Restored King Cab: 1979 Datsun 620
As they (they = people with a lot of experience buying old vehicles) say, always buy the nicest example that you can find, instead of getting something cheap that needs a ton of work. Let someone else do the work and spend the money. This 1979 Datsun 620 King Cab could be one of those cases. I highly doubt if the seller will get their investment back out of this truck, which is good news for the next owner. This beauty is listed on eBay with a current, ridiculously-low bid price of just $2,800 but the reserve isn’t met, of course. It looks like something that you could fly in and drive home from Grants Pass, Oregon.
I often hear that whenever I show an old pickup, people want some storage room behind the seats. Typically I like the look of small cab pickups without the extra cab / super cab / king cab, but they sure do come in handy for hauling your stuff inside out of the elements. Speaking of that, the seller says that this truck originally had a camper shell on the back that protected the box from getting all dinged up and rusty (that sounds like a renaissance festival comedy team). And, like the rest of this restored pickup, the box, or bed, looks like it’s in top-notch condition. The seller says that this Datsun pickup is in “much better than just ‘original’ condition.”
The current owner, the 3rd owner of this truck since it was new, said that they went way overboard on a three-year total restoration. They spent $10,000+ on the restoration and there is no way that they’ll get that out of it, at least I don’t think they will in today’s market. Not that it’s not worth that much, but things haven’t quite caught up to these newer Datsun pickups, especially two-wheel drive versions. Now, if this would have been a 1969 Datsun pickup in this condition, or a 1959, or even a 1949.. ok, maybe that’s a stretch. I hope that the seller gets what they think is a fair price for this one.
Here’s where things go a little south for me, personally. The interior was done up in this mish-mash of bright blue carpet, graduated-gray velour seats, and plaid door cards. I have no clue what they were thinking here, but they must have liked this combination and that’s really what the collector vehicle hobby is all about, making ourselves happy. Can I get an amen on that? I would have gone with matching plaid seats, I think that would have been a much-needed splash of gaudy 1970s goodness. The gray seats are the odd man out here, I don’t see how they fit in what so ever. Those would be the first thing to be redone under my watch. For all of the hype on being a King Cab, there isn’t one photo of the space behind the seats. But, here’s one sort of showing what that space could hold, stuff-wise. The interior sure looks like it’s in superb condition, though.
This is Nissan’s 2.0L L20B inline-four that has been totally rebuilt. According to the seller, this engine has less than 2,000 miles on it and has new “pistons, rings, cam, valves, timing chain, oil pump, ground and polished crank, rods machined, new bearings, water pump, fuel pump, gaskets, Weber Carb and air cleaner, starter, alternator, distributor cap, rotor, plugs, wires, hoses, fuel lines, clutch, belts, fluids, master and slave cylinders, Radiator, and more.” The only things that the seller would do, “would be a front end alignment, most all steering and suspension was replaced but I never had a professional alignment done. Recently on the freeway heard a sound that sounded like the driveshaft center carrier bushing. Hums occasionally at certain speeds. Looked good during rebuild so it wasn’t replaced.” Have any of you owned this generation Datsun pickup? What will the hammer price be on this one? Is it worth $10,000?
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Comments
Nice truck, however, I don’t see one side view picture to determine how long the bed is. Is it a long bed? I presume so.
All you have to do is count the hooks on the bed side …. 4 hooks is a short box , 5 hooks is a long box . All king cabs are short boxes .
All of the early King Cabs were short beds. I had a 77 king cab and converted it to a dually using Appliance Wheels kit. Everybody thought it was factory. Don’t see any now.
Thanks boxdin!
I really don’t care for imported trucks , BUT this is Wonderfully restored ……just not my taste.
Non-original color, painted grill, looks like an interior from “Back Alley Bob’s Upholstery” – I think someone just cheaply tarted this one up for re-sale. Betcha there’s a ton o’ Bondo in her too! The license plate are Oregon re-pops, when new this wouldn’t have had ’em.
Hi Brakeservo, I’m not so sure. People do weird stuff, and someone could very well have stuck $10g’s in this. Only a fool would stick that kind of money into a rust bucket Datsun, so I ‘d imagine, it had to be pretty solid to begin with. And rust they did. Matter of fact, knowing full well the rust issues, didn’t they come out later with a “hard body” saying, making people think they actually had a stronger body,,,which they didn’t.
Grants Pass/Medford/Roseburg USED to be the places
to find cherry used Datsun/Toyotas,but seem harder to find now.
Looks a lovely thing
Well, I’M the guy that Scotty is referring to about standard cab pickups being a waste. And this is hardly an “extended cab”. While I think the “double cabs” are a bit much, unless you need that, I have an extended cab GMC Sonoma, and it fits the bill perfectly. With 2 small fold up jump seats, and with the 2 extra feet, one can recline the drivers seat fully, and stow plenty of gear or groceries, while this, I always thought, was a poor rendition of that. These things ran forever, and in a salt free area, this could very well have 150K ( or more) and still be solid enough to restore. It sure looks nice, though. These were such serious rusters, very few survived. Apparently, someone saved their “Little Hustler”. Nice find, but I’ll stick with my “Gringo” GMC, thank you.
“like a renaissance festival comedy team”
I hope you enjoyed our show! I was Dinged Up.
Well, Scotty, I was mildly interested until I got to the picture of the ’49 Nissan. Think I’ll hold out ’til one of those comes on the market!
I have no association with this seller or vehicle, But I have one of these. I bought mine lightly wrecked with front end damage. Nice runner for $700, Bought some parts off CL and U-Pull-it, and a 1972 Rolling chassis with title. Combined them all and made a 1972 King cab 620. Reason is, in my area I have to pass emissions testing for anything 1975 and newer.
My bed and underside is Rhino/bed liner material, I have a roll bar that does bolt in but most of the time run the canopy instead. Mine has later 240sx or 300zx seats (nicer) and you guys are right. Not a LOT of room back there,, but its a big difference than one without the extra cab room. Room enough for my tool box and luggage when road tripping.
Eventually I will rebuild the 240sx 2400cc motor for it,, running a stock L20 w/ weber & 5 speed. Looking for a header BTW,,
I have had a lot of Datsuns (510s mostly) and love them. Parts interchange is excellent and stuff from 60s to late 90s all interchange. Simple to fix & maintain, This truck listed here is super nice and good candidate for a modern Nissan Leather interior or adapt something else. No real value in a rivet counter restorations. Restomod and have fun. Wish we could still buy NEW Datsuns-Toyotas-GM-Ford vehicles like this with a few upgrades following this simple formula. Not the $30k bling bling garbage today. My wife had a 78 Toyota wagon (old Yeller) and it is far superior to her 2004 Corolla.
hard to get a good pix of the interior,, but heres an attempt at the back seat-extended cab area. As i said,, not a lot extra but better than the std cab. You CAN recline the seats and take a nap (This alarms my passengers on the interstate) or room for luggage, small cooler or tool box. Mines a work in progress but I am into for very little $$$ and exceptional value.
I totally agree with that statement at the beginning of the article. If you’re going to buy a classic car, it’s best to buy the nicest example, one with few problems to have to deal with. My favourite trucks of this period were the Toyota (Hilux) Pickup and the Datsun PL620 Truck. I’d buy either of them if they were as nice as this Datsun. It doesn’t have to be “babied”, but it does have to be carefully driven, always maintained.
If you look at the new paint job you can see this was done in the guys garage. There is a lot of orange peel in it and no real deep of shine. It lacks everywhere on the body.
A friend had one back in high school and was a fun truck but I will stay with my Ford Power Strokes, yes 7.3 guy here.
There’s more than that wrong with the paint – the overspray on the front anti-roll bar is pretty obvious, the color mis-match with the engine compartment just jumps out too. This is not a ‘collector’ truck, but a presentable looking old truck that just ought to be used as a truck again – haul firewood, horse manure or auto parts with it – and enjoy it for what it is – an ultimately (by today’s standards) unsafe, hard riding slow and underpowered relic of our youth! On that basis I like it!
I had a ’78 model Datsun King Cab and it was fun to drive. I kept it for a decade and the only problem was that seam along the side of the bed was prone to rust. The overhead cam engine was extremely durable and our golden retriever fit just fine in the space behind the seats. It was a good basic truck that was very simple to work on and didn’t take up much space. The 4-speed manual transmission was just as tough as the engine. I wish they still made a few straight-forward vehicles like these. When it would snow I would shovel some of the snow from my driveway into the truck bed for added traction and keep on truckin’. Lots of great memories.
10K Restoration and bolt on/wire clamp battery terminals?
I agree about the interior. A few too many colors competing there.
I would rather seen the seats in plaid and a rubber floor mat, or whatever was factory.
I had a ’73 Toyota p/u and it was one of my favorite vehicles and pretty darn bullet-proof considering the heck I put it through. It’s a shame no one makes a real mini-pickup with the simplicity of the older models.
robj
They do make them….we just can’t get them over here. Mahindra, from India, makes several new trucks that are very much like 1980s Toyotas in terms of simplicity and toughness.
On a closer look, I think the front sway bar was painted to match the body and isn’t “over spray”. It’s too even and the clamps/bushings don’t have paint. It’s a custom touch. Part of where they 10k went…
robj
There’s no reason to consider it worth $. It’s a simple solid old truck. The “restore” looks like someone did some handy work from the interior to painting, no big $ spent.
I’m not sure why they wouldn’t just Druve it around? A collective won’t see this pick up and thunk its a real restore. It’s not Concourse or all original 30k mike survivor rust free. It’s a fixed up old pick up that clearly needs more mechanical work.
$3500. Tops. Or just enjoy it and keep it.