Loaded with luxury features plus the 240Z's straight-six engine.
Murilee Martin Murilee MartinThe full name was “Datsun 810 Maxima by Nissan.” For 1982, the 810 name would be dropped, while the Datsun name would hang on through 1983.
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If you like a tan-on-beige-on-brown interior, this car is for you!
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The automatic transmission added $2,050 to the cost of a $7,929 car. That’s like paying $6,550 for a slushbox upgrade on a $23,330 car today.
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It’s probably too late for this AAA sign.
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An auto-reverse cassette deck with tape counter was high-tech for 1981. Note the cruise-control switch below the tape buttons.
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This car has the phonograph-record-based Voice Warning System, but it uses a 1910-style unpowered speaker connected to the stylus rather than the amplifier used in the 1982-1984 version. I bought this one, of course.
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The radio was a separate unit.
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Air conditioning was a pricey option that not many buyers got in 1981, so it was easy to put a block-off plate over the hole for the A/C button in cars not so equipped.
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Cigarette smoking was still very mainstream in 1981, so the lighter shows a smoldering gasper.
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That’s not many miles for 40 years of use.
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The “wire wheel” hubcaps add class.
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The 1981 280ZX had a 2.8-liter L-series engine; this car’s L engine displaces 2.4 liters, same as the original 240Z.
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Keyword: Brown 1981 Datsun 810 Maxima Is the Z-Car of Station Wagons