For Immediate Release
September 24, 2012 – In a press conference held earlier today at Kennedy Space Center, NASA officials announced the successful launch of their newest unmanned spacecraft, SpaceShip Xterra. Unlike most satellites which are sent to far off planets or celestial bodies, SpaceShip Xterra is on a terrestrial mission to monitor our own planet Earth.
Scientists reported that they had no trouble establishing a communication link with the satellite thanks to the giant fucking antenna mounted to its front bumper. The satellite is just beginning its surveying mission which is scheduled to last 3 years or 36,000 miles (whichever comes first).
Way back when, before all Nissan Hardbodies sported a set of Escalade wheels there was the Datsun 720. I wasn’t sure what this thing was at first, just some old Nissan truck. I’d seen it around town a couple times, once down 32nd Street, and again around 19th and Union Hills. Recently I was finally able to get a closer look and still couldn’t tell what it was, there was no badging so I had to research it a bit. Apparently these trucks were sold as the Datsun 720 from 1980 to 1982 and switched over to Nissan 720 until production ended in 1986.
I’m not sure what the factory or dealership options were when these things were new but regardless of that I’d like to think that the original owner responded with a simple “all of them” when asked.. this including one hell of a graphics package (that’s almost, but not quite, as gaudy as what Ford offers for the Raptor). Don’t get me wrong though, I like it, it screams early 1980’s and I love it for that.
I can’t quite put my finger on how I would like to stereotype the driver of this truck. In fact, after about ten minutes of waiting to greet the driver I determined that I don’t actually want to know what they are like and went on my way. Whatever assumption you have about the owner of this truck is a fact (it’s more fun this way).
It’s good to see something old, clean, driven, and not beat to piss. I’m sure its offroading days are long gone, especially with those street tires, but you never know.
It’s a curiosity for sure.
A couple interesting notes I found in my research:
– In 1959 Datsun became the first company to import a compact truck to the US
– Only 10 or so trucks were imported that first year
– In May of 1986 the 720 was replaced by the Hardbody
I’m pretty thrown by this. I’ve been researching the history of the Nissan Sentra for about an hour now and I didn’t really expect to find any “GTR” trim levels. Well, there never was one, obviously. I knew that even if there was a GTR, it certainly wouldn’t have been so, well, …garishly appointed, but I thought maybe this body kit was somehow “inspired” by some sort of real model somewhere. There was a Sentra GTS that was released only in the Philippines, but from what I’ve seen of it, the package didn’t include any kind of uncomfortably vague Subaru inspired body kit/ground clearance package. Also, “R” is not the same letter as “S”.
Then there’s the fact that it wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense to name your top of the line supercar after a trim level of one of your most underwhelming cars of all time. It’s bad for your image. The opposite also holds true. I mean, imagine if Chevy were to put out one of the best cars anybody had ever made, and then a couple years later pumped out an S10 with an identical, but numerically higher model designation than the Corv- …um…hypothetical car. People would think they were smoking crack and everyone would stop buying American cars and everything would turn front wheel drive and all the cars will look like soulless plastic lumps of plastic coal on plastic wheels. Just imagine.
I’ve never heard of these things before. Honestly, I didn’t even know there was a second generation of the Explorer Sport Trac. Apparently this started out as a stereo package for the Sport Trac and morphed into this “appearance-package” atrocity starting in 2008. Based off what was meant to be an SVT-lead performance truck, that idea was apparently scrapped, but kept the 2005 GT-R concept grille treatment. Something nowadays many other manufacturers can’t seem to avoid stealing as well (I’m looking at you SRT team).
So basically this thing is all show and no go. Being as it’s a quad cab with a pathetic excuse for a bed -and built from the Explorer platform- I shouldn’t be surprised that this is basically what you would call a “lifestyle” vehicle. Which I suppose is a nice way of saying that it’s only meant to look like its sporty and utilitarian, instead of actually being sporty and utilitarian. It’s a mechanical cod piece. I also shouldn’t be surprised that the lady driving this looked like she was off to get the kids from soccer practice, driving in a part of town that is exclusively new, upper-middle class suburbs.
During a year where Ford was making the Five-Hundred, Fusion and Taurus (fleet only) all at the same time, I feel comfortable in saying that this was the most useless, outdated and foolish-looking vehicle in their line-up. I hope it’s rarity ensures that I never have to notice another one and think “Oh, what the fuck?”
Welcome back to Driven, where we feature cool cars found in hotel parking lots that are actually driven! Today we have a naturally aspirated 2+2 300zx. It has a beautiful interior, metallic brown paint and a manual transmission! Judging by the lack of a Datsun badge, 50th Anniversary Edition-styled steering wheel, Leather interior and steering wheel controls, we can decipher that this is more than likely a 1985 GLL-trim model.
The car you see here is powered by a SOHC 3.0L V6 that managed to make 160hp in it’s naturally aspirated form, according to Nissan. Not too shabby considering a 5.7L v8 nearly twice it’s size could barely manage similar numbers with exception to the brand-new L98 TPI mill for the 1985 model year.
For Immediate Release
