This is the story of a 1971 Datsun 1600 that somehow found its way from the farmlands of Nashville, Tennessee to Nissan’ 
s famous Heritage Collection where it now sits proudly with its peers. If its journey sounds a little too much like a story arc for a Hollywood movie, it’s because it is, at least to some extent.
See, the truck’ s original owner is an 80-year old man named Mavin Askew. For the past 42 years, the 1600 has had no other owner other than Askew so naturally, there’s a lot of sentimentality attached to the truck. Ask loved the 1600 so much that he gave it the nickname “Sweet Pea” on account of its body color.
But, just as fate would have it, Askew met Nashville businessman Dan Tito when the latter inquired about the availability of Sweet Pea. After initially saying that he would think about selling it, Askew ran into Tito for a second time in the same gas station. That conversation eventually resulted in Askew finally letting go of his most prized possession.
For his part, Tito ownership of the 1600 didn’t last long. Upon realizing that space would be an issue for the pickup truck, Tito reached out to Nissan, who in turn purchased the pickup in order to have sit inside its Heritage Collection. It’s an incredible story of two men who thought highly enough of the pickup truck to understand its significance to the Japanese automaker.
It’s a fascinating story that got the happy ending it deserved.