1975 Datsun 120Y review from Australia and New Zealand

Blown engine.

Blown diff.

Broken engine mount.

Crashed into a tree.

Heater didn't work although I am very lazy at changing fuses.

I only knew this car for a short time however we had an instant bond. When I took delivery of it a friend of a friend (the previous owner) had tried to kill it for about two years without success.

The body was in terrible condition thanks to a screwdriver that had been punched through every panel on the car.

I used the car for my CAREER as a pizza boy for about three or four months during which time I gently drove into a tree one night sustaining non fatal damage. OH yeah... ALL pizza boys really do drive like maniacs all the time.

I only ever remember filling the pathetically small fuel tank a few times in four months.

It was quite good mechanically with the exception of the diff which was already on the way out and due to stupid burnout antics I quickly blew it up.

I seized the engine by not checking the oil often enough.

If I actually had a mechanically sympathetic bone in my body my little car would have lasted a very long time indeed.

On the positive side it was only $500 to buy, the new diff cost $80 from a friend and I didn't put much petrol in the tank over it's time with me. It was also a fun little thing to drive, always happy to rev until valve bounce cut in or the steering wheel shake got too bad at around 170 km/h. No really that's what the speedo said.

After the engine died the car was broken into whilst sitting under a tree out the front of my house causing me to get upset and GIVE THE CAR AWAY!! I don't think anyone would have payed me to take it off my hands anyway.

It was rough, cheap, basic, dangerous, uncomfortable, reasonably reliable and a lot of fun. Given a chance though I would definitely buy another. It served me well at the time and I get the same silly grin on my face now just thinking of it, as I did when driving it as a pimply faced teen.