1975 Datsun 620 Pickup

Toyota and Nissan (Datsun) created the North American compact pickup truck market in the 1970s in spite of stiff headwinds in the form of the 1964 “chicken tax” which also included light trucks.  The small trucks offered by the Japanese were just that good, and that unlike anything available in the domestic market. The 620 carried the momentum of earlier models but with more attractive styling and a more powerful Nissan L-Series 4-cylinder engines that ranged from 96 to 110 horsepower.  Like nearly every Japanese car of the day, Datsun pickups were grievously rust-prone, and outside of the driest parts of California, most had bio-degraded by the end of the Reagan years.

Pre-Hardbody Nissan pickups are excruciatingly rare. Most were used and abused or succumbed to the elements. This 1975 620 somehow survived as a reference-grade piece of automotive history.  Perfection probably doesn’t exist in a 50-year-old Japanese truck, unless maybe Nissan preserved one, but a quick scan of their Heritage Collection in Zama, Japan does not show the presence of a 620, so, this one that shows 17,000 miles might be it.  Could we pick some nits here? Always. The vinyl seats have a few seam splits and some puckering, but the dash is uncracked and the irreplaceable vinyl floor covering (in place of carpet) is completely intact. It’s not cheap, but if you simply must have one of the nicest, pre-Back to the Future Japanese pickups out there, this might be your truck.