recognisation

[danny71]

i just picked up a ga and have noticed the fact that they are really hard to find,,,,, they are rarer than a r100, rx2 ,rx3, rarer than a datto 1200, 1600 wich all will set you back over 5k for anythin average condition or totally molestered... the galant is a betta driving car and neater looking. i can find anythin for a xt , xw , xy falcon,,, hk , ht, monaro etc so much bloody easier than finding anything for the ga, so why is the awesome looking ga still not recognised for value

[A112H]

Mate this is an issue that has been raised many many times on here. How do you think I feel, I have a GC hardtop, one of 1000 imported and it will never be worth more than $5000. Whats a 180 SSS Coupe worth?

[davetrees]

i just picked up a ga and have noticed the fact that they are really hard to find,,,,, they are rarer than a r100, rx2 ,rx3, rarer than a datto 1200, 1600 wich all will set you back over 5k for anythin average condition or totally molestered... the galant is a betta driving car and neater looking. i can find anythin for a xt , xw , xy falcon,,, hk , ht, monaro etc so much bloody easier than finding anything for the ga, so why is the awesome looking ga still not recognised for value

Hi Danny

I think you are overstating the "rarity" of Galants a just little .. they built thousands of them !

In reality, the GA-GD Galants actually aren't that fabulous - they are just very basic cars that get the job done without much fuss - but the GA/GB is a nice looking car I think (the GC/GD is pretty bland looking IMHO - just looks like any other Jap car of the preriod)

I reckon the longer they remain unloved & worthless the better !!

PS : I have noticed lately a few people on the forum converting GBs into GAs ... but I don't quite understand why. The only differences are smaller capacity engines & crap headlights - so why would you bother ? Personally, I would go the other way !

[davetrees]

Whats a 180 SSS Coupe worth?

Bugger all actually ... but they are a far better performing & handling car in stock form than the equivalent Galant.

It's like anything though - a car is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. The prices some people ask for old cars are just silly sometimes ......

[danny71]

yes i actually hope they stay unrecognised, because i plan on keeping mine ! .... the gc coupe well, yeah im feelin for you too .......... but if someone can spray an ke corrolla , white wall the tires and a venetian in the back window and fetch 3k or so its weird . but hey

[astronturbo77]

datsuns will always be more popular, rarer, and more sought after IMO but to be honest galants werent ever rare, and still are reasonably common.

[mic_77]

You can't compare a 180b sss with a bog stock galant it should be compared with a gto or an fto of the period and then see which one is better and worth more money.
Just my 2c


Cheers Mic

[davetrees]

You can't compare a 180b sss with a bog stock galant

I wasn't ...... but the 180BSSS is comparable to an equivalent Galant coupe, I would have thought ? - a mass production 2-door version of the sedan. As a car personally I would take the Datsun, largely due to it's better suspension design.

it should be compared with a gto or an fto of the period

GTO at the time was probably more a market competitor of the 260Z 2+2 ? FTO is a much smaller car .... more equivalent to the Datsun 710 than the 180B/610. Given that the GTO, FTO, & 710 weren't released here it's a bit academic though.

With most of the 1970s Jap cars though, I think their "rarity" is often perceived rather than real. You see some cars (especially Datsuns) advertised for ridiculous prices - but I often wonder how many of them actually SELL for that price ! ... but the prices that enthusiasts pay for cars often have very little to do with logic

[Torana68]

... if your going to compare , compare apples to apples. firstly the 240Z - 6 cylinder 1970, no one in Japan had a car to compair to that and its a classic sports car (1970 Colt 1500 not really compareable huh)

Datsun 1600 1968 = Colt 1500/Galant 1600 similar but I found the Galant more to my liking (or Id own a 1600 datto)
Datsun 1600 SSS = Galant 1500/1600 GS not sold here but the equalivant car
Datsun 180B/200B 1973 on = Galant GB/GC , down side is Chrysler Aus didnt bring in the 2 litre version which would have been a better car than the 180B preformance wise
Datsun 180 B SSS = Galant 1850/2lt GS not sold here but the only compariable car other than the GTO which was probably a "sports" car not a "sedan" type car Chrysler didnt like the HP Mits products for Oz so there is a lack of Mits cars to compare here

Datsuns dont really have "better" suspension, front is really the same, rear is indipendant but also has bump steer, way back people were finding strange things hapenning mid corner when the car suddenly changed direction (rally), this ment stiffening the rear to reduce deflection but also loosing the advantage independant could offer. Yes Ive driven a top state level 1600 rally car (Group G) and was none too impressed compared to my Galant/Lancer, also driven 180B's an they are shite... maybe they can be set up well now but back then not really. The shells are also not as strong as Mits ones and somewhere I have torsional testing of the 2 with Mits stronger.
Values? Japanese cars are generally cheaper here but the Mazdas have a strong following and hence higher price, people went with Datsuns due to large aftermarket support for HP parts that Mazda (piston) and Galant didnt have, so they maybe still prefer the easy way out as preformance engines for Datsuns are cheap , Mazda have the rotary. Mazda made some good cars back then (like the 1500ss), the Rx3 had "issues" so no one wanted to touch them till they worked out how to make them go and keep them going, give me a rotary Mazda over a Datsun any day... but Ill stick with Galants thanks

[75wagon]

Datsun 1600 1968 = Colt 1500/Galant 1600 similar but I found the Galant more to my liking (or Id own a 1600 datto)

I agree, but that's the point isn't it?
Or do a lot of Galant owners wish they had some other car instead?

I remember back in the day (late 80's and early 90's) no one wanted 180B's of any kind because most thought they were ugly. And they also had massive rust problems. The people that did own them only did because they couldn't get hold of a 1600.

I think you'll find, like torana68 mentioned, the 1600's were popular because of the availability of upgrade parts (mostly raped from 180B's 200B's and a Z cars also because of their interchangeability). Escorts also had a huge following and thus upgrade parts were easily available also. If only we saw more performance parts availability for Galants

I suppose it's like the Holden, Ford, Valiant argument. The Valiant's didn't get the race wins that the others did, so there wasn't a strong following of them. But in NZ it was a different story, the Chargers dominated the race tracks (or so I'm told).

I own a Galant because I choose to, I restored it because I chose to. I don't really care all that much about resale, I enjoy owning and driving it...

Dave...

[davetrees]

firstly the 240Z - 6 cylinder 1970, no one in Japan had a car to compair to that and its a classic sports car

True enough .... I guess I was meaning "similar market segment" as a 4 seater sports coupe. Couldn't think of anything else that would be vaguely the same category as the GTO other than a 260Z 2+2!!

[davetrees]

I own a Galant because I choose to ...... I don't really care all that much about resale, I enjoy owning and driving it

Bingo !!

It's a funny thing really - Datsun 1600s (and Mitsi Lancers, for that matter) have this "rally mythology" built up around them, but when they were current neither was a particularly successful car in rally competition except in handful of long distance events (Safari, Sthn Cross, & the like - in fact the 1970 Safari was probably the only international event the Datsun 1600 ever won !) which I reckon were more down to the drivers than the cars. Cowan, Singh, Hermann etc would have won those events in just about anything well built. Shekhar Mehta's comment on the 1600 in the book "Rally Cars" is enlightening - basically that it was good because you could drive it flat out over the rough stuff without breaking it (remembering that back in the early 70s cars in international events were generally Group 1 or 2 cars - very stock, really). Neither the 1600 or the Lancer was fast - but they were tough & had drivers who knew how to get them to the finish.

[A112H]

Well I am glad they aren't worth as much as some of the others from the time. I have no intention of ever selling my hardtop so it doesn't really matter what it is worth, but while they are cheap I will continue to collect spare parts and maybe even another car or two I would still love a 3.8 V6 Auto converted GD wagon for a daily/tow car

[Torana68]

[quote="davetreesIt's a funny thing really - Datsun 1600s (and Mitsi Lancers, for that matter) have this "rally mythology" built up around them, but when they were current neither was a particularly successful car in rally competition

Yeah I dunno 3 ARC's to the Datsun 1600, Galant one, Lancer Southern Cross victories 73, 74 , 75 and 76 (sometimes taking out a large slice of the top ten against the best there was including Escorts ) pretty sure the Mits teams won in the New Caledonia Safari as well as the Kenyan one....cant find a lot but VRC wins to Datsun 1600, seven (group G mostly) , Lancer 3 and galant one, this was probably repeated in every state and club. The legend bit was any entry list in any rally from 71 through the 80's which would show it was full of datsun 1600's , Galant's and later on Lancers as well, the Mits cars were always better in the rougher/longer events but could keep pace with the likes of the early works Escorts. No Nissan or Mits and there wouldnt have been much of a rally scene.....must have been one hell of a lot of them destroyed in the forrests over the years. Galants ran in the the old production touring as did the Datsuns, an early Galant held a class record at bathurst for a while, must have been a bit annoying to the XU1 Torana/GTHO/Charger guys on the way up the hill?
probably the ones to collect are the mint low miles GA/GB and any 2 door (stock), I dont have a Galant cause its cheap or because I might make a profit.

[davetrees]

As you well know, I was talking about real 1600s, Lancers & Galants - not Group G sports sedans where any resemblance to the production (or homologated) version ended with the bodyshell

Great in endurance-type events, but always seriously off the pace in Europe the few times they ventured out.

[Torana68]

As you well know, I was talking about real 1600s, Lancers & Galants - not Group G sports sedans where any resemblance to the production (or homologated) version ended with the bodyshell

yep well thats where the Datsun had it over Mits, it was dead easy to drop in a grunter (2.4) engine of the same weight and size , plus various gearbox ratios , diff ratios and lsd's were available from Nissan, the Mits stuff was hard to get hold of . This is probably the advantage they have with enthusiasts today. The Galants and Lancers running during group G were a lot closer to stock as the biggest engine used was normally 1770, most ran stock 4/5 speeds but nearly all the better ones were 4.2lsd (things some did have were 4 link and various weird diffs, lightweight panels etc), if Mits had made the stuff available at dealers at a better the price things would have been different. I dont know what Nissan charged for stuff but as an example the cost of a full works rep Galant/lancer would have been about the same as buying a Ralliart Lancer today who could afford that (hence Group G allowing clubmen to build up affordable cars but that didnt work out too good did it?). But having said all that a Southern Cross eligable Lancer (75 spec, but mostly the same as 73/74) could match the pace with Portmans 1600 (not a 1600) so something was not right with the Datsuns......couldnt beat him but could keep up. A good example of a Group G Datsun is the Pedders car, a 1600 on steroids......Galant would be Dinta's, Lancer probably the Dyno Tune car but that wasnt far off a works replica car (as opposed to a home built Group G) , the datsun was the cheap way not the better way , Galants are just better, I blame Chrysler Aust for not backing them more Dave I know what your saying but 90% of the population cant see the difference between a group G and a Factory car

[davetrees]

Galant would be Dinta's

In all it's 2.4L glory !!




Looks suspiciously like a Lancer front LCA setup in that air-shot ....

[Torana68]

yep the only ARC winning Galant and hes still playing with Galants , wonder if he kept that one? might ask