The first Violet (Datsun 710) appeared in January 1973. Two types of engines, the L14 and the L16, were used and the lineup included a sedan and hardtop. It performed well in overseas rallies. This commemorative car won the 12th Southern Cross Rally (Australia) in 1977. It is powered by a rally-use twin-cam, 16-valve engine.
The A10, which made its overseas debut in the spring of 1978 at the Safari Rally (3rd overall), won the autumn Southern Cross Rally in Australia two years in a row (in 1977 it was the 710). The driver was the previous year’s Australian champion, J. Fury. In Australia the car was sold as the Stanza, so a "STANZA" emblem adorns the body.
With the 29th Safari Rally in 1981, this vehicle achieved a historical first by winning three championships in a row (a first too for the S. Mehta/M. Doughty). That year, in addition to a pair of Violets prepared to Group 4 specifications with powerful twin-cam heads, the Nissan team entered a Violet, Bluebird and Silvia, each prepared to Group 2 specifications. The result was that Nissan monopolized the top four places.
This is the car which won overall the 30th Safari Rally in 1982. With this win, Nissan achieved a first in the history of the event with 4 victories in a row (1979-1982), but it was also a major feat for the S. Mehta/M. Doughty team: they became the first drivers ever to achieve 4 consecutive Safari victories. They used a high-performance L20B-based twin-cam engine (Group 4 specifications) with a maximum output of 220PS/7,600rpm.
This car was the overall winner (S. Mehta/M. Doughty) of the 27th Safari Rally (1979), the Nissan team’s fourth Safari championship victory after a gap of six years. The competition was strong in that year’s Safari - with the Mercedes Benz 450SLC, Peugeot 504, and Abarth 131 - but Nissan fought bravely, taking 1st, 5th, 7th and 9th places. The official entry name was "Datsun 160J".
The launch in May 1977 of the second-generation Violet (A10) completed the trio: Violet (Nissan), Auster (Cherry) and Stanza (Sunny). Inheriting Nissan’s rally tradition, the A10 did well in the overseas rallies, like the 710 Violet. This commemorative car was driven by S. Mehta team when they won the 28th Safari Rally in 1980.
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