers brought in this self loader 

    ElNg3SB.jpg

     

    Parked it next to this really long dilapidated lowboy

    PVcZKXR.jpg

     Yanked that sombitch up there

     

     

    DQTRG2z.jpg

     

    And after fighting over a pair of Vicegrips for about 15 minutes,,, and backing up for me to get one last shot of her,,,  off they went.

    OhrYd7a.jpg

    baSmtvb.jpg

     

    I already miss that old thing.. Only good thing is i can go see it if i need to,  says he's thinking of making a mailbox holder out of it

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