In North America, Datsun marketed the 810 series Bluebird sold as the Datsun 810 from February 1977 to 1980—the direct ancestor of the long running Datsun/Nissan Maxima range. The Datsun 810 model line began with the six-cylinder Nissan Bluebird 2000G6 sold in Japan. With a longer nose than the regular Bluebird, to accommodate a longer inline-six engine, it was powered by two versions of the SOHC L-series I6 engine: a 2.0 L displacement for the Japanese market and the 2.4-liter L24E unit for the US market. The bigger American engine could reach SAE. The Sport version channeled power through a four-speed manual transmission for the sedan and wagon, five-speed transmission for the coupe. These cars were rear-wheel drive and had a semi-trailing arm rear suspension. The six-cylinder station wagon variant, only sold in North America, had a rear live axle to handle extra weight. Some fuel-injected versions had automatic transmissions.
