Datsun 200B SSS coupe up for grabs at Lloyds

Modern-day rarity

Lloyds Classic, Muscle and Barn Finds auction this Saturday, July 23, has got a plethora of excellent cars that will have plenty of people chomping at the bit to get their hands on.

However, we had to single out this little ’78 Datsun 200B SSS coupe, which surely has to be one of the rarer cars offered in this auction.

The 200B was introduced into Australia in October of 1977 in sedan, wagon and coupe body styles, and while the former two body styles ditched the SSS moniker, the coupe retained it.

In 1978 both the sedan and wagon were being produced locally, while the coupe was only ever made at Datsun’s Yokosuka Plant.

What caused the early, Japanese made sedans and coupes to be arguably more desirable was that, unlike their Aussie built counterparts, the Japanese cars retained an independent rear suspension set-up, while local 200Bs switched to coil springs and trailing arms.

Power came from a 2.0lt inline-four donk, internally designated L20B, which was good for 72kW.

This oomph was sent to the rear wheels via either a four-speed manual transmission, five-speed dog-leg manual transmission or a three-speed automatic transmission.

The 200B SSS at Lloyds has the highly desirable five-speed dog-leg manual transmission and, according to Lloyds, also comes with its original wheels, interior, paint and even working air-conditioning.