TWIN REAR WIPERS! Datsun 280C estate, driven in The Netherlands
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- čas přidán 9. 07. 2024
- This was my steed to the truly excellent Japan Classic Sunday event in The Netherlands - a quad-wipered Datsun 280C of the fabled Cedric line. It features a 2.8-litre straight six engine, some clearly American-inspired styling details, seven seats and those amazing wipers. Also contains a number of classic car spots during the test, including a 2CV, Opel Kadett D, Mehari and an AC 2-Litre saloon!
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When i was wee, my uncle had one. It was borrowed by a friend who pressed a button that did nothing. After a drive in a very heavy rainstorm he discovered all his things in the back were soaked because of an open window. 🤣
You know you've hit the big time when you have twin rear wipers or headlight wipers! ⚠️😲😁👍
How about both twin rear wipers and headlight wipers???
Or BOTH!!!!
There were a few here in Australia, but I guess they never really caught on as we we had our own big tanks of wagons (estates) by the likes of Holden (GM), Ford, and Chrysler. I remember driving one for a few days in Iceland when I was doing a photographic job. It didn't impress me all that much, I had a modified Honda Accord at the time. The Datsun reminded me of the Chryslers here with their far to soft suspension and seats, and over plush interiors. Cedric's were very well lampooned by Roy & HG (a pair of comedians) who had a series 2 Cedric as a prize on their Saturday night review show Club Buggery in the late 1990s. There was also a musical backing group called the Nissan Cedrics.
When you step into an old car like that it’s like stepping back in time to that era it’s kinda surreal, I have an old car and everytime I get in it I go back to the early 2000s lol
My Dat had a 1975 Datsun 260c Estate. I was driving in Birmingham, steam was coming out of the expansion bottle making a loud whistling noise, I coaxed it 80 miles back to Wales, puking over, letting it cool and topping up with a watering can in the boot, thank goodness for a proper temperature guage, a local garage skimmed the head fitted a new gasket and it was fine because I didn't cook it, the only other problem he had in 20 years was a leaking rear Brake Slave cylinder
I'll be humming 'holiday roaoaoad' all day now.
A fantastic old barge. That retracting cargo area side window is very clever. Some lesser 1980s Datsuns / Nissan's have an opening 'pop out' C pillar glass panel party trick which seemed like a great idea.
My Dad's 1975 Datsun 260c Estate, had the word 'Custom' on the front wings from what I remember so they were already distancing themselves from the less than stylish 'Cedric'. It took my Dad 10 years of ownership to discover the wired lead light by turning the lens cover on the underbonnet fitted lamp.
Opening boot windows!? That's one of the coolest features I've ever seen.
Nice, but I must admit I was far more excited by the Laurel parked next to it. My grandad had the Laurel just after that one (ca. 1979/80), which was the car that got me into old cars in the first place! 😁
Excellent, just gliding through the Summer landscape. Maybe the car makers can bring back the comfort mode to cars, with the opulence of a supple ride and faux wood panels. Awesome colour combo on this car too. Busy few days HubNut, thank you very much 👍
Try a Lexus!
That is a lovely old bus. I love estate cars of this period. The twin wipers are cool.
I recall that the saloon version of the 430 generations (and possibly the earlier ones too) were used as taxis in Hong Kong where I grew up. Earlier and later versions were possibly used too, but I don't recall off hand. I was quite fond of the styling of the 430 saloons, with the small window in the C-pillar and the "slanted rectangle" looks of the front indicator lights, and the forward slanting rear end which I thought looked quite modern at the time.
My Dad had one of these Nissan Cedric Estates a 1984 example he used as a taxi in the late 80s it ended up doing over 400,000 miles, it ended up retiring due to a cracked block but up till then ran beautifully, they were quite rare then
I like estate cars a lot and that’s a nice one. Opening rear side windows in the cargo area makes so much sense. Doing both sides would be more convenient and overcome the driving side of the road issue, too. Dash dials reminded me of an ‘82 vintage Datsun Pickup I had many years ago. 👍🏻
(Sing to tune of wheels on the bus) 'The 280C on the road goes floaty floaty float, floaty floaty float, floaty floaty float, etc.....' 😅 Living with 3 small children obviously has no effects on me whatsoever! Thoroughly enjoying the tan and the scattergun switchgear, great stuff!
I love your careful wording 'took inspiration from'. Copied is another word that springs to mind re: 70's/80's Japanese cars
A lovely example of a lovely car. A neighbour had one in midnight blue back in the early 80's, and it was generally considered to be the best car in the street. My mum drove it when the owner kindly loaned it to some mutual friends (in the street) as their wedding car!
I recall in the 1980's in Queensland that Cedrics seemed to be everywhere but the oddest of a odd bunch was a mustard yellow one with a Diesel engine. 😁
Love the big Japanese cars of the 1970s and 80s. When walking to school in the 70s ( that dates me) I used to pass a house in the driveway of which was invariably parked a Datsun 230 Cedric. I just loved the American like styling of that car with its big tail lamps. At the same time a work colleague of my father owned a Toyota Crown estate car, both were great cars in my opinion and very much of their time.
I love the design of these cars, they've got that USA look from the 70's. But the interior is pure geometric Datsun !!
It's unlikely this era of design will ever be copied, so these are highly original.
Back in the 70's I had a 280Z and I always wanted an shooting break version I've never seen a 280c .
Almost a tobacco leaf interior, and your right that dash is so American along with the no idea ergonomics.
Car interiors have got a bit dull these days with a sea of black or grey :(
I always liked MAZDA 929 estate Never Kew Datsun did one of these,s Always had a softspot for them Love wagons,
Did the mazda 929 even come with a rotary option like the RX7 ? And was the hyundia steller related to it or was it the mk2 granada ?
I also really like the 929 estate looked like a tank.
@@chrishart8548 there was an RX-9 in some markets (not sure which)
Nice one Ian, I don't recall knowingly ever seeing a Datsun Cedric in the flesh of any version. Very interesting cars to say the least. Some clever features and maybe not quite so clever ergonomics for the operation. It's quite an education for me today so many thanks for sharing Ian.
The Cedric was sold in Australia under the Nissan brand. It was a slow seller --- mainly because of the "Cedric" name --- hence the change to 260C/280C/300C moniker.
I am 67 years old and l have seen many Nissan Cedrics in Australia also they continued in Japan with Cedric and l did see a JDM Cedric in Sydney it looked resonably modern it was years ago
Brilliant video Ian 👍 what a beautiful car love it that will still be running when my Peugeot 208 as gone the way of the dodo
This brings back memories!. I went to school in the Shetland Islands and my geography teacher (this would have been mid 80's) had a 300C estate (which replaced a 180B/Bluebird estate), it was dark green and had alloy wheels, along with the twin rear wipers. Can't really say why twin rear wipers were so impressive (times were simpler then?!), but my Dads MK2 Granada estate only had the one🙁!.
About 20 years later working at a garage in Wigan, I valeted two identical Toyota Camry estates (3rd gen), they also had twin rear wipers👍
The 300C wagon didn’t have twin rear wipers 👍
i had a Cedric 300c Saloon i loved it.. most cars came to uk around the same year, C reg i think looking back. beautiful...
The ultimate archetypal 1980’s land barge. Love the rear window and retractable lamp in the engine bay. No surprises with the acceleration test - Nissan are renown for its torquey engines 😀
Back in 1983, I, and a couple of colleagues working in Brunei, rented a 280C saloon for a year. Lovely big, comfortable, wallowy car. Never seemed to be accelerating quickly, but somehow picked up speed relentlessly.
This reminds me of my 1st car, a 1977 Datsun 810 wagon (United States). It seems like a cousin since the 280c was never sold here.
There's certainly one of these round where I live but it's only an occasional sight. The speaker in the front for the radio and two in the back for a cassette player was also a feature of my lowly B310 Sunny Fastback Estate - which was the same colour as this 280C.
oh wow, my girlfriend had one of these back in the early nineties, she had three dogs and they would all sit in the back with the window down for ventilation. We would load the teenage kids and dogs in the back and go on midnight 'ghosthunting' expeditions in the nearby Newstead Abbey {home of Lord Byron}. I only got to drive it on one occasion and that was when she had terrible PMT. She asked me to drive it the grand old distance of about 1 mile and she watched me like a hawk as I drove it, it was her pride and joy!
I absolutely love this car.
Neighbour had a 1990s Toyota Camry wagon here in Australia with twin rear wipers!
Those big Nissans - Datsuns are sooo so cool!
Lovely. I had a 300C for a week in the mid 80's. As a 21 year I really enjoyed driving it to anf from London. Remember hitting an indicated 135mph ,,
What a brilliant car. I wish there are more of them.
Wow, what an interesting car Ian, that interior! Always loved estates, especially the quirky Japanese stuff. Thank you for a great in-depth video dude.
That light/indicator and wiper stalks were on most 80s Datsun/Nissan products - the Patrol, Pulsar, Bluebird and 280C! As were the door lights…
I remember being a child and a man our housing estate in the early 80's had one of these and we as kids thought it was American due to its size but me knowing cars was confused because it was RHD and had a Datsun badge, I never got to find out until later on in life.
Looks like Nissan stylists went to the USA and took photos of an Oldsmobile station wagon, will watch Doug de Muro’s video of the Oldsmobile after this
I just lerrrve the twin rear wipers. Fantastic.
The most amazingly smooth and huge Japanese estate I ever drove was a Mazda 626 (?), lent to me by the principal harpist of a symphony orchestra - there wasn't a Volvo big enough to take a concert harp at the time. Fantastic car. They shd make them still for people who like to be comfortable while driving.
The 929 was the largest Mazda estate, though it was a bit smaller than the Cedric (it competed with the Nissan Laurel and Toyota Cressida)
I guess you can always learn something new; I had never seen quarter windows that could down and up, just the sliding type or the little ones that pop out.
Wow! That brings back memories of working as a young mechanic for 10 years at a Datsun/Nissan main dealer. I can still remember the waftness and the lightness of the controls of the 280C and 300C even now. Those front wipers most definately are not supposed to be like that! Thank you for another great video, Ian.
Love this, my dad had a burgundy one back in the early 90s, with the wonderful beige interior. Such a nice car to waft about in.
another great video has always Ian and miss hubnut and hublets and hubmutts 👍
Nippon time again! These cars are absolutely my cup of tea. Brilliant! Thanks Ian and see you soon on this channel...
That looks like a great thing to have been able to play about in! The beigeness is both terrifying and wonderful at once. And all those buttons and switches! Love the side window thing in particular. If I had a garage I'd happily have something like this I'd just roll out when I needed the extra space.
Wonderful detailed review of an amazing car! Both the Cedric & Gloria made it well into the 2000's. The powered side window is an example of what truly made Japanese cars so interesting to myself.
It would be interesting to hear the story of where the Gloria name came from.
@@caw25sha the Gloria was originally made by Prince. After Nissan bought Prince, the Gloria became a modified Cedric.
Very nice Mr Hubnut.. i am developing a very unhealthy addiction to estate cars... and watching this video is totally not helping . just a stunning car
Estate cars are ace, I've had 12 so far and having the practical car in a fleet allows you to have some really bloody silly ones 👍
I've always had estate cars given the choice. I've regretted every hatchback. I've had an escort mk3 estate. Focus mk1.5 estate, astra mk2 Estate 3 door 1.4 and astra mk3 estate 1.8 16v sport. And a mondeo mk4.5 estate diesel power shift titanium-x.
I've always loved estate cars and recently bought a Chrysler 300c estate. Loads of room 👍
What a high tech ish little wagon. Love it - especially the lowering side window. Shocked at the LHD - I do not recall these here in Canada
Thank u Ian , great video
Really good. Old japanese cars are becoming very rare indeed.
Nice specimen. And as usual a video in your HubNut style. Very informative with in depth info.
Great content 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Excellent review as always Ian, headlamp washers, twin rear wipers, pure Hubnut..
I personally absolutely love this car and you have to appreciate and admire such a vehicle 💛
I can't remember ever having seen a Datsun 280 C or Cedric in the flesh, I do remember seeing lots of Datsun or Nissan Laurel in the late 1980s/early 1990s as they were cheap in those days, but that is a different car. Currently there are only 2 registered and only one is road legal, which is this one (the other is a Diesel automatic). Very nice!
brilliant car brings back good memorys of the one my dad had you could ajust radio from back on ours better in rhd
Just stunning!
To coin a modern term, this car is Awesome!!!!
My Nissan Micra K10 had the same choke. Only needed in cold temperatures (10c and below) and only very briefly.
Indicators left on Japanese old cars is completely normal in the Netherlands. The only car I ever drove with Indicators right is a DAF, which is Dutch. Because logic.
Japanese cars were so nice in the seventies. What went wrong...
Thos rear wipers make me so happy!
Lovely video :)
It's the Japanese Family Truckster.
I'm glad you featured this Nissan. My uncle had one of the earlier versions & i remember my aunty scooping up the bags of shopping through the side window. I'd forgotten which car/wagon it was as another uncle had a Cedric sedan which he traded for a Toyota Crown wagon.
The key operated window was a "missed opportunity" for mums on shopping day.
This sounds wonderful and is delightfully quirky. My grandad had a 1988 Nissan Laurel 2.4SGL saloon and it was beautiful. Silky smooth and very advanced for the time compared to contemporary cars. Twin rear wipers…. Decadence personified.
I owned a 280c estate In the late 80s. An amazing car with a straight six and a three speed slush matic auto. A real people mover. I maxed out at 15 passengers from memory on the way to a party one evening. But it was very prone to rust.
We had lots of 280C saloon diesel in Portugal as Taxis, they where comfy and smooth, they where reliable, normally the taxi drivers will upgrade to the Nissan Bluebird.
The radio & casette player having different sets of speakers must've been a Nissan thing, the Bluebird estate I had as a company car in the early 90s had exactly the same set up 😂
Great review, Ian. I remember these being on the roads in Australia, mainly in sedan guise. Interesting how the 'frumpy' sounding names got banished only to discreetly appear as part of the numerical nomenclature. Many of the names came back in time, such as my cousin's 240K being replaced with the Skyline badge in later generations. The other models such as Bluebird and Sunny had similar progressions here, but the Cedric certainly stood out as the target of lampooning. I recall Wheels magazine columnist Paul Higgins making fun of it well after the name was replaced by the numerical version.
What a gorgeous car. I really like this one. Looks smart.
My old Ex boss years ago had a 300C Gloria , the Granada's of the time were mostly worn out by the time they were a cheaper second hand cars , but the Gloria was a great thing to ride in , also Cressida's and Mazda 929's were about . rust though Beggared everything then .
A very welcome guided tour of this estate, with 'so-far-but-no-further' windscreen wipers.
I love this car and its colour
When Ian put the front wipers on I actually burst out laughing at his response….
Ha ! very nice to see this video. I work in that little town you crossed (Erp). I actually know the owner of that 2CV you encountered, she has had 2 children on the school i work as a caretaker(concierge) . The 2CV has been restored a few years ago (welding, painting and so on).
Lovely! Beautiful town and a lovely 2CV.
Loved those older Datsuns. Very classy.
Very big fan of the illumination lights. Call me old fashioned but I think they’re the best kind 😂. Grand stuff as always Mr H
”Very much a-tiny-person-sort-of-a-seat” Gold!
My dad had a '76 260C estate with a 'doggy window' as it was then called (would mean something completely different now) Ours was brown and huge and comfy but as with all Datsuns one day it was there, the next it was just a big pile of iron oxide.
That's a very nice car. Enjoyed that
The Y31 Cedric was sold as a fleet car until 2015 as a competitor to the Toyota Comfort
Very special car. I like it.
The Cedric was joined at the hip with the Gloria in 1971 and both went out of production in 2004
A masterpiece!
Superb cars Ian and when Nissan was right up there with Toyota for Quality. I'd not seen a Cedric Wagon but as a kid I regularly got to travel in a Crown Wagon of that era. It had the twin wipers and the most marvellous drone and long legged engine. It gave me a love of Big Toyotas and Nissans and will lead to me buying a President or a Century at some stage. Wafting is so important here in Alcatraz Island.
This would have been an ideal holliday car for my family of 6 during the summer of 1998.
Fun fact, the CX has the greatest interior room of any European estate bar the Traction Avant Commerciale
Ian I love your videos. 👍👌
Well that's a lovely motor; quiet, soft ride, beautiful interior. If they were still sold new I'd buy one, even with the collosul TOD
What an interesting car! In the Netherlands have been sold a lot of Japanese modells which have never been imported in Germany. The biggest Datsun /Nissan in the 70ies or 80ies have been the Laurel and the Skyline Coupe or before the 240 KGT. And the sports cars 260 Z or 280 ZX. So thank you for introducing this car in this video. By the way: The Laurel had the same problem that there has been less space for the knees on the backseats behind the frontseats comparing to for example Ford Granada, Mercedes 123 or Audi 100. And that was finally the reason for my father to buy an Audi 100 5S in 1980 instead of the Laurel.
I love this era of Japanese land yachts. I have the Toyota sedan equivalent, and it is so much fun to own and drive.
Such a well preserved high spec car for 1980 - higher end merc levels of refinement and features for the time
As much as Datsuns and Nissans still had their indicators on the right in the UK well into the '80s, they were always on the left for LHD markets. This is a big wagon and as you mentioned, very influenced by US design - it's good to see it in very good condition as well.
I've always been a fan of big tail lights and the bigger Japanese cars of this era did them very well.
Yes I figured they always put indicators on the opposite side to the gearlever, which is SO MUCH NICER than having them on the same side.
As far as I can remember Japanese cars always had the indicators on the LEFT in Australia.
@@crb456 - indicators for Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Australian and older British cars are on the right in Australia and New Zealand. Only European cars have them on the left in the Antipodes. Not sure which side the indicators are for American vehicles sold new and converted to RHD for these markets - I'm guessing left, seeing as the volumes are low.
Sorry Richard, your are absolutely correct.
Perhaps I need a refresher course on which hand is Left and which is Right!
@@crb456 - I wondered if you meant the other left 😄
This is gorgeous!
This looks like Datsun vehicles offered in the US although we never did get this vehicle.
I love the electric side window, ingenious!
For all that luxury no air conditioning, somewhat surprised.
I almost thought this was a Toyota Cressida!
This is larger than a Cressida, it would have competed with the Toyota Crown. Air conditioning wasn't seen as so essential in western Europe.
So much more interesting than the Camry! Love it!
I would say the Camry and even the Cressida would be on par with this.
All much of a muchness from the time.
Just my opinion and observations growing up with these cars.
Another good video 🚗🚙🚘👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Off is off. Vent is vents, bi level is floor and screen, heater is floor and defrost is screen. That’s how American cars of the same vintage work 👍🏻
That has to be one of the biggest Triangles of Doom yet featured on the channel. You could probably park one of those new Citroen Ami things in that one!
The "shotgun ergonomics" of the controls certainly fits in with the american market inspiration, given a lot of 70s US cars seemed to just have controls all over the place, must have been quite the distraction while driving them to try and find that one switch or button... :P
Wish I could rent something like this for family camping trips.
The Cedric was the floaty luxury version of the CedGlo twins... The Gloria was more sporting and the last generation Gloria was the basis for the first generation US market Infiniti M