Nice Price Or Crack PipeIs this used car a good deal? You decide!The seller of today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe 710 has had a dickens of a time keeping his ad up on Craigslist. It doesn’t seem to be his or the car’s fault. Maybe it’s the price? Let’s find out!
I don’t know exactly when cars like yesterday’s 2005 Subaru Forester XT became the poster child for the Vape Life, but boy did you all indicate that the association was certainly a negative one. Also on that lightly modded Subie’s list of negatives? Well, there were those light mods—wheels, suspension and a short shifter. Also looked down upon was its $8,100 price. That went up in a cloud of vape and a 65 percent Crack Pipe loss.
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What’s your favorite color? (pleasesay violet, please say violet, please say violet) Did you say, violet? Good, because that color also happens to be the home market name for today’s 1975 Datsun 710 wagon. We would have also accepted orange, seeing as that’s what the car is presently painted.
The seller, Jason, is a true Jalop. As he notes in the ad, he bought this car last year with the intent of replacing his “first love” 240Z. As you might expect, first loves are the worst loves and he’s come to the realization that he’s a Z man and not a wagon master. Hence, the 710 now sits on the Craigslist instead of the 240.
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You can plainly see the conundrum he faced in that very ad—this 710 has got it going on under the hood. Just take a peek under there… I’ll wait.
Ha! You were expecting a tried and true L20, weren’t you? Well, that original mill has been given the heave ho and in its stead sits an impeccably clean and super shiny KA24DE which is probably out of a 240SX. Fun fact, most of the American market KA24DEs were manufactured in Mexico. Mi casa es su casa!
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The upgraded engine put out a decent 155 horsepower in its factory form, or about 50 more than the L20 that used to call this 710 home. It’s hard to say what it gives up here, but it’s probably right around that neighborhood. The engine is backed up by a 5-speed stick but is run by an ECU mapped to an automatic. The seller says that gives you some hang time on the revs when you put your sneaker into it but that you’ll get used to that.
You might be wondering about all the bright metal showing up in a number of the ad’s photos. Apparently the previous owner took the floorpan down to its naked-ass base to address what would eventually turn out to be a non existent rust issue. It’s since been resprayed and reassembled into the car you see right before your very eyes. And yes, there’s some road rot evident on the body panels. I have no answer for the previous owner missing that.
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It’s nothing to get your panties in a bunch over, however. Other exterior issues include degradation of the rubber baby bumper end caps, a bit of missing door guard on the curbside and the fact that the cool A-pillar antenna is on the wrong side for a LHD car.
Momo Vegas underpin, and behind those sit 280ZX struts and brakes up front while shocks take the place of the air units in back. The exhaust is hard-mounted to the underbody and so apparently makes itself known more than you might expect.
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The interior is a bit of a mixed bag. The front seats are out of a much more recent Acura and hence look a little out of place in the sea of ‘70s vinyl that makes up the rest of the cabin. Quite remarkably for a car with a non-original drivetrain, most all of the gauges work. The speedo and tach are both said to be accurate, and the fuel gauge is claimed to still function. The only non compliant actor here is the factory temp gauge, but that’s said to have been supplanted by a new gauge in replacement of the clock.
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A carpet kit covers the floor while up top the headliner appears in good shape. The weatherstripping is claimed to be fully on the job, which is something I can’t say about my old Datsun. The title is clean and, here in California at least, the car is old enough to limbo under any and all emissions testing requirements.
The asking is $7,000, and as I noted at the outset, Jason has had a hell of a time keeping his ad from getting flagged on Craigslist for reasons he doesn’t know. Whatever the case, that’s made selling the car a tough row to hoe. We’re about to either make it tougher, or much, much easier.
What do you think about this KA24DE-imbued 710 and that $7,000 price? Does that make this orange wagon that once was a Violet a good deal? Or, does that price just make you see red?
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You decide!
San Francisco Bay Area Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears yet again.
H/T to Jason by way of Patrick George for the hookup!
Help me out with NPOCP. Hit me up at rob@jalopnik.com and send me a fixed-price tip. Remember to include your Kinja handle.
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