Junkyard Gem: 1976 Datsun 620 Pickup

North American product sales of compact Japanese pickups received more robust with every passing calendar year of the 1970s, served alongside by absurd gasoline charges. The Toyota Hilux of that period (which turned, simply, the Toyota Truck about in this article) receives most of the focus now, but the rugged Nissan 620 (recognized as the Datsun Pickup in North America) bought as nicely as or improved than the Hilux for considerably of the 10 years. Here is a ’76 Datsun Pickup, retired in Colorado just after forty four decades of hard operate.

This would not even depend as rust on an old Japanese motor vehicle in New Hampshire or Iowa.

Another person acquired this truck a couple a lot more decades of handy existence by swapping in some semi-contemporary bucket seats.

How a lot of miles? I’m heading to guess the whole arrived to 298,773, but I could be off by a pair of hundred thousand miles.

Nissan squeezed loads of benefit out of the L-series overhead-cam I4 and I6 engines, which advanced from license-developed Mercedes-Benz engines developed by Prince in the 1960s. Datsun 510s and 280Zs ran the L, as did the rear-wheel-generate Nissan Maximas later on on. This truck has an L20B of 1,952cc displacement.

Datsun 620s with automatic transmissions do exist, but just about all of these vehicles arrived with 4-on-the-ground handbook transmissions.

The steering-column ignition change and/or lock need to have failed at some issue. Possibly the closing owner of this truck commenced it by twisting wires collectively.

I continue to come across these vehicles all through my junkyard adventures, for the reason that pickup vehicles remain handy for a lot of decades and house owners preserve them alive as extensive as doable.

The 720 changed the 620 for the 1980 design calendar year in North America, shedding the Datsun title just after 1983.

Just the truck for a Nebraska chemical salesman.

The Canadian version of Clint Eastwood pitched the 620 up north.