[Stéphane Dumas]

a French article about the successor of the Nissan 1400 Bakkie in South Africa who's based on the Renault/Dacia Logan http://www.leblogauto.com/2008/07/renautnissan-investit-en-afrique-du-sud.html

 

[Bravada]

For those not in the know - Nissan Bakkie, the living fossil:

 

[t-rex]

Hierdie bietjie bakkie is 'n baai lekker ry!!!!

While I did shed a tiny tear of fond memory when I bid adieu to Nissan's “Workhorse of Africa” I'm glad to see that Nissan have chosen a successor to our beloved little champ.

Watch out GM!

(GM's Opel Corsa Bakkie is currently the market leader in this segment, and GMSA's top-selling vehicle)

Nissan LDV timeline:

• August 1971: Introduced as the Datsun 1200 LDV. 1 171 c.c. engine, 38 kW, 52 b.h.p.
  
• 1976: Renamed "Datsun 120Y Pickup" to tie-in with hugely successful Datsun 120Y Sedan (B210 to Americans)
  
• 1978: New dashboard
  
• Late 1980: Renamed "Datsun 1400 LDV" in base or Deluxe guises. Deluxe model has tonneau cover, alloys, radio/tape, heater, cloth seat, carpets. 1397 c.c. engine, 47 kW (64 b.h.p.) and 5-speed gearbox for Deluxe.
  
• 1982: Peak sales for the model. 14 044 new examples of the plucky little bakkies hit South African roads this year.
  
• September 1983: now a Nissan. Square headlamps replace round units.
  
• August 1988: "Sport" introduced. Prostyle wheels, sport striping, bucket seats.
  
• February 1993: Deluxe and Sport models replaced by “Champ”. All models now have 5-speed gearbox.
  
• 2008: end of the road. Killed not by lack of demand, but by pending exhaust legislation.