Hey Scotty, I’ve been looking to buy a somewhat affordable classic car. The main two that I am interested in are a Volkswagen type 3 fastback and a Datsun 521. Are these somewhat reliable for a classic car and which one would be better to buy?
@mod_man territory.
While I wouldn't call either particularly reliable, I'd probably go with the Datsun.
Hopefully you are considering it as just a weekend driver/project and not a daily.
I would guess the VW will be easier to get parts for and the Datsun will have more investment upside (marginally). But they are both slow and not particularly beautiful.
So I would go with whichever you are more passionate about. Gonna be work to restore and then more work to maintain, and you will never get your money out of it. Get what you want but only if you really want it.
you consider those classic?
classic to me are american cars from 1971 and older
Although not American made, as I recall the VW type 3 sold here in the U.S. from around 1966, and the Datsun 521 pickup from 1968. Starting in 1968 the VW came with electronic fuel injection (an update of the late 1950s Bendix "Electrojector") but a lot of them had that system ripped out and replaced with carbs because mechanics didn't know how to work on them.