If you were shopping for a sporty, gadget-packed brown wagon in 1981, this car was unbeatable.
Murilee MartinThe first half of the 1980s were good times for American car shoppers seeking a luxurious Japanese station wagon with rear-wheel-drive and a big straight-six engine, because Toyota offered the (Supra-cousin) Cressida and Nissan answered right back with the (Z-Car-cousin) Datsun 810/Maxima. Here’s an intensely brown 1981 810 Maxima, found in a Denver-area self-service yard.
Murilee Martin
The 810 name was taken from the series number of the Nissan Bluebird of the late 1970s and only used as badging for North American cars. By 1979, the 810 was really a 910, and the Maxima name was added starting in 1980 (the Maxima badge was pried off this car before I found it). Just to confuse everybody further, Nissan began the transition away from the Datsun name at this time, so you would see “by Nissan” badges on Datsuns until 1983 or 1984. The 810 name went away here starting in 1982, and you can still buy a new Maxima to this day.
Murilee Martin
While this engine looks just about identical to the 2.8-liter straight-six found in the 1981 Datsun 280ZX, it’s actually a 2.4-liter version rated at 120 horsepower (the Z had 135). This car weighed just 2815 pounds (quite a bit less than the current Sentra), so it moved well enough for its era.
Murilee Martin
The cassette deck on the “Super Sound System” has an analog tape-position counter, which was a really unusual feature in a car audio system. This car has the Voice Warning System, which uses a tiny phonograph record to play warning messages, so it goes without saying that I bought it for my hoard collection.
Murilee Martin
Japanese cars of this era were easy prey for the Rust Monster, and this car has some nasty corrosion. I didn’t look underneath, but I’ll bet there’s some alarming iron oxide to be seen on control-arm brackets and so forth.
It’s the first car that speaks to you!
There’s a lot going on with this JDM Bluebird ad.
Keyword: 1981 Datsun 810 Maxima Is Junkyard Treasure