DO YOU REMEMBER – THE DATSUN SKYLINE 240K COUPE
29 June 2023
When I encountered a Datsun Skyline 240K Coupe for Classic & Sports Car nearly twenty years ago, I wrote that it hailed from a time when "a ceramic cooker hob, Texas Speak & Spell and a car with electric windows were the three essential prerequisites for middle-class success". What I did not say, and should have done, was how delighted I was to experience a car my younger self craved. Once seen, the 240K is never forgotten.
The Skyline family dates from 1966 when Nissan acquired the Prince Motor Company. The C210 series debuted 11 years later, facelifted as the C211 in 1978. Japanese motorists were offered a complete range of models, but Datsun GB only imported the Skyline 240K Coupe. UK sales began on the 24th January 1979, and with the advertisement stating: “It is undoubtedly a car to match the exacting requirements of the enthusiastic driver and the motorist for whom creature comforts are a priority”.
In reality, Datsun GB’s marketing targeted the latter buyer, detailing the 240K’s electric windows, power-assisted steering, headlamp washers, adjustable steering, alloy wheels, and lumbar support adjustment for the driver's seat. The dashboard had coin trays and a passenger map table that Nissan charmingly described as a "thoughts tray". There were even two interior handles on each door so that rear-seat passengers could independently exit.
If this were not enough, the 240K also had front seats with "almost as many movements as a dentist's chair", a radio-cassette player with auto-reverse, "power jet" headlamp washers, tinted glass, a rear washer & wiper, plus "an extremely accurate quartz clock". After all, the sort of buyer spending £6,349 on a 240K was hardly likely to be satisfied with an inadequate timepiece.
The only option available to a British buyer was automatic transmission in place of the five-speed manual box, with a beige or a black interior. Datsun GB focused on the Cherry, Sunny, Violet and Bluebird, regarding the larger saloons and coupes as niche models. This was certainly the case with the 240K, although The Telegraph thought it had “a technical specification of which even a Mercedes-Benz would not be ashamed”.
And this was a fair comment, as the Skyline boasted fully independent suspension and a six-cylinder 2,393cc OHC engine with Bosch L-Jetronic injection. Anyone seeking a pillarless coupe with elegant Pan-Pacific looks and more exclusivity than a Ford Capri 3-Litre Ghia could hope to offer need look no further than the 240K.
In addition, Datsun’s sales copy appealed to the budget-conscious social climber, pointing out that “Mercedes-Benz will ask you to pay an extra £1,008 for electric windows, tinted glass, alloy wheels, and headlamp wash/wipe”. Plus, “On the BMW 323i, headlamp cleaner, power steering, alloy wheels and tinted glass will cost you a further £907”.
The R30-Series replaced the C210 in 1981 and today there are apparently just two Skylines 240Ks on the road in this country. Which makes me crave the Datsun with that “extremely accurate quartz clock” all the more…