It’s not every day you find a 1959 Datsun 1000 on eBay. This L210 is probably one of the earliest Nissan products ever sold in the US. This ancestor of the Bluebird is not for the faint of heart though. With a 37-horsepower OHV motor and four-wheel leaf spring suspension, it ain’t gonna hit the autocross like its great-great-grandson the 510. Two of these babies did, however, circumnavigate the continent of Australia in the 1958 Mobilgas Trial and one of them even won its class.
A couple of nagging issues may prevent you from placing a bid. The rear window is currently plastic and getting the right slice of glass won’t be easy. And it’s missing a dash clock. The most damning is the interior. The seats, door panels and trunk appear to have been reupholstered in a look that is less than period correct. Finding a clean interior for a half-century old Datsun isn’t an easy task but they could have at least gone with something a bit more accurate.
But, if you can live with that and pick it up from Birmingham, Alabama, place a bid for at least $5000.
[eBay]
The C-pillar and trunk design of the Nissan Versa sedan reminds me a lot of this car for some reason.
Tuck-and-roll was SO 1957!!! 😛
Did anyone else notice the matched pair of Toyota Land Cruisers in the background of some of the other photos in the auction listing?
(There’s a better photo of them in the Ford F-100 pickup listing by the same seller; the two Land Cruisers are even the same color!)
Yes, the seller has eclectic tastes. FJ55s are awesome.
I am not sure what it is you don’t think is period about the interior but the only addition is the carpets inside and in the trunk.
I own an L210 with original interior still there (appart from the front seat squab which needs reupholstering) and the patern is excactly like this one, the division between colors etc. even the right not too stuffed look is correct. So I’d be very happy with such an interior. I’d be worried about non original wiper arms, knobs on choke and switches, horrible steering wheel and that awful gear lever….
I’d love to have those undented body panels…
My name is TOGO, from honolulu, hawaii 808-488-3088/808-321-3428 I have a 58 and 59 Datsun 1000 my email is togotamanaha@yahoo.com
The biggest problem I have with the trunk carpets is the discoloration where the gas filler pipe meets the floor…
Hi Guys…I would love to find one to restore. I live in North Carolina
I have one in Mobile, AL. It’s in my garage and needs to go. Please email me at djp 36606 at yahoo dot com
I owned a 59 1000 for maybe six months, back in 1969…the original owner had bought it from a dealership in L. A….I am guessing that was the only dealership extant at that time! Anyway, this car was fun to drive…girls thought it was cute! But it was a death-trap, very thin body construction, not even seat belts, sketchy handling, andbarely able to maintain 60mph on the freeway…4 speed, on the column!!…accelerated about the same as a VW bug….the 1 litre engine buzzed a lot, and didn’t get great mileage…maybe 22-24 mpg. and parts were scarce, even in 1969…I never saw one of these on the road in Seattle back then, and have not seen one at all for at least 40 years…I sold it for 150…the same I had paid for it, six months earlier!