Running out of 1970s icons to celebrate? Well, then you should consider a mini pickup with a lot of heritage and an epic look, the Datsun 620.
These are not that common and have a unique look. Many Japanese automakers offered these tiny truck-based builds half a century ago. They were cheap and had economical engines. Without the "chicken tax," maybe everybody would be buying Datsuns instead of F-150s.
It's especially sexy from the front because of the soft point in the nose and the headlight eyelids. And from the back, you get to appreciate how small and sporty it is. With the right mods and attention to detail, the 620 can be a good show car.
Nissans and Datsuns from that era are not strangers to widebody kits. Some of them had them from the factory, including cars that are related to the pickup. Out in the real world, you can buy some universal fender flairs that fit it, but we wanted something extreme.
As usual, the digital world allows form changes that are difficult to execute, and this applies to the widebody beast by Brad Builds. His ultra-widebody transform features the usual race car tires filling out some massive fenders, as well as a deep chin spoiler.
The bumper takes inspiration from the Hakosuka (Japanese nickname for Nissan Skyline 2000GT) tuning scene by having an externally-mounted radiator. Meanwhile, the back continues the race truck theme by having a carbon splitter and some exhaust cannons. It's a little crazy, but to prove this is something people actually like, there's a custom widebody 620 build in the video at the bottom of the story.
As a cheap import, the baby Datsun truck was no drift machine. But the L20B engine from the 1975 model did put out a respectable 110 horsepower, which isn't bad for a 4-cylinder of that era.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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