NISSAN’S light-truck history can be traced back to 1920 and the early days of its DAT organisational predecessor.<br /><br />From 1947 Datsun, as DAT became from the early 1930s, recommenced pre-war pickup production, but it wasn’t until 1955 that the first modern model, the 120 Pickup, was introduced.<br /><br />This evolved into the 1957 220 and then the 320 in 1962. The fourth-generation 520, released in 1965, was derived from the ‘Banana-Bender’ Datsun Bluebird.<br /><br />It wasn’t until 1971 that Australians were included in Datsun’s light truck plans.<br /><br />That’s when the revamped 520 Pickup arrived with its 1000kg payload. It was sold alongside the smaller, 459kg payload 1200 Pickup based on the popular 1200 light car.<br /><br />The former was replaced by the 720 ute in 1980, but the latter continued virtually unabated until 1985.<br /><br />Powering the rear wheels via a four-speed manual gearbox, the 720’s 1.8-litre single-overhead cam four-cylinder engine produced 59kW of power and 133Nm of torque.<br /><br />A 47kW/140Nm 2.2-litre OHV diesel 720 was optional. Both engines powered 1000kg payload Single Cab, 750kg payload Dual Cab and 500kg payload King Cab pickup models, in 4x2 and 4x4 guises.<br /><br />Five-speed manual gearboxes replaced the old four-speed units from 1981, but not in all 720s.<br /><br />A larger 2.2 diesel, with 54kW/143Nm outputs, arrived from June ’83, along with circular instrumentation and a minor facelift.<br /><br />More changes followed in early ’85, along with the inclusion of a 71kW/172Nm 2.2-litre SOHC four-cylinder petrol engine.<br /><br />The 720 was replaced by the more-contemporary Navara from 1986.