Welcome to the coolest Datsun pickup truck in South Africa. This custom-built Datsun 1300 combines a race car-inspired interior with a strong dose of JDM excellence to create a unique truck all its own. The passionate owner built this turbocharged monster over the course of a year with help from his grandfather. The end result is one of the most exciting little Datsun 1300s we’ve seen.
In America, we call them pickup trucks, Australians call them Utes, but in South Africa, they’re known as Bakkies. Across the globe, truck enthusiasts work to create custom creations that manifest their idea of the perfect truck. For many Americans, that means building a lifted monster truck with led lighting and massive chrome wheels, which is very different from the little Bakkies of South Africa.
Datsun 1300 owner Rohan Estrisen had a dream. He wanted to build a practical bakkie with a rough exterior that had motorsport-inspired driving experience. He started the build with a rough Datsun 1300 that needed some restoration. With help from his grandfather, Rohan cleaned the exterior paint with some light sanding, added a new clear coat layer, and got to work on an engine swap.
Rohan chose Nissan’s legendary SR20 inline-4 as the power plant for his dream Datsun. Thanks to some upgrade turbocharger internals and a robust fuel system, the tiny 2.0-liter single-turbo SR20 puts down 214 horsepower (160 Kilowatts) to the wheels. This engine is paired to a manual transmission that sends power to the rear wheels, which helps this tiny truck perform spectacular burnouts. The turbocharger noise from this little truck is JDM perfection in an unlikely package.
Like all great builds, Rohan put a special focus on making sure the final package was reliable. Thanks to an advanced ECU system and conservative power level, Rohan can work on small refinements to his truck as he works his way up to increased levels of power. We cannot wait to see what’s next for this pint-sized nugget of JDM truck goodness.
