MarkP

the Datsun 810 was redesigned with only the top of the line 810, in the USA, available with automatic transmission and standard four wheel disc brakes called the Datsun 810 Maxima. The lower line 810 with 5spd and rear drums was simply called the Datsun 810 and did not carry the Maxima designation. All 810's in 1981 carried either a 2.4 L inline 6 rated at 120 bhp or 2.75 L inline 6 diesel rated at 80 bhp in the US.
In 1982 the Nissan name was added to Datsun and the 810 name was dropped in favor of Maxima on all trim levels. Engine choice remained the same.
By 1984 the Datsun name was no longer used.

Tom

My mom had an '84 wagon. It was a good car, but a bit strange at the same time. I thought it having an L-24 engine with RWD and full instrumentation seemed very sporty, but the wire-wheel wheel covers and the whitewall tires was blah....

Couple of things I remember about this car. The stereo looked like it was modeled after a home stereo (looked nice at the time). Not bad, but installing an aftermarket stereo would be major headache to look right. The tape deck even had a tape counter!

Voice warning system - "Key is in the ignition" can get real old as you can't defeat this particular warning (you can turn off all others), but "fuel level is low" wasn't bad I thought.

If anybody cares and is looking for a first gen car with an auto, I'd recommend getting a later year (like '84). It came with a 4-speed auto instead of 3.

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

I was running around outside in diapers.

Many of the members of this board weren't even born. Far more couldn't even read yet!

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Ghetto voice system:

Car: *ding* "Hey man, someone stole your batry". "I say we kill that **********er!".

[/I][/QUOTE]

81Max

Well Mark, you got a lot of it correct, considering there is virtually no reference material on these early Maximas, and 810s. The Maxima appeared to be the only 810 available in the U.S.(correct me if anyone knows different). I have NEVER seen a "Deluxe" in the states. The 810 Deluxe came with a manual tranny and many features (such as AC) were optional on the Deluxe. The Maxima came FULLY loaded (except silly dealer options like extra door trim, rustproofing and such.)

The '81-'82 Maximas had a simple horizontal bar grill and the '83-84 cars had a cubed egg-crate grill that extends on the hood, and a very slightly different taillight. Otherwise '81-84 cars are near identical. The '81 had "Datsun 810" and "Maxima" on the trunk lid, the '82 and '83 have "Datsun" and "Maxima" on the trunk lid. The '84 has "Nissan" and "Maxima" on the trunk lid. This follows what I've seen in magazine ads: the '83 ads say "Datsun" and the same ads were used for the '84, but replaced "Datsun" with "Nissan".

Diesels were available very late in the '81 model year. the '81 810 Maxima was the 1st production car in history to have the talking computer chip. In '81 it had only 1 phrase, "Please turn off the lights", in a pleasing lady's voice. It added more phrases in '82, then more in '83.

Maximas came standard with AC, power windows, sunroof, locks, Cruise, ....anything that could be had on a '81 LeSabre was standard on the Maxima. The same Aluminum wheels were the only wheels available from '81-'84. The only options were a diesel and a few colors. Very few nice examples survive today.

Check here to see my 100% original '81 Maxima:
http://www.motorcities.com/contents/99J77444129729.html

Compare to this '83-'84 version (grille and tail lights):
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.phtml?threadid=1334

81Max in K.C.

max95q

iTrader: (10)

mike_bresnahan

My family owned a 1984 Datsun/Nissan Maxima.
It actually had both company names on the trunk lid.
It was an excellent car. I had fun driving it as a teenager.
The only thing it lacked was horsepower. You really had to keep it floored to get it to move.

max95q

iTrader: (10)

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Sonofasail

My parents owned an 83 with a 5 speed. It was a very fast car at 130hp. It was the 2.7L Inline 6 that came from the 280zx. The motor ran strong for 180k miles and even then it still ran strong. The body ended up quiting on it, too much rust. I liked that car so much I bought a 1982 200SX in 1992 that only had 46k miles on it. It had all the same options including the voice and it was virtually the same motor. It was a 2.2l Inline 4 with 110hp. The fuel injection system was the same minus two cyl. Anyway, I was sold so well on Nissans that in 1997 I bought a hardbody, which has an engine based on that 200SX engine, and just a week ago I bought a 2k Maxima. Any info you want let me know, I know about virtually every Nissan produced from 1969 to the present.