Datsun commercial from 1971

Have you seen my frog?

Datsun Bluebird ad

Catchy jingle, driving gloves and a four-speed manual gearbox. You’ll be singing it for days

Datsun 200SX – 1979 commercial

This great Datsun spot ran right after the ABC open to “Jaws” on 11/4/79, before the movie began

Datsun 280ZX 1981 ad

This 1981 commercial advertises the Datsun 280ZX beating out the competition. The dude in the Datsun is uber cool, but he’s probably OD’d on cocaine by now.

Datsun 280ZX ‘Turbo Driven’ ad

This questionable commercial by Datsun features the new turbo 280ZX apparently drag racing a Learjet. It advertises a 0 to 50 time of 5.1 seconds. I know, WTF, right? I assume the whole 50 mph bit was due to the gas crisis, as I’m pretty sure that most respectable Learjets cruise well above that velocity.

Nissan 200SX turbo – 1984 ad

Give me a turbo, and I come alive

Datsun 280ZX – it’s a long way til empty

280ZX over a Countach or Aston Martin? No, we don’t think so either

Datsun Fairlady Roadster to 280ZX: The Z-Car Story by Brian Long – 190

Datsun Fairlady Roadster to 280ZX: The Z-Car Story (Veloce) By Brian Long
ISBN-1-84584-031-3
Review book supplied by the publisher $90
Review by
Mark Holman

Brian Long has done a really good job with this very well-illustrated soft-cover book — the fact that he lives in Japan is undoubtedly to his advantage. The book sets the scene with the early history of Datsun, including its assembly of the early ’50s Austins, and then goes on to the rather handsome Fairlady made from 1962-’70.

The early Z-cars had a sharp and stylish look, matched by pretty good performance, and this book takes us through all the variations from the 240Z through the 260Z and the 280ZX. The US was the main market for these cars and, as usual, we are taken through all the many variations and specs, with plenty of pics and adverts to plot the model’s development. Interestingly, over 5000 260Zs were sold in Australia, twice the sales figures for the UK market!

On the competition scene works 240 and 260Zs were entered in 22 world rally events, though with only two victories — the 1971 and ’73 Safari Rally. In the US, drivers like John Morton and Paul Newman won races and national championships. The Samuri and the Turbos aren’t forgotten, either. Long’s next volume will take the story on from the 300ZX, but if you have any interest in what was known for a long time as the successor to the Big Healeys, you will enjoy this book.