Tennessee man reunited with iconic Datsun pickup

On November 30, 1971, Marvin Askew strolled out of Hippodrome Datsun in Nashville, Tenn. with a brand new Datsun 1600.

It set him back about $2,100 and only made a handful of trips around Tennessee and neighboring southeastern states. But considering Askew held on to it for 42 years, he got plenty of bang for his buck.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 5, 2016) – Marvin Askew bought his Datsun 1600 truck on November 30, 1971 at Hippodrome Datsun in Nashville for about . “This was his baby,” said Dan Tito, the second owner of the Datsun truck. “Marvin didn’t have a name for it, but we named it ‘Sweet Pea’ obviously because of its color. This man can stand here and talk about this truck hour upon hour upon hour. When you have something for 42 years and you take this good care of it, obviously it meant a lot to him.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 5, 2016) – Marvin Askew bought his Datsun 1600 truck on November 30, 1971 at Hippodrome Datsun in Nashville for about . “This was his baby,” said Dan Tito, the second owner of the Datsun truck. “Marvin didn’t have a name for it, but we named it ‘Sweet Pea’ obviously because of its color. This man can stand here and talk about this truck hour upon hour upon hour. When you have something for 42 years and you take this good care of it, obviously it meant a lot to him.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 5, 2016) – Marvin Askew bought his Datsun 1600 truck on November 30, 1971 at Hippodrome Datsun in Nashville for about . “This was his baby,” said Dan Tito, the second owner of the Datsun truck. “Marvin didn’t have a name for it, but we named it ‘Sweet Pea’ obviously because of its color. This man can stand here and talk about this truck hour upon hour upon hour. When you have something for 42 years and you take this good care of it, obviously it meant a lot to him.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 5, 2016) – Marvin Askew bought his Datsun 1600 truck on November 30, 1971 at Hippodrome Datsun in Nashville for about . “This was his baby,” said Dan Tito, the second owner of the Datsun truck. “Marvin didn’t have a name for it, but we named it ‘Sweet Pea’ obviously because of its color. This man can stand here and talk about this truck hour upon hour upon hour. When you have something for 42 years and you take this good care of it, obviously it meant a lot to him.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 5, 2016) – Marvin Askew bought his Datsun 1600 truck on November 30, 1971 at Hippodrome Datsun in Nashville for about . “This was his baby,” said Dan Tito, the second owner of the Datsun truck. “Marvin didn’t have a name for it, but we named it ‘Sweet Pea’ obviously because of its color. This man can stand here and talk about this truck hour upon hour upon hour. When you have something for 42 years and you take this good care of it, obviously it meant a lot to him.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 5, 2016) – Marvin Askew bought his Datsun 1600 truck on November 30, 1971 at Hippodrome Datsun in Nashville for about . “This was his baby,” said Dan Tito, the second owner of the Datsun truck. “Marvin didn’t have a name for it, but we named it ‘Sweet Pea’ obviously because of its color. This man can stand here and talk about this truck hour upon hour upon hour. When you have something for 42 years and you take this good care of it, obviously it meant a lot to him.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 5, 2016) – Marvin Askew bought his Datsun 1600 truck on November 30, 1971 at Hippodrome Datsun in Nashville for about . “This was his baby,” said Dan Tito, the second owner of the Datsun truck. “Marvin didn’t have a name for it, but we named it ‘Sweet Pea’ obviously because of its color. This man can stand here and talk about this truck hour upon hour upon hour. When you have something for 42 years and you take this good care of it, obviously it meant a lot to him.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 5, 2016) – Marvin Askew bought his Datsun 1600 truck on November 30, 1971 at Hippodrome Datsun in Nashville for about . “This was his baby,” said Dan Tito, the second owner of the Datsun truck. “Marvin didn’t have a name for it, but we named it ‘Sweet Pea’ obviously because of its color. This man can stand here and talk about this truck hour upon hour upon hour. When you have something for 42 years and you take this good care of it, obviously it meant a lot to him.”

“This was his baby,” said Dan Tito, who in 2014 bought the truck from Askew and named the pea green pickup “Sweet Pea.”

Tito noticed Askew at a local Nashville dealership where he was having the truck serviced and offered to buy it. Tito, who fancies himself a car collector, then reached out to Nissan and offered Sweet Pea to the Heritage Collection, where the truck now sits.