Nissan’s heritage timeline shows a new Datsun truck model almost every year of the early 1950s, from the Model 4146 of January 1950 to the Model 120 of January 1955. That steady run of small trucks grew into the Datsun pickup line that reached America at the end of the 1950s.
Within about three decades, the same line was rolling out of a Tennessee plant with a Nissan badge. These seven trucks cover the jump, with the figures Nissan and period sources give for each.
1. 1955 Datsun 120 Truck
Nissan’s own timeline introduces the Datsun Truck Model 120 in January 1955, in the same month as the Model 110 passenger car. Before it came a string of Datsun trucks that changed model numbers almost yearly: the 4146 in 1950, the 5147 in 1951 and the 6147 in 1953.
Nissan’s truck heritage release traces the lineage back further, to the Datsun 13 truck of 1934. For example, its 1948 truck used a 722cc engine of 15 PS and carried 500 kg, with some wooden body parts because of postwar shortages. The 120 closed that early era, just before the 220 arrived.
2. 1958 Datsun 220 Pickup
Nissan launched the 220 in November 1957, and it reached American buyers soon after. Nissan Canada calls the 1959 Datsun 220 the first compact truck in the U.S. Jalopnik’s history lists a curb weight of 1,367 pounds against a maximum load of 1,874 pounds, so the truck could carry more than it weighed.
Power came from a 1.0-liter four making 34 hp at 4,400 rpm and 48 lb-ft of torque. It drove through a three-speed manual, and top speed was 56 mph. As for value, one sold on Bring a Trailer in 2019 for $13,000, Jalopnik notes.
3. 1964 Datsun 320 Pickup 1200 Deluxe
The 320 arrived in August 1961 with a nose that resembled the first Bluebird sedan, the 310. Nissan lists a 1,189cc E1 four with 55 PS at 4,800 rpm and a four-speed column shift. Top speed rose to 110 km/h.
The bigger change sat underneath, because the 320 used independent torsion-bar front suspension with leaf springs at the rear. Nissan’s figures for the 1964 Deluxe truck show two seats and a 1,000 kg maximum load. In May 1965, the 520 replaced it with no 420 in between. Autoblog explains that a Japanese term that sounds like “420” loosely means “discourtesy.”
4. 1966 Datsun 520 Pickup
The 520 went on sale in May 1965 with a 1,299cc J-series four rated at 62 PS. Nissan’s specs show seating for three and a 1,000 kg maximum load, with drum brakes front and rear. Autoblog also credits the 520 generation with making the truck popular in America.
Later, a 1969 update produced what Nissan Canada calls the first half-ton compact pickup. Prices for these trucks stay modest today. Hagerty notes that vintage 520 and 620 trucks rarely sell for much more than about $10,000.
5. 1972 Datsun 620 Pickup
Datsun built the 620 from February 1972 to 1979 and sold it in America as the “Li’l Hustler.” Silodrome points to its “Bullet Side” body crease as the signature styling cue. Engines grew from the 1.6-liter L16 to the 1.8-liter L18 for 1974, then to the 2.0-liter L20B from 1975.
That 1975 model year also brought the first long-bed compact pickup, and 1977 introduced the first King Cab body, according to Nissan Canada. Meanwhile, Nissan found that 40% of 620 buyers said they never used the truck for work, Silodrome reports.
6. 1983 Datsun 720 Pickup
The 720 arrived in October 1979, and Nissan compares its sharp, linear styling to the Silvia S110 sold here as the 200SX. Its claim to fame came four years later. Nissan’s heritage collection says production started in Smyrna, Tennessee, in 1983, and Nissan Canada calls it the first import-brand compact truck built in America.
Hagerty drove the very first truck off that line, built on June 16, 1983. It has a 2.4-liter twin-spark four with 103 hp and 104 lb-ft, 14-inch steel wheels and a seven-foot bed. When Hagerty’s writer climbed in, its odometer read just 755.
7. 1986 Nissan Hardbody (D21) Pickup
Curbside Classic notes that “Hardbody” began as an advertising strapline, while the official name was simply Nissan Truck. The D21 arrived for the 1986 model year, and the nickname stuck from the start. It referred to the truck’s stronger double-walled bed. Curbside also calls it the first design from Nissan’s U.S. studio to reach production.
Buyers could choose rear- or four-wheel drive. Base trucks used a 2.4-liter four with 106 hp, while the SE offered a fuel-injected 3.0-liter V6 rated at 138 hp and 167 lb-ft, according to a Junkyard Gem report. The D21 ran until 1997, and Autoblog calls it the longest-running small Nissan pickup until the second-generation Frontier.
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