Those who are on the hunt for a Datsun in the Netherlands, better have a lot of patience. There are no longer so many Datsunnetjes on the Dutch roads. Today on the digital shelves of In het Wild: an unadulterated Datsun 100A Cherry! We would like to thank Techzle reader Hans Noordzij for his submitted photos. Hans, thank you!
Until 1983 Nissan used the brand name Datsun in its export markets and so the Cherry in these photos is secretly a Nissan. The model photographed by Techzle reader Hans Noordzij is a 100A Cherry from 1974, a model of the first generation! That first generation Cherry has claimed a special place in Nissan’s history books. It is not only the predecessor of the Sunny and ultimately the Almera, it is also the first front-wheel drive car of the brand.
The first Datsun Cherry (E10) was introduced in 1970 and, like the second generation Cherry, was available in various shapes. Although the white car in the photos with its fairly flat rear window looks a bit like a coupé, it is really a two-door sedan. In addition to the two-door, there was also a four-door (photo 3), but that did not complete the family. She also supplied Datsun de Cherry as an actual coupé (photo 4) and as a three-door station wagon (photo 5).
Datsun 100A Cherry Coupé
The coupé version was the only Cherry to get a 68 hp 1.2 as power plant, the displacement of which was translated to the type designation: 120A. The two-door Cherry in these pictures has a 998 cc four-cylinder 59 hp as its beating heart and that logically gave the sedan the addition of 100A. Although less than 60 horsepower is quite mediocre by current standards, you should not forget that this 100A Cherry puts less than 700 kilos in the scale. The Japanese had to be able to reach a top speed of 140 km / h in this capacity.
Datsun 100A Cherry ‘Wagon’
The large rust monster seems to slowly but surely get a grip on the creamy white carriage of the now 46-year-old Datsun, although it is rather startling that this is only now happening. The second generation Cherry (F10) arrived in their homeland Japan in 1974. It would take until 1976 for the Cherry ‘F-II’ to show its wider snout in Europe.