The East Africa Safari Rally of 1978 was among the most punishing events on the international rally calendar, covering thousands of kilometres of rough Kenyan terrain over multiple days and nights. Nissan Motorsport entered a full works effort with the 160J — the export designation for the Nissan Violet 710 A10 platform — including car number 6, entrusted to Finnish ace Rauno Aaltonen and co-driver Lofty Drews. This Trofeu model in 1:43 preserves that exact car in one of its most evocative configurations: the night-stage setup, auxiliary lamps blazing from the front valance.
The Datsun 160J: Nissan's Rally Weapon in Africa
Based on the Nissan Violet 710 series second-generation body (A10), the 160J took its name from the 1.6-litre inline-four engine fitted to export-market variants. Nissan Motorsport prepared the rally version to Group 4 regulations. Compact, relatively lightweight and mechanically robust, the 160J was well suited to the high-speed, high-attrition nature of East African rallying — a strategic choice that reflected Nissan's serious ambitions on the continent through the late 1970s.
Rauno Aaltonen and the 1978 Safari Rally
Rauno Aaltonen — known in rallying circles as "The Rally Professor" — brought decades of international experience to the Datsun works entry. Paired with co-driver Lofty Drews, Aaltonen handled number 6 through the gruelling Kenyan stages in March and April 1978. The Safari Rally's night sections demanded the fitment of powerful auxiliary driving and spot lamps to the front of the car, a functional detail that gave works entries a distinctive, purposeful appearance far removed from the road-going 160J. The blue, white and red Nissan works livery identified the car unambiguously as a full factory effort.
The Trofeu 1:43 Model
Trofeu is a specialist manufacturer with a long-standing focus on Group 4 and Group B era rally cars reproduced in 1:43. The "night version" designation is specific: the model replicates the auxiliary fog and spot lamp array mounted to the front of the car for night rally stages, a detail that distinguishes it from standard-configuration releases of the same livery. Livery accuracy — the blue, white and red Nissan works colour scheme — is a Trofeu speciality, and the 160J benefits from that focused approach to a niche but historically significant subject.
Placing It in the Collection
At 1:43, the Datsun 160J occupies the compact footprint typical of the scale, sitting comfortably alongside other Trofeu Safari Rally subjects — Ford Escort Mk2, Peugeot 504 — for a coherent East African rally display. It pairs equally well with other Aaltonen-associated models, from his Mini Cooper S Monte Carlo entries to the wider Nissan rally lineage leading toward the 240RS Group B programme. The night-lamp detail makes it visually distinct on any shelf, even among comparable 1970s rally pieces.
