B140 Series Bakkie
The Sunny Truck lived on in South Africa for a total of 37 years (launched there in 1971). The B140 variation, with 1.4-liter A14 engine, was manufactured up until 2008 by Nissan South Africa as the Nissan LDV 1400 (Light Delivery Vehicle). The 1400 Bakkie saw many changes in its long career. The main ones were a 5-speed manual gearbox, power assisted disc brakes, and a roof height extension to accommodate taller South Africans. A sport model of the 1400 Bakkie was marketed as the "Champ". This model had appropriate side striping, individual seats, a rev counter, and central handbrake. This vehicle had two popular local nicknames, either just plain "1400" or "kanniedood" which translated from Afrikaans means "Cannot Die", a testament to its reliability. The 1400 Bakkie was replaced late in 2008 by the "NP200", a derivative of a Romanian Dacia passenger saloon (sold as a Renault Logan in the same market). A major departure for the "Nissan Bakkie" is that the new model is front-wheel drive (FWD), whereas the original was rear-wheel drive (RWD) - a major selling point of the vehicle in South Africa where it was the only RWD bakkie in its class for many years and where "RWD" adds a lot of ownership macho. A long standing marketing credo was "put the power where the load is" (similar wording). The 1400 Bakkie was assembled by Nissan in Rosslyn, South Africa (Nissan). Another assembly location for the model was the AYMESA plant in Quito, Ecuador which assembled it under the Datsun brand name as the 1200 PickUp.
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