We admit it, we love the Honey Bee. Sure, Nissan/Datsun shipped too many base B210s and someone in Gardena simply decided to slap decals on them to make them a “special”, but there’s something oddly appealing about this little car.
The seller provides lots of good photos, including every issue noted. The car apparently has one small bit of rust-through, but paint is original; so we recommend a little treatment to stop rust growth and leaving as-is. The car is reported to run well but might need a bit of tuning. It’ll be up to the next owner to decide whether to yank out emissions gear and simplify or keep it running bone-stock. In our humblest of opinions, this one’s far too nice for a swap, but one could toy with it while keeping all original parts. Hmm.
Ultimately, this is a very basic, four-speed-equipped B210 with under 50K miles and which is ready to run. This is a deal at the current sub-$3K bid, but we don’t know the reserve. This car was a prize in a dealership giveaway, so it has a bit of an interesting story!
Stillwater, MN, USA (the OTHER Stillwater)
$2,750 with 24 bids, reserve not met and 5.5 days to go
Original paint looks great to these eyes, as do the steelies. If we bought it, we’d keep an eye on eBay and salvage sites for a good set of original hubcaps. You know…for concours use.
Front also looks almost as-new. Compared to its delightfully ugly F10 sibling, the B210 was downright handsome.
In truth, we prefer the hatchback “GX” body, but Honey Bees were all based on the two-door.
Interior is in excellent condition with one crack in the dash and a minor tear on the side of one seat. Don’t expect a tachometer in this basic B.
Here’s the 1.4L I4 in all its glory. Very clean…
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PLEASE READ THROUGH THE ENTIRE DESCRIPTION THOROUGHLY!!! Sorry about it being Long-Winded, but this car deserves a proper description!!!!
This may be the nicest, original, low-mile, unmolested 1976 Datsun B210 Honey Bee on the Planet.
Working odometer currently shows approximately 48,500 miles and the car is in AMAZING condition for it’s age. This little Honey Bee has an interesting “story” as well…..
In 1976, the original owner (shown in the photo with his wife) stopped in at the local Datsun dealership to look at pickup trucks. One of the salespeople convinced him to throw his name in a hat as the dealership was holding a drawing to give away this particular Honey Bee. Well, wouldn’t you know it? A few days later the phone rang, and low and behold, he had won the little car!!!!
For the next 10 years, the Honey Bee was used mainly in Arizona (where they spent the winter months). If you notice the car still has it’s tow bar attached. According to the grandson (now in his late 40’s), the actual miles on the drivetrain are probably somewhere between 25,000 and 30,000 as opposed to the 485xx currently showing on the odometer. This is due to being flat-towed to Arizona from Minnesota almost 3800 miles round trip for a number of years. The car shows like a 30,000 mile car without a doubt.
The original owner passed away in 1986 and the Honey Bee was put into storage until 1996 when it was then passed on to his son. From what I can gather from documents, the car was driven less than 3000 miles from 1996, until a couple of years ago (2014?) when it was parked yet again. I was told that during the last 20 years it was driven solely to local car shows and around the neighborhood during the summer.
Thankfully, this car has been kept in a dry, climate controlled garage, has NEVER witnessed a salty winter road, and currently is about 99.9% rust free.
Let’s talk about rust and get that out of the way first. There is ONE (1) small rust hole (aprox. 1/4″x1/2″) located behind the drivers’ side rear wheel well. (shown in close-up photo) That is the only “substantial” structural rust on the car; body or otherwise.. The remainder of the “rust spots” are mostly from paint chips (lower valance, hood front edge, roof, etc). The underside is spotless, floors, door bottoms, trunk floor, etc., etc. All are almost as solid as the day the car was made 41 years ago.
The body itself I would rate an (8) out of 10. It has a number of parking lot dings, and a few minor scuffs and scratches.. The white paint hides these blemishes so well, they are virtually impossible to photograph…. and unless your are at the right angle and up close, they are difficult to see in person as well.
The photos ARE a true representation of how this looks in person. It truly is a BEAUTIFUL LITTLE CAR, especially when factoring in how rare a virtually rust-free, original Datsun of this vintage is to find! Let alone a Honey Bee!
Yes, Once you get up close and personal, you can start to pick out the small blemishes. I guess you might call it a “3 footer”. Also of note is that the lower edge of the rear window rubber trim has been “cut/modified” to fit the base of the CB antenna (shown in pic) and the inner trunk seal is a bit deformed because of running the CB antenna cable through this area.
The car wears 100% of its original paint and decals and has NEVER been in an accident. Both front and rear bumpers are NEAR-PERFECT although the rear bumper has a tear in one of the rubber end caps (shown in pic). The front valance panel (beneath the front bumper) has been bent up (NOT CUT) to accommodate the tow-bar mount. If you are going to remove the tow-bar mount, this is easily fixed by bending the panel back into place as the steel used in these cars is quite thin and easily manipulated.
All glass is near perfect. No cracks, and aside from a few ultra-small rock chips in windshield, is crystal clear. Windows roll up/down like new. Weather-stripping, for the most part is still soft and supple.
Interior is in EXCELLENT condition as well for it’s age. Yes, it does have a cracked vinyl dash pad(across the speaker), but I think all B210’s came from the factory that way (joking) as I’ve never seen another that wasn’t cracked, especially 40 odd years down the road. Aside from a small (2″) cut in the vinyl on the side of the lower portion of the drivers seat (see pic), the seats, both front and rear are perfect. I believe the small cut could be repaired from the backside (easy access). Door cards are excellent, vinyl floors excellent, etc. Both sun-visor clips are broken, and there is a small 1/2″ cut in the headliner near the dome light (see pic).
Interior has “vintage” CB radio mounted (working condition unknown) along with fancy (by 1980’s standards) cassette stereo mounted beneath the glove box. Yes, the factory radio is still in place and the dash has not been cut. I have not been able to get either of the radio’s to work, but I haven’t tried very hard. Factory radio is missing one knob. There are tweeter speakers two-sided taped to the dashboard, that I will leave up to the next owner to get working, or remove.
Wipers work, Heater works excellent, rear window defogger unknown (hasn’t been cold enough to use it!) All lighting (head, tail, brake, dash, hazard) works as they should.
Brakes were recently serviced and car stops straight and true. Tires are brand new as of a few hundred miles ago (2014 date code). As you can see in the pics, the car is missing its original “dog-dish” hubcaps. I purchased the car with ugly “aftermarket” hubcaps, but felt the original steel rims looked better naked than what was mounted. Original wheels are still wearing their factory paint. Spare tire in the trunk, I do not believe has ever been used, and appears to be original as well. All original Nissan jack-hardware is in place. The trunk is missing it’s cardboard “floor panel” spare tire cover as seen in pics.
As for mechanicals, the car starts instantly, idles like a sewing machine and goes down the road well. The original Hitachi carb (and ALL of the wonderful 1976 emissions paraphernalia) is still in place and supposedly “working”. In my opinion, the car could use more tuning as there is a bit of a flat spot when accelerating. If you ease into the throttle, it pulls through fine, but if you “step on it” it will hesitate a bit before accelerating. I am not an expert on Hitachi carbs, and do not plan on becoming one. From the info I’ve gathered on various Datsun forums, most people that drive these cars daily, remove all of the emissions and install a Weber carburetor. That said, others claim the Hitachi’s are the best for overall fuel economy and can be tuned to perfection.
Once again…I must repeat!! As it sits, the car runs and drives well right now!! I have driven it at highway speeds and it does just fine.
Could it run a bit better? Yes, but I will leave that up to the buyer to sort out. Anyone that is going to be interested in this car will be an enthusiast with more knowledge than I and should have no problem sorting her out to 100%. At the end of the day it is a classic car, and classic cars will always require a bit of fiddling.
I will say that I have gone as far as to replace cap, rotor, wires (NGK), plugs, points and condenser and made sure the timing is set to factory specs.
Engine does not smoke, leak, or make any odd noises. In fact, it sounds like NEW and is one of the quietest and smoothest running 4 cylinders I’ve ever heard. Coolant is bright green, oil is clean.
I should probably mention the transmission. Honey Bee’s only came with a 4 speed manual, and the one in this car shifts like butter! Clutches and shifts absolutely perfect. No chatter, no slipping, no grinding (perfect syncros), etc.
The one thing that I feel will need attention sooner than later is that the speedometer needle is “lazy” and makes a clicking sound when driving. This is probably due to sitting, as I find similar issues in many of the vintage motorcycles I restore that have spent more of their life “sitting” as opposed to being used.. Most of the time this is cured by re-oiling and use, but this probably requires removing the dash and I will leave that up to the new owner as well. That said, the odometer is still 100% accurate (with GPS) and works perfectly. The low miles on this car are CORRECT.
I really don’t know what else to say??? Datsun B210’s rarely come up for sale in this condition, let alone a Honey Bee!!!
This car would truly be an AMAZING addition to someone’s Vintage Datsun collection!
I’ve tried my best to describe this car how I would like it described to me if I were a potential long distance buyer. I do NOT like surprises when buying vehicles online (believe me, I’ve bought more than my share….just ask my wife!!)
PLEASE BE SURE TO LOOK OVER ALL OF THE PHOTOS CAREFULLY!!! and if you have ANY additional questions AT ALL..
Be sure to ask BEFORE PLACING A BID!!!
Car has a FREE AND CLEAR Minnesota Title in MY NAME and is ready to be transferred to the next owner.
$500.00 deposit Via Paypal IMMEDIATELY AT AUCTIONS END. Balance due within 3 business days via Nationally Recognized (Wells Fargo, Us Bank, Etc) Cashiers Check or CASH ONLY
I prefer that the car be picked up ASAP, but I can store the car (indoors, heated) for up to 3 weeks after payment in full is made. Please make arrangements for pickup before the auctions end to save us both time please.
This car is a 41 year old USED Car and is sold 100% AS-IS, with no guarantees, warrantees, expressed, written, or implied.
Thanks for looking!