Other Info
The Datsun 1200 was also available in several other countries,
including Finland, USA, Canada, South Africa, Zimbabwe,
Holland, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Costa Rica, etc.
The 2-door Datsun 1200 sedan was never sold in Australia, but was available
in America, Finland and several other countries.
I recently got an email from Tony in Zimbabwe.
His wife has a 1971 4-door Datsun 1200 sedan, which has been in the
family since new.
It still has the original engine (with one major overhaul), and has done
949 000 miles. He was wondering if this was some kind of record.
Chris Snyders from South Africa says that Datsun
1200 GX coupes (with twin SUs) were locally produced in large
numbers from 1972 to 1975.
The Datsun 1200 4 door deluxe (2 barrel Hitachi) and the 4 door GX (SUs)
were also produced.
All versions came with a 4.1:1 diff ratio. Chris still has his A12, but
has replaced it with an A15.
Chris says that the Datsun 1200 ute (called a 'bakkie' in South Africa)
were produced in South Africa from 1971 onwards. The name was changed
to 120Y in 1976, and they had a slight facelift in 1982, with the engine
being swapped for an A14. Since then, there have been more minor changes:
5 speed gearbox, 3.9:1 diff, higher roof, bucket seats, etc. The Nissan 1400 bakkie
is still in production today, and sells at a rate of about 2500 per month.
I've now got a couple of pictures of the South African 1200 ute in my
Datsun 1200 Photo Gallery.
The modern day
South African ute
is still virtually the same as the
Australian 1200 ute produced in the 70s. The dash is still the same as
in the Australian 1200 coupe, although the steering wheel is a bit more
modern looking. The South African 'bakkie' still only has 155R12 wheels.
Gustavo tells me that Datsun 1200s were sold in Portugal
in the years 1972 - 1974. The models available were the 2-door sedan, 4-door
sedan, 4-door deluxe, 4-door GX and the wagon.
Gustavo has a 4-door sedan deluxe with only 110,000 km!
Syed says that "reconditioned" Datsun 1200s were
imported from Japan into Pakistan. The 4 door sedan was imported, and was
apparently different from the normal export market model, and was called
a Sunny 1200. The models imported into Pakistan included the Sunny GL,
Sunny GX, Sunny Deluxe, Sunny Excellent GL and Sunny Excellent GX.
The most common was the Sunny GL 4 door sedan (1972-1973), with an "S" badge
on the centre of the grill, and a GL badge on the left side of the grill.
Matthew Cooley tells me that the Datsun 1200 ute
was sold as a Roadstar in New Zealand upto about 1988, with an A15 and a 5
speed gearbox.
The 1200 ute was also imported into Central America until about 1993, when
emission regulations started getting too tough.
If you have any interesting Datsun 1200 stories for inclusion here, please
email me.
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