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I was scanning some car brochures and I thought this one could be interesting. It's for the B310 Sunny. Most car importers would use photographs supplied by the manufacturer, but Datsun UK would usually take their own photographs in this country.

The B310 Sunny was called "Datsun Sunny" here, though they also have 120Y/140Y badges on the side for 1.2L/1.4L engine. Often it was called it the "New Sunny" until it was replaced by the B11 model.

When I was younger, I would see these all the time. The B310 Sunny was extremely popular, one of the best-selling Japanese cars in the UK.



This brochure is from early 1979. At the time, you could get the car in four standard grades depending on the body style. Here's the 1.2L 4-door saloon model. In the UK, we refer to "sedan" as "saloon". I'm not sure why, since every other country seems to use "sedan".



There was a 2-door version too. Both had the same specification. You didn't get different grades like L/LX/GLX. Each body style had one grade and one engine type!



The Saloon models had cloth seats.



At the time, these warning lights would seem quite modern. I wonder what would be in the spaces below it.



AM Radio was standard. You can see the Datsun logo on the display. I always thought it was unusual that they put their name on the radio. This means the radio manufacturer would need to make two versions, one with "Nissan" and one with "Datsun".



I like the big "D" on the steering wheel.



We also got the 1.2L Estate. That's our word for "Wagon". It's outside a flower shop, that's a very British scene! The owner didn't park it straight...



Later, you could also get a "Fastback Estate" model with a different body style. The back end was more sporty, like a coupe. You may know it as the Sunny California. I think it's really unusual that you could get two types of very similar body style at the same time.



The Estate grade had black vinyl seats... very uncomfortable on hot summer days, but easy to clean.



Here's the Coupe. This had a 1.4L engine and had some better features. The houses behind are a very 1970s design! These would probably be new houses at the time. My real house is quite similar in style.



In the Coupe, you get a tachometer!



The door card pattern is very cool.



A few years ago, I went to a show and one guy had a B310 with an engine swap.



That's a CA18DET with around 170-200ps!

Anyway, I hope you found that interesting.

I'm writing a new magazine article about various cars. This time, it's about a few 1980s-era hatchbacks of around 1.0L to 1.3L engine.

These are the five cars I think I'll be writing about (I may change my mind).


Subaru Justy (first-generation)

We got the first-generation Justy from 1987 to 1994, only the 1.2L 4WD type. These are quite rare now, in a year I will probably see 2 or 3. In the 1980s, Subaru cars were mostly sold in rural areas so you will see these on farms sometimes. The Justy 4WD was fairly popular, since not many small cars had 4WD at that time. I'm surprised that when I did some research, I can't find many in Japan! Are they rare now?


Nissan Micra (March) K10

These were available for 10 years! We got 1.0 and 1.2 engines, but we didn't get the Turbo or Super Turbo, although I have seen some imported Super Turbos. These were extremely popular, one of the most popular Japanese cars sold in the UK. Even today, I will still see one of these every few days. The fuel economy and reliability is still really good, I think.


Suzuki SA310/Swift (Cultus) SA

I haven't seen one of these for a while! The first type was called "SA310" (3-Cylinder, 1.0L). The later version with different headlights was called "Swift" and they changed to 4-Cylinder 1.3L. Later, we got the GTi version with 1.3L DOHC 16-Valve engine. The GTi is considered a classic performance car here, a good condition GTi would cost about £3000 (¥400,000) now!


Mazda 121 (Ford Festiva) DA

We didn't get the Ford Festiva here, because we already had a popular European-built car, the Ford Fiesta. But we got the Festiva with "Mazda 121" badges sold through Mazda dealers from 1988 to 1991. You could get a 1.1L and 1.3L engine. For a car of this size, a 1.3L engine is a big size, so they are quite fast! There was also an open roof version called "Suntop". These are quite rare because they only sold them for a short time.


Toyota Starlet EP70

The FF type Starlet was very popular and available from 1984 to 1989, but it's rare now. If I'm lucky, I will see 1 or 2 each year. I think they had some problems with rust. In the UK, we only got the 1.0L version. However, it was a 12-valve engine, so it was quite powerful. The main rival was the K10 March/Micra.

I still have a lot to write, but I enjoy looking at old photos of these cars.

I made a video slideshow of some of my old car show photos. I haven't posted many of them here, so some of them may be interesting to you.

I didn't record the dates, but I think they are mostly from 2006 to 2011. A lot of them were taken at a Toyota show, so there's a lot of Toyotas there.

The music was free music from YouTube, haha. I don't know what it is... I just didn't want it to be silent.



You could subscribe, but I don't make many videos. Maybe I should do. I have a camera!



It's VHS, though...

For many years, I've wanted to drive a Subaru Alcyone SVX. I think they're a very interesting car, I love the unusual design and the big Flat-6 NA engine. My friend with the Piazza also thinks so, because he bought one recently and invited me to take a look.

He was in a pub in Chesterfield, about 80km south from me. It's only an hour drive, so I got into my car and went there that same evening. At the moment, I'm using a third-generation Ford Mondeo 1.8 Graphite. It's a temporary car I purchased to clean and sell for more money.



Although this car would be unusual in Japan, I can see hundreds of these every day. The 1.8-litre petrol engine has 125ps, so it's OK, but not very fast. Graphite is a medium grade with nice wheels and a 6CD player. I think it's quite a good car, but I prefer the first and second-generation model, they have better steering. This car feels too "electronic" to me, because of "drive-by-wire" systems instead of mechanical linkage. I like to feel the steering and the pedal response. Anyway, I got there in about one hour and could see the SVX parked outside.



Silver with black roof is a great combination! It looks like a Concept Car from the future. I still think this design looks very modern and exotic. I think the SVX is one of the best looking cars in the world. I would pick this car in the first "Gran Turismo" game all the time, haha!



The back end is nice, with a long horizontal tail light and dual exhaust pipes. I also like the "flared" rear wheel arch. From the back, it looks really wide and low. This kind of Grand Touring car is quite unusual here.



The model sold in the UK was only known as "Subaru SVX", we didn't use the "Alcyone" name. My friend wants to import the Japanese type garnish panel which says "Alcyone SVX", but there's more important work to do on the car first.



For example, the interior needs a lot of cleaning and there's a few missing parts. The car hasn't been driven for a long time until my friend got it. He changed the engine and gearbox oil earlier that day, but if a car hasn't been driven for a long time, you need to drive it for a while before it feels good. We also think the old tyres need to be replaced.



Since the car hasn't been used much, I didn't want to drive it hard. But I did drive around for about 15 minutes and enjoyed the sound of the 3.3L Flat-6 NA engine. The engine is silent until 4000rpm, then it sounds like a Porsche 911! It's great!! It had a lot of torque and the automatic gearbox "kickdown" is really smooth. You can't even feel when the car changes gear. When he is more confident about the car, I'd like to try full acceleration. I'll make a video!



After that I went home, but I stopped to take a photo of the most famous building in Chesterfield, the Church of St Mary and All Saints with its famous "crooked spire".

I'm glad I get to drive so many unusual cars!