HELLO EVERYBODY. I JUST CAME ACROSS A 521 IN NEAR PERFECT CONDITION. I BOUGHT IT FROM THE ORIGINAL OWNER. ANYWAYS I WAS WONDERING WHAT KINDA VALUE THESE TRUCKS HAVE. ITS A NICE TRUCK BUT IM NOT SURE IF I WANNA KEEP IT.

umm i don't wanna sound harsh or mean or anything but you should probably just go ahead and find somebody that can appreciate the truck and get it off your hands... i've personally gotten aggrivated at the general public of late and at the exhorbitant amounts that people are paying for vehicles, and that now all of a sudden people are buying up old collector cars for their "retirement fund". just because barret jackson got all popular and some crazy millionaires bought some cars for insane amounts of money... it doesn't mean that every car you buy that was built before 1980 should be bought and frame off resto'd and offered for sale for a million bucks... these datsuns were meant to be driven, used for work and def not to be bought and sold like a stock. then again this is how i feel about most vehicles... maybe i've got it all wrong. but you should prolly sell that 521 to somebody that will appreciate it on the road for years to come and go get yourself a belair or 'glass deuce... ... just my two cents.

[user=364]nipper[/user] wrote: [quote]umm i don't wanna sound harsh or mean or anything but you should probably just go ahead and find somebody that can appreciate the truck and get it off your hands... i've personally gotten aggrivated at the general public of late and at the exhorbitant amounts that people are paying for vehicles, and that now all of a sudden people are buying up old collector cars for their "retirement fund". just because barret jackson got all popular and some crazy millionaires bought some cars for insane amounts of money... it doesn't mean that every car you buy that was built before 1980 should be bought and frame off resto'd and offered for sale for a million bucks... these datsuns were meant to be driven, used for work and def not to be bought and sold like a stock. then again this is how i feel about most vehicles... maybe i've got it all wrong. but you should prolly sell that 521 to somebody that will appreciate it on the road for years to come and go get yourself a belair or 'glass deuce... ... just my two cents.[/quote]WELL SAID!  Though I'm not sure it really applies here.  I don't get the feeling that Jeebus20 is trying to do what you imply but there are many others out there that do!

NIPPER, I UNDERSTAND WHERE YOU'RE COMING FROM. DON'T GET ME WRONG, I DO APPRECIATE THIS LITTLE TRUCK. MY INTENTIONS ARE NOT TO RESTORE THIS TRUCK AND SELL IT FOR AN INSANE AMOUNT. FIRST OFF I CAN'T AFFORD TO DO THAT. SECOND, IF I DO SELL IT, IT WILL BE DUE TO NOT HAVING ENOUGH KNOLEDGE ON REPAIRS AND PARTS AVAILABILITY ON THIS TRUCK. BUT SO FAR THINGS ARE LOOKING GOOD. I HAVE A WATER PUMP ON ORDER AND A CLUTCH MASTER AND SLAVE CYLINDER COMING SOON. OK, WELL THANK YOU FOR YOUR THOUGHTS. AND I'LL BE POSTING MORE INFO AND PICS ON THIS LITTLE ONE LATER. 

I'll give you 100.00 for it...if you stop shouting with CAPS...then I'll make it 200.00:D

[user=4]71-521[/user] wrote: [quote]I'll give you 100.00 for it...if you stop shouting with CAPS...then I'll make it 200.00:D[/quote]
That would be quite a deal. I've seen the detail photos of this truck and it's amazing in it's originality. I've spent a healthy bunch just bringing mine up to almost the same level.

Oh.... my bad. I'm not very familiar with the whole online linguo thing. I'll try not to do that again. And I'm going to have to pass on your offer. Thanks anyway.

[align=left]JEEBUS 20,

If you want to do me a huge solid, I'd like to buy it to restore & show it. Instead of hoarding or collecting cars, I put them out on the show car circuit (Hot Import Nights, Import Xpressions, and others) so enthusiasts can enjoy them. I am fortunate to have clients -- automotive aftermarket companies -- who feel the same way, and that's why we find 'vintage' cars and trucks that maybe a lot of the kids have never seen before & we show them what can be done without having to buy a new Toyota that's $18-$25K before you do anything to 'em.

Feel free to give me a call or email me back. My number is: 828-898-5071, and my email address is [email protected]. The name of my company is Roadhouse Marketing, and we've been SEMA members for over 10 years.

Thanks!


Jason R. Sakurai


P.S. The Versa is a car we just did for the SEMA Show in Las Vegas in less than a week, earning the praise and respect of Nissan North America.
[/align]

spdnmotion, it sounds like you do the very thing that nipper was talking about in the second  post of this thread.  He doesn't appreciate it and niether do I.  It doesn't exemplify the general spirit of this site, IMO.  Your first post here is to champion a commercial venture which comes of as spam to me.

Jeebus, I have no idea why you're getting so much flack for owning this truck!  Hoarding? Why are they using that word? Am I "Hoarding" my 5 Datsuns? Gee I thought I was "Enjoying" them!

I can only guess that they are perhaps trying to push you to sell to them.

As for me, I can say with much confidence that if you bring that baby to next years Classic Japanese car show, I will not be bringing home the Best Datsun Truck award home. Even so, I'd still rather it be there.

Speaking for myself, I wasn't giving jeebus20 a hard time.  I have three Datsuns of my own.  I was responding to the interloping ricer who wants to buy his truck and pimp it.

He wants to make the truck look like What????
to each their own...
I just hope no one scraps/trashes a truck like they did to that poor car!

Hmm, I dont recall seeing that thing at SEMA, but it deff looks to have been built in a weeks time, lol... HIDEOUS! Nice 521 man, wish mine was that straight when I got it.

4k for the truck tho? imo thats kinda out there

[user=316]pucancakes[/user] wrote: [quote]4k for the truck tho? imo thats kinda out there
[/quote]
 I would have gladly paid $4,000.00 for this truck if it had been availible when I was shopping.

Instead I paid $2,000.00 for a truck and spent $3,000.00 getting it to look 3/4 as good.

you got yourself a real gem.  id pay $4000 too.  that truck is in AMAZING condition compared to the ones that ive seen around here in the san fernando valley.  id buy it off you rite now if i wasnt a broke college student (working part time sux).  i get offers all the time for my 77 king cab (which im still trying to register :X) for about $2000 or so and its in OK condition.  i dont think you'll have trouble selling it in socal.  good luck

id take that 4k and put it to a 1600 roadster :P

well i've looked around and 4k is not a bad price. all these people offering $500 should look around and see what kinda trucks they can get for $500. there is this one guy a while back ago selling his 521 for $1000 [i'm not putting his truck down] but it needed major work, and he offers me $1000 for mine. what a joke. lots of people trying to get something for nothing. just my opinion. thank you to all of you for the compliments. at this point im really just going to keep it most likely. the clutch is fixed and the water pump is sitting on my bench waiting to go in this weekend. then i can start driving it. cant wait.

Hopefully you know I was only kidding you about those offers...
That rig is worth a pretty penny....
don't let anyone kid you...
I saw a 520 in primo condition go for less that 4k with bunches of OEM parts and then a few months later showed up on ebay for almost double that without the parts...
If I had the cash, I would give you 4k easy....I know what my truck is like with 97k original miles on  it...:?
Good luck in the sale and if you put it up on ebay, post up the number here so we can watch it with you!

[user=371]JEEBUS20[/user] wrote: [quote]At this point im really just going to keep it most likely. the clutch is fixed and the water pump is sitting on my bench waiting to go in this weekend. then i can start driving it. cant wait.[/quote]
That's the Best thing to Do!! Detail her up and trot her out to the few Datsun shows we have each year. I'd love to see her there.  

hey no worries. as far as selling it. theres one guy i have been talking to. he seems to really want it. if he doesnt buy, then i'm keeping it.

You have a great looking truck. With the cap on it, it's like driving a station wagon. Take the cap off, and you'll grasp the essence of these great little pick-ups. I'm on my third 521 pick-up, and there's no other small pick-up I'd care to have. If you keep it, make it a habit of washing the area under the fenders, over the headlights, front cab mounts, and the recess at the back of the front fenders. These areas will hold dirt and rocks, and if neglected, can rust your truck from the inside, out. Make sure the headlight buckets are clean and draining, and the valance with the directional signals, isn't holding any dirt.  I just finished repairing my '71; with 61,000 actual miles, I had to do major sheet metal work to areas that were barely noticeable from the body surfaces. This truck spent 12 years of it's life stored in a dirt-floored shed in Southern Indiana. Ask any one on this, or any other Datsun Pick-up site, and they'll tell you that when you drive one of these; you get noticed. There's probably  a lot more of these trucks on the road where you live; I lived in Pomona Valley in '71 when these trucks were all the rage. I found my first one in '78 in Northern Illinois.  I now live in Upper Michigan, and I've seen only one other 521 Pick-up anywhere in this area, and none on the road. This is in ten years time. No matter what you are offered for your truck, you'll never be able to replace it with anything that's as much fun to drive. John

[user=423]datsunexcells[/user] wrote

[quote]you'll never be able to replace it with anything that's as much fun to drive. John[/quote]
And that's a FACT!

[user=401]spdnmotion[/user] wrote: [quote]

[align=left]JEEBUS 20,

If you want to do me a huge solid, I'd like to buy it to restore & show it. Instead of hoarding or collecting cars, I put them out on the show car circuit (Hot Import Nights, Import Xpressions, and others) so enthusiasts can enjoy them. I am fortunate to have clients -- automotive aftermarket companies -- who feel the same way, and that's why we find 'vintage' cars and trucks that maybe a lot of the kids have never seen before & we show them what can be done without having to buy a new Toyota that's $18-$25K before you do anything to 'em.

Feel free to give me a call or email me back. My number is: 828-898-5071, and my email address is [email protected]. The name of my company is Roadhouse Marketing, and we've been SEMA members for over 10 years.

Thanks!


Jason R. Sakurai


P.S. The Versa is a car we just did for the SEMA Show in Las Vegas in less than a week, earning the praise and respect of Nissan North America.
[/align][/quote]

 

Wow you must be dealing with people that know nothing about the custom automotive industry if you got praise and respect for what you did to that Versa.  Looks to me like you slapped all the ricer goodies on it, and called it a day, nothing custom about it at all..............

 
Dwight Fahrenthold

www.AcrophobiA.net

I don't think you have to worry much about 'spdnmotion'.  That was his one and only post, thankfully!  And as far as 'earning the praise and respect of Nissan North America', well there's no accounting for taste:D.

[user=371]JEEBUS20[/user] wrote: [quote]well i've looked around and 4k is not a bad price. all these people offering $500 should look around and see what kinda trucks they can get for $500. there is this one guy a while back ago selling his 521 for $1000 [i'm not putting his truck down] but it needed major work, and he offers me $1000 for mine. what a joke. lots of people trying to get something for nothing. just my opinion. thank you to all of you for the compliments. at this point im really just going to keep it most likely. the clutch is fixed and the water pump is sitting on my bench waiting to go in this weekend. then i can start driving it. cant wait.[/quote]
Id still say 4k is a little high.  I bought mine for 2k from the original owner, with 67k miles, and its complete down to the original sales reciept, and all the service records.  By far the cleanest vehicle from 1969 ive ever worked on (and I restore classic cars for a living).  Not to mention i live on the wrong coast to be building datsun (atlanta, GA).  And the funny thing is, i just cut it up!!!

[img]http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/7481/dsc00284xp6.jpg[/img]

I say bring it down to a more reasonable 2-3k and it should sell quick!

Dwight Fahrenthold

www.AcrophobiA.net

Dear Stephen, Dwight and all at Datsun Pickup Lovers,

I didn't join this site to defend what I do or have done professionally. I make a living doing what most enthusiasts pay to do; previously, I worked for Nissan Motor Corp. in U.S.A. (prior to their sale to Renault and change to Nissan N.A.) where I managed dealer incentive programs and in my 'off hours' worked on the desert off road/stadium truck and sports car motorsports programs, and I was the first-ever Director of Sales for the National Hot Rod Association prior to starting my own marketing, advertising and PR firm.

Was the Versa my best work? Not by any stretch of the imagination, but when you're down to as little time as we were given, and I was unable to paint it as I had planned, it's do what you can or show up empty handed. In previous years, I've done a Dodge Dakota pickup (lifted when no one had a kit for it), a Chevy Camaro SS convertible (on the bottle, carbon fiber air intake, full length tube headers, complete Hotchkis suspension, RK Sport body kit, Autopower roll bar, Katzkin interior, DuPont Chromallusion color shifting paint by Pete Santini, Team Dynamics wheels, BFGoodrich tires, etc., etc.) featured in Chevy High Performance magazine &  in Chevy's display at the SEMA Show, a Vortech-supercharged Dodge Stratus (done on a touring car theme, with custom coil overs, TSW wheels, Michelin Pilot tires, custom fabbed roll bar, Recaro racing seats, AutoMeter gauges, Crow Enterprizes harness belts, Safecraft fire suppression system, etc. -- featured in Max Power magazine), a Vortech-supercharged 4-cylinder Ford Ranger, and more. I'm hardly a 'ricer', building my very first car from the ground up, and later working alongside chassis dynamicists, engine builders and fabricators in IndyCar, MTEG Off Road and NHRA race shops.

My point is -- can't we all get along? I wanted to find an early Datsun pickup because I got to Nissan when we were well into the 300ZXs and missed out on the whole 510/240Z/521 era. When I build vehicles and show or race them, it's because I enjoy doing so every bit as much as you do. If I've got a bunch of expensive parts on a vehicle and a pro builder working with me, I often only display it. Having said that, I did a story before on a guy who won the America's Most Beautiful Roadster award at the Oakland Roadster Show, a line foreman at the Fisher body plant in Michigan. He essentially built a 'Darryl Zipp '32 Ford kit car' into one that outdid everybody -- Chip Foose, Roy Brizio, Boyd Coddington, everyone -- through meticulous assembly, attention to detail, a flawless paint job, and a top notch display, so dollars and even a team of builders isn't necessarily the end all.

In closing, I have as much or more to learn from all of you about early Datsun pickups as I might be able to impart about how to get a sponsor, where to find someone who can machine current wheels to fit your early hubs, or who at Nissan can give you the specs on a competition camshaft so a custom cam grinder like Engle can make a part that no longer exists. In closing, if you feel I'm too 'commercial' or that I might in some way threaten the sanctity of this site, I will bow out. Your moderator didn't seem to think my joining would be a problem, but it's entirely up to you. I'm a 10+ year SEMA member in good standing, I recently stepped down after a two-year term as the chairman of SEMA's Sport Compact Council, and I am also a 15-year automotive photojournalist who has written for Truckin', Mini Truckin', Four Wheeler, 4Wheel & Off Road, Off Road, and truckworld.com.

Thanks for your input, regardless. I'll try to do better on the '08 Titan Crew Cab I'm looking to do soon (you guys are a tough crowd!).

Jason

don't take it personally...
everyone has their own opinion...
I've seen rigs sell for 2k+ that I personally wouldn't pay 500 for...
that's just me thought...
not a tough crowd just opinionated ...
to each their own...
nice truck and keep us posted on your progress...
Paul