The 521 vs Chevy Luv

[Roger]

Looks to me that the Luv copied as much from the 521 as possible. Twin headlights, no bed seam, one bed length, and more. How do these two trucks compare otherwise? Does the Luv have drawbacks that makes the 521 better(I think it is).

[dat521gatherer]

dont know. but i do know i like the courier better than the luv. there's one around my area thats blue and lowered with rims that looks sick.

[merlin]

the LUV is an Isuzu truck... they've been making trucks almost as long as DATsun... 1916? it was called an isuzu Faster in jp

[sinner720st]

chevy and isuzu, mazda and ford, dodge and mitsubitchy...... japanese and american counterparts. nissan does just fine on its own, they dont need to sell to an american company.

[nismo dr]

nissan does just fine on its own, they dont need to sell to an american company.

 

 

just other japanese companies

 

[lil89ram50]

actually, the luv had 2 different bed lenghts. and a diesel option. :) and 4x4. couple of those options might have been later on though. i love those trucks so much

[RadioRedline]

Isuzu pup= Chevy Luv (Isuzu made em for chevy)

Mazda Courier= Ford Courier (Mazda made em for Ford)

 

And yes they and Toyota all copied the high # selling Datsun mini Pickups!

 

Better? you choose whats 'better' they are all made in Japan, and all copied each other lol.

 

Chevrolet LUV (Also called Isuzu KB, Isuzu Pup)

Production 1972–1982

Assembled in ?

 

Ford Courier (Also called Mazda B Series, Mazda Courier)

Production 1971-1978

1.6 or 1.8L or Rotary Verison!

Assembled in Hiroshima, Japan.

 

Toyota Hilux (also called Toyota Pickup)

Production 1968-1978

1.9L, 2.0L(18R), 1.6L(12R) 2.2L(20R)

Assembled in Toyota City, Japan

 

Radio

[izzo]

Isuzu pup= Chevy Luv (Isuzu made em for chevy)

Mazda Courier= Ford Courier (Mazda made em for Ford)

 

And yes they and Toyota all copied the high # selling Datsun mini Pickups!

 

Better? you choose whats 'better' they are all made in Japan, and all copied each other lol.

 

Chevrolet LUV (Also called Isuzu KB, Isuzu Pup)

Production 1972–1982

Assembled in ?

 

Ford Courier (Also called Mazda B Series, Mazda Courier)

Production 1971-1978

1.6 or 1.8L or Rotary Verison!

Assembled in Hiroshima, Japan.

 

Toyota Hilux (also called Toyota Pickup)

Production 1968-1978

1.9L, 2.0L(18R), 1.6L(12R) 2.2L(20R)

Assembled in Toyota City, Japan

 

Radio

 

 

Radio, the ford courier was actually produced until 1982. 1982 they stopped production and the ford ranger took over. I used to be into ford couriers...

 

[hang_510]

they dont need to sell to an american company.

fair... but did they need to get involved with the french (not canadien)???

[Farmer Joe]

luvs were made from 72-80 in the 1st gen body and then the name carried on with th 81-82 year models.

 

72-75 had the early noncrossflow g180 isuzu 1.8l. these years also had only a 4 speed option and drum brakes with 4.56 gearing.

 

76-80 had the later crossflow g180 isuzu 1.8l. still only had a 4 speed option, but came standard with nonvented disk power disks. i think these late models had 4.10s.

 

they were all built in japan. i remember the tag on mine said okinawa.

 

the 81 and later g200 engine was a 1.9l version of the g180. the heads were swappable. the last engine i built for the truck actually was a 1.9 bottom end with a 1.8 head on it. had 190psi across all 4...

 

theyre good trucks. if i could get another one i would in a heartbeat. ill never get rid of the datsun tho... just cant.

[nismo dr]

fair... but did they need to get involved with the french (not canadien)???

 

yes, yes they did. well, that or bankruptcy

[Z-train]

Toyota Hilux (also called Toyota Pickup)

Production 1968-1978

1.9L, 2.0L(18R), 1.6L(12R) 2.2L(20R)

Assembled in Toyota City, Japan

 

Radio

I just saw new Hilux' two months ago.TDI's too.

[Budget Monty]

Both are great imo. Datsun is moine, Luv belongs to a friend...

 

[Creepy Cruiser]

I had a 1st gen Luv 4x4 for years, an it was great.

 

Both truck are cool, but I still prefer the Datsun.

[elmerfudpucker]

I had a ford courier, beat the shit outta that truck and it did just fine. Sold it to who I thought was a friend and he got it towed before the day was out. Guess who got stuck with that one... :angry:

[banzai510(hainz)]

that 521 look like Tanas old truck

[Braden]

chevy luv = YUCK!!!

Datsun 521 = BONER!!!!!

[datsunaholic]

The 1st Gen LUV came in a Longbed for at least one year, a friend has a '78 Longbed LUV. They're hard to find. The '78-80 had 2 headlights vs the quads the '72-77 had. Plenty of changes in the LUV line, they have a (small) cult following as well.

 

The LUV is still sold in Africa and other non-North American markets. I drove a 2000 LUV in Egypt in 2001. It was an Isuzu of course, obvious once you opened the hood. GM never exported the US-built S10 outside North America, though the S10 lives on in Brazil.

 

The whole reason that US manufacturers sold imported small trucks was that the Light Truck Import tariff was (and still is) 25% (aka the "Chicken Tax"). That's a HUGE tariff. They got around the tax by shipping the trucks as CKD or SKD (Complete Knockdown or Semi-knockdown) and doing the "final assembly" in the US, so that most of the truck was imported as "cab-chassis", with a much lower (4%) tariff. GM and Ford did the "final assembly" on the LUVs and Couriers, by simply installing the beds. In 1980 the cab-chassis loophole was closed, which is why you don't see very many early-80s LUVs or Couriers, and why GM and Ford started building their own as it wasn't profitable to import with that 25% tariff. The same 1980 law is why by the late 1980s most small trucks sold in the US are assembled in North America, where NAFTA avoids the Chicken Tax (as does building them in entirety here). That's also why for many years in the 90s+ you had Mazda pickups that were actually Ford Rangers, and Isuzu pickups that were actually S10s in the US. In the rest of the world, it's the other way around.

 

The Chicken Tax was why Subaru BRATs had plastic bucket seats in the bed. It was imported as a car, which doesn't fall under the Chicken Tax.

[merlin]

... it called the Chicken tax because... the tax was originally instituted as retaliation against Germany for dumping cheap imported chickens on the US market... the American govt came up with a tax that would target Volkswagen truckbed vans... a growing import to the US that was seen as a potential threat to USDM makers because of how successful the Beetle had been... JDM trucks weren't even on the US radar at the time of the tax, but became collateral damage just the same.