Nissan skipped straight from the 510 to the 520 — the "420" in between was never used because it sounds just like the Japanese word for "rudeness."
Lead trim: 1.3 L J13 (67 hp) · up to 94 hp
Nissan Truck520/521 · 1965–1972
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FactNissan skipped straight from the 510 to the 520 — the "420" in between was never used because it sounds just like the Japanese word for "rudeness."
The Datsun 520 was built from May 1965 to May 1968, then facelifted as the 521 (June 1968 to 1972); the 420 designation was skipped because it is a homophone for the Japanese word for "rudeness". The 520 used the new 1.3 L, 67 hp J13, with two headlights in 1965–66 and four from 1967, and shared most of its sheet metal with the Datsun 410/411. The 521, with a "flat-deck" look, took the J13 or the larger J15 (77 hp), later a 95 PS L16, always on a straight rear axle. Single cab (520/L520), long-wheelbase G520, double-cab U520 and delivery-van V520 bodies were offered; the Sunny Pickup Truck of 1967 shared dimensions at Nissan Saito Store dealers and the 1968 Datsun Cabstar took heavier loads. The 521 was the first compact half-ton pickup sold in the American market, in 1968.
Collectors Spotted in the Nissan Truck Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Nissan Truck yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
3 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.3 L J13 (67 hp) | 1965–1972 | 1.3 L Inline-4 | 67 hp | — | — | RWD | — | — |
| 1.5 L J15 (77 hp, 521) | 1968–1972 | 1.5 L Inline-4 | 77 hp | 87 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| 1.6 L L16 (94 hp, 521) | 1968–1972 | 1.6 L Inline-4 | 94 hp | 95 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
This truck's two body styles had two different home countries: the regular cab was designed in Japan, but the King Cab's styling came out of Nissan's own studio in San Diego.
Nissan's stripped-down, fuel-sipping MPG trim of the 720 pickup was tuned so aggressively for mileage that it was banned from sale in California over emissions.
Nissan's 620 pickup was the first Datsun truck ever offered with an automatic transmission — every model series before it, all the way back to the start, was manual-only.
Nissan skipped straight from the 510 to the 520 — the "420" in between was never used because it sounds just like the Japanese word for "rudeness."
Datsun built a one-piece cab-and-bed "Sports Pick-Up" version of the 320 so rarely that only about 1,000 were ever made.
A year after launch, this little Datsun truck was already crossing oceans -- 200 units shipped to Spain in 1956, among Nissan's first-ever products sold in Europe.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
The GMT400 split the twins for good: 1988 was the year "C/K" became Chevrolet-only badging, while GMC's version of the very same truck became the Sierra.
GMC found 10 extra horsepower in the Sierra All Terrain X's 5.3L V8 with nothing more than a performance exhaust, no other changes needed to go from 355 to 365 hp.
This Sierra kept rolling off the line for a full extra year after its replacement arrived - badged "Classic" in 2007 just to tell the two generations apart on dealer lots.
When this GMT900 Sierra launched for 2007, GM kept selling the outgoing truck alongside it, badged "Classic," so buyers could choose old or new side by side on the same lot.
Toyota showed it as the T150 until Ford sued over the likeness to the F-150, and the production truck was renamed Tundra.
A Louisiana owner put over a million miles on his 2007 Tundra in eight years; Toyota gave him a new truck and took his apart to study it.
Toyota's Texas Tundra plant sits on land bought from the state's oldest working cattle ranch, and the 1794 Edition is named for the year that ranch was founded.
Its launch colours had pun names such as "Anti-Establish Mint" and "Freudian Gilt", sent to Lee Iacocca by a friend.