I don't doubt that some of the steel may have not been as good in the older datsuns, I think by the 80's the steel was as good as anybodies.

that was a complaint of all asian cars till they took over in the 80's people said they were made of old beercans, maybe so, but they tended to overengineer, so it lasted.

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Iv met from some one that use to work on Datsuns back in the day for Datsun. He said something about the Mixture they used for the metal to make datsuns bodies contained too much carbon and Datsuns were very prone to rust. He said when the start rusting, its not little rust spots, rather big chunks at a time.

top heavy? Maybe has a less than ideal center of gravity height with the tall tires and high oem ride height. Not top heavy by today's standards.

you were right that suspension does help with those 90 mph turns, crazy freeway drivers around here got me up to 94.4 mph and it gets more solid feeling as it goes. Someone else decided to try to pass me on the outside of a 2-1 lane merge in a 90 degree right turn where i was next to the kerb ( in the actual lane perhaps, since it's 1 lane there.) i just held 30 and waited for him to wake up and stomp his brakes and get back behind me where he belonged.

do they rust more than other cars? in what conditions?

I have a couple of the worst cars ever books and the 1200 is in one and the 120Y /B210 is in the other but as much as the books blast the Datsuns for rusting both list the cars as indestructable strong runners. The one with the 1200 slams it for being top heavy ,errr I have put mine on 2 wheels twice at autocrosses but I was letting it all hang out with an ignore common sense inspired drive. Read "hey so what if there is an abrupt pavement seem that causes the car to violently snap back the other direction just keep it floored" The course workers were less than impressed as they ran for the hills. We used to run inside of a 1/3 mile oval and without fail the course would involve going down the banking slaming on the flat then back up the banking resulting in a 10 degree of camber chicane................such fun!!!

Tom

the fact that after nearly 30 years and almost 300,000 miles the car is still solid.

maybe because it seems like you can swap parts in these datsuns like legos.

Ok been thinking about this one for a while. Whay one quality keeps you a loyal Datsun owner.

. "Oh look there is a crest on this nice gravel road....sure is quiet while the car is in the air. "hey you realize the motor has been turining 6000 RPM's for the last 2 hours" "Ka-bang.....those FIA kerbs are higher than I remember in turn 3" "that motor , it's only been in the car for 10 seasons"

All of the above are things we/I did to the poor little Datto. I love driving it , the handling and the rev happy motor but for me I can't help but adore the abuse loving nature of the car. Nothing short of total neglect seems to kill a 1200.

Tom