This 240SX-Engined Datsun B-210 Has Banished Our Winter Blues

Fans of underrated 1970s Jap metal, you may want to sit down. American eBay has come up with the goods big time, with a B-210 complete with a modified engine and gearbox from a 240SX.

Feast your eyes on classic 1970s panels; the muscle car made small (and cheap) by a company that was still learning the ropes but creating absolute gems without even realising it. What was sold as the much-maligned Sunny in other markets was ultimately perfect for Americans with an imagination and an eye for a project. Cars like the B-210 have aged incredibly well.

This B-210 is from 1977, one of the first of the facelifted versions of the budget supermini. It comes complete with the 5mph crash safety bumper instead of the earlier model’s chrome strip. As standard the 1.4-litre engine managed a respectable 94bhp, but that clearly wasn’t enough for the builder of this project.

He has installed a KA24E engine, better-known as the four-pot 2.4-litre lump from Nissan’s 240SX. Likewise it brings that car’s five-speed gearbox, and the visible components look to be in fine order. But the crowning glory has to be the Weber side-draft carburettors. They look fantastic and we’d be willing to bet they sound great too.

It should be a proper old-school experience to drive, with every noise audible through the thin cabin. It’ll be brisk enough, too. There’s no power output listed in the advert but Nissan forums are full of the rumours of 200bhp or even more being possible. That’s in a car weighing little more than 900kg, for power-to-weight of around 220bhp per tonne. That’s more than a Vauxhall VX220 Turbo…

The seller, who doesn’t seem to be the person who built it, claims the interior looks mostly original. Apart from the gear ‘knob’, anyway. Apparently he’s put new tyres on it and refreshed the brakes, plus he reports a new ignition lock cylinder.

We’re big fans of this sort of thing. The want is strong.