Hi everyone, i've read through this topic and i keep thinking that back in the day when they build our datto's they were build to last, the only big issue is rust to the bodywork.
I still believe that the new cars of today won't last near as long as our old datto's which, quite a few is 35 years and some older.
I have a bit of experience with cars and the new cars with all the "fancy" electronics can be quite expensive and somewhat a pain in the but to repair, and some of which spare parts can be quite difficult to come by.

My thoughts are that Datto's were not built to last. Japanese cars of the 70's and 80's were made out of metal that had been recycled many times hence the rust in many of these.
The new cars today could last as long as Datto's if they are looked after and maintained. Some 5 year old 4 cylinder cars have clocked up over 300,000 k's which is more than a lot of Datto's ever did.

I bet ivans done more than 300000km and blown a few rings and seals.

datsuns were built to a price and not built to last no cars are built to last as that defeats manufacturers making new models to replace old ones.
enjoy them while they last and before the fun police have us all driving priuses

I dont totally agree with Ivans last statement. Most cars now are made from recycled steel. Plus we are a nation that practically lives on the coasts. Lucky we dont live in some parts of Asia cause I bought a 1yr old car from Hong Kong once that was absolutely riddled with rust and corrosion because of the salt on the roads. And when my datto was my daily driver for about 5 yrs, I think I clocked up over 1000 km a week.In the early to mid 70's, most familys only had 1 car and they were garaged, now adays, theres probably 3 to 5 cars per household so i'd expect alot of cars are left out in our wonderful climate.I think they have done a superb job lasting as long as they do. I would like to see a Hyundai in 40yrs !!

The biggest gains in longevity as far as engines go specifically, is the improvements in oil technology, and primarily engine management. More precise fuel metering means less excess fuel in the cylinders. This is typically attributed to things like washing away the micro oil film on the bores, esp with cold starts, but from info I've been shown more recently, it's just as like combustion byproduct contamination and it's exposure to the cylinder walls (and possibly getting into the oil past the rings. Noticeably, lpg powered engines, properly built will last as long or longer than even efi engines.

I'm not totally sold on the rust thing. I used to have arguments in aus.cars in the mid-late 90s about this, as people wre claiming that new cars (for the time, EA/B fords) weren't going to rust like earlier cars have. I made the point that it was only because they were still new enough that rust wasn't appearing. I also made a bit of a case for the fact that a lot less cars were likely garaged in the 70s, and by the time a car gets 10-15 years old, even if the house has a garage, usually the 'newer' car goes in there and the old datto (or whatever) that is now driven by the teenage kids gets parked out in the elements. Looking at things now, tehre's no shortage of vn/ea falcadores with what is close to terminal rust.

I'm not suggesting that the dattos are indestructible, but they ain't too bad I think. my main coupe is now over 40 years old and whilst the paint has finally faded and there's just not enough left to cut it a further time, aside from a few small spots of surface rust, it doesn't actually have significant or 'real' rust anywhere at all. It's fairing a lot better than any valiant or torana built around the same, with similar garage/carport history.