1978 Datsun Violet 140J from UK and Ireland - Comments

I discovered small areas of rust bubbling up around the boot-lid when I got it home. I should have done a better job of inspecting it before I bought it.

When I sold it the old Violet was consuming a lot of oil, I was topping it up every couple of weeks.

It has to be the most boring looking car I've owned, you could lose it in a large-ish car park.

Handling wasn't particularly good, but the steering and gearbox were OK.

Performance was only so-so, it didn't like to be rushed.

The Violet, in case you can't remember it, was a compact-mid size saloon that was bigger than a Sunny, but smaller than a Bluebird. I believe it was replaced by the Nissan Stanza.

I too had a 140j Violet it was the first car I bought, same thing happened to me and I bought it off a so called friend,

it drank oil if it was going out of fashion, until I had the piston rings replaced, 1976 was the year of registration. Luckily I worked for a Nissan agents so some parts were gratis, after a lot of care and attention it got me allover the south of England she never let me down once.

Three pips to my little violet.

I had a 140J a few years ago and I loved it, I swapped my Opel Ascona 1.9sr for it as the old Opel was just way too thirsty, at 1st I thought it was just a car, a means of transport, but it didn't take me long to fall in love with it, mine was a late '78 S reg and the only thing that went wrong with it in the 3 years I had it was the diff and that was my fault for dropping the clutch once too often... you live and learn!

I came across a 160J for sale in the local paper for spares or repair so I thought it would be a good source of parts for mine, when I was'nt until I went to look at it that I realised it was a 160J sss coup

I have a Datsun 610 (180B in AU/ UK). It looks excellent. Check it out at :

http://cardomain.com/id/jaimesix.

I just purchased a Datsun Violet here in US. It is known as the Datsun 710. 2 door fastback. Looks excellent. Needs engine work, but the body is rust free. I am excited. I love the shape of it, and it is so rare nowadays, it is a jewel.

Check my Car-Domain page, soon I will add the 710 to my garage. It is an excellent car. My 610 (180B ) has an L 20B engine OHC. The 710 has a L18 engine, also OHC.

I love Datsun cars, and the Datsun violet (710) is a beautifull car, with history, used in road racing and rally competition all over the world. If you have a Datsun 710, restore it, and their value is going up, it is not just cool, it is an investment.

Jaime.