What Makes The Datsun 510 So Great?
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- čas přidán 27. 08. 2024
- Hey guys welcome back to the channel and today we are going over what makes the wonderful Datsun 510 (based off the Datsun bluebird and called the Datsun 1600 in other countries) so great! This little tuner car was a cheap and reliable Jdm sports car before they were even a thing! I hope you enjoy and if you do, please be sure to like, comment another video you wanna see, and subscribe for more!!
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$20K for a rolling chassis? Maybe one fully restored, or race prepped. If you're not looking for a pristine collector, 510s are not out of reach by any means. You can get a solid driver for under $10K, and there are TONS of aftermarket parts to mod them into an absolute pocket monster. Using aftermarket parts, I built a turbo SR20 swapped 2 door that's making 378whp. Other than the rear drum brakes, You left out the 2 back to back TransAm manufacturers championships it won in '71 and '72 against Alfa Romeo, BMW, Volvo, and British Leyland. It was the OG Japanese import tuner that completely spanked Europes behind in SCCA Compact Sport Sedan in both road and rally racing, It even won the African Safari as the over all winner in '70. The 68-73 510 completely dominated the B Sedan class for nearly a decade. In all reality, BMW was the slow man's 510. 😈
Disk up front, drum in the rear
The Datsun 510 is one of my favorite looking wagons of all time.
They do look incredible
Datsun (Yutaka Katayama) clearly made a car with potential, but the goal for the 510 was to simply be a cheap, versatile, appealing car for American buyers. Pete Brock Racing; John Morton, Bob Sharp; etc. (and promo by Datsun) get credit for seeing the potential in the 510 and inspiring buyers to modify their very basic 510s for track and rally racing. The 510 was generally not an inspiring car in basic form and would not have inspired buyers to “tune” their cars if not for the success/promotion of Datsun racing teams. It then was the overall sales success of the 510 that lead to subsequent Datsun cars/trucks that had larger engines, etc. that could be swapped into the lighter 510 chassis relatively cheaply. I think it was really the creativity and enthusiasm of the Datsun buyers themselves for kickstarting a tuner culture that helped the 510 become the car we know as an icon today.
Needless to say, I LOVE 510s, but I think what made it the OG import tuner was Mr. K convincing Nissan Performance Division, later called NISMO, to make performance parts for their homologation L18 SSS models, and to support factory racing teams like BRE and Sharp. Following the adage "Race on Sunday, Sell on Monday.
Then aftermarket parts for privateers from companies like OS Giken took these cars to a whole other level. I've been building and racing 510s for over 40 years, and there are still companies inovating and developing new performance parts for these cars. Back in the day, the hot swap was an L20b with 38mm side drafts and I built a few of them. My current 510 is a '72 set up for open class autocross and it has a turbo 2.0L SR20 swap making a stupid amount of power. It has part from 6 auto manufacturers, countless mods and upgrades, including rack & pinion steering out of an MR2. at 1,900 lb. It's an absolute pocket monster, and besides the custom roll cage and aluminum dash, everything from the wiring harness to the fuel cell cradle, is all aftermarket parts made for the old 510.
Yup, they were not sold as a performance car. They came from the factory with skinny bias ply tires on narrow 4" wheels. Many dealers swapped those for radials on 5.5" aluminum wheels before offering them for sale.
This is for RJay: The 510 was in direct completion with the BMW 1600 and later 2002. Nissan/Datsun marketed the 510 as "The sport sedan for the common man." It has a high revving OHC engine, trailing arm independent rear suspension, McPherson struts up front with disc brakes, and by 1970 had 4.5" steel rims with 165/70/r13 bias ply tires just like the BMW. The base 510 cost $1,900 back then, and it's no coincidence it got the title of being "The poor man's BMW". In 72' the $3.500 240Z sports car had 5" aluminum rims. Why would a dealer put even more expensive rims on a sedan?
@@Datsun510zen If it was marketed as a sport sedan, why did it come from the factory with skinny bias ply tires, originally on 4" wheels? Even the 240Z came from the factory with only steel wheels. Aluminum wheels were all installed by dealers or aftermarket.
@@tenossos Back in the day, aluminum rims were expensive upgrades and dealer didn't throw them on 510s. The BMW 1600 and 2002 originally had skinny bias ply tires on 4" wheels, and they were classified as sport sedans. It was the standard size for most shorter wheel base sports cars at that time. Fiat 124, MGB, and Triumph TR4 also originally came 4" steel wheels.
This has always been my dream project car and I’ve always wanted to swap an SR20 in one, also let’s not forget Paul Newman raced one back in the 70’s
Yessir that sounds like a good plan
thats considered old skool now- most of the new builds are SR20DET's if you can find a JDM clip...
I'm rebuilding a 69 2 door at the moment. Gotta correct you though,they came with drums in the rear.
Is your build done? I own a 69 too... Unfortunately, I'm having trouble with the KA swap rebuilder.
@@funkyfurballs1078 no. I'm knee deep in rust repair. Slow going too. Once I'm done though (I'm probably 35-40 percent done) it's just a matter of bolting all my parts on. I'm running an l20b with a Holley sniper efi. This is my channel, but the car in the video was crashed and totaled. I stripped the body of every part and will swap it onto the new body when ready. youtube.com/@danielhughes9556?si=wy2RgnSUMSi96mKJ
you can use the aluminum 240Z drums on there to save a few pounds. you'll have to grab some vice grips and roll the outer quarter-inch of the backing plate to make room.
@@tommurphy4307 ya, but good luck finding a decent pair. Id like to, but I don't need that much braking.
Great vid of honoring this Jdm legend that started it all
Thank you sm bro
the legend started here in the states- not japan. the only thing they had were the bluebird coupes- which are fairly rare here. club racing in japan lagged behind what we had here by a year or two.
The Datsun 510has been one of my many dream cars since I was 8 love to see im in a mark roden video
It*
Happy to hear it bro, good choice
These videos lately have been incredible, the quality is amazing. Well done man, youve come a long way lol
I own 3 510s a 4 door and a 2 door and a wagon bloody love them awesome cars.
May God continue to bless both Peter Brock, John Morton and (edit) Mr. K (RIP). I was under the age 10 when I first noticed a BRE 510 model kit - and I was smitten. THEN....came the BRE 240z. I never forgot either car or any of these great men.
I've still not entirely forgiven NISSAN for abandoning the Datsun name/badge in N. America. P.S.: "FUN TO DRIVE RATIO." P:S:S: NISSAN had everything to do with Japanese military transport and hardware in WWII. It's okay. We're all friends now.
Never this early gotta say love the vids bro, 🎉
Thank you sm bro
Bought 2 of these.... a 4 door and 2 door for $20 bucks , (just the shells) Tricked out the ,2 door model and raced it .....very fun car indeed !!
Great vid on the 510! As an owner of a 71, I loved hearing some new info about the iconic Datsun!
It funny how the Miata comes up in “almost “ every video 😊
I loved them I owned 20 of them.
I had 3 at the same time. Loved em.
i've had a gaggle of Z cars, but the 510 is more my kind of car. i've had a bunch of them, too.
My father's 1974 Vega only had 87 hp and later he had a 1976 Fiat 131 that had 86 hp. Although, it was a DOHC 1.8 liter coupled to a 5-speed tranny. That car was fun to toss around curves and could catch American muscle cars unawares and make their drivers very upset when overtaken. The Vega had a very low center of gravity giving it the ability to take curses like a bat -out -of -hell! The 1980's Camero Z-28's became the ultimate Vega, which GM should made the Vega in the first place. I mean they had the Opel brand in Germany with all the zany engines, transmissions, and suspendsion systems they could have used and later did use in Cadillacs. I shouldn't be surprised since now they are driving GM right out of business only building insanely overpriced pick-up trucks!
The green sedan is South African🙄...the plate says "umswenko" which basically refers to style and fashion...I think its Zulu🤗
I have one with an sr20det and I love it
So do I. Done right, it's the realization of 510 perfection and it's more fun than should be allowed on the street.
more guys have them than guys who know how to set them up- thats for sure. i rode around anaheim in a 510 that had a 3.1 liter L28 stroker in it and it was hella fast- all motor. i was scared but that was more due to dude's driving. love the sound of those straight sixes...
Fun fact BMW MADE A GUN they have a car named the m4 and
there is a gun named the m4
Ayo this guys onto something
They did not have rear disk brakes, just in the front. My 510 has stock brakes and stops from 60mph in less than 70 feet.
get rid of the akebono front brakes before they hurt you or your dime. i use 280ZX knuckles, rotors and calipers. i bash out the strut towers with a lead hammer to make room for the bigger springs and perches. i see guys are going with bee-hives now, but thats just mo' money. if you go slowly and carefully with the strut tower bashing- people won't even be able to tell looking under the hood.
@@tommurphy4307 How would they hurt me or my car?...also the 70 foot braking distance did do quite the number on the master cylinder so its hard to replicate unless I have something to prove but I don't see how the stock brakes would fail.
Hertz bought them. People drove them as rental cars then saw what they cost.
Great information, but not all together accurate, or complete. If you're not looking for a pristine collector, 510s are not out of reach by any means. You can still get a solid driver for under $10K. Besides the rear drum brakes, Mark left out the 2 back to back TransAm manufacturers championships it won in '71 and '72 against Alfa Romeo, BMW, Volvo, and British Leyland. It also won the African Safari Rally as the over all winner in '70. Paul Newman started his race career in a Datsun 510, joining Winning collaborator Bob Sharp's team.Tuner parts were so accessible, the 68-73 510 completely dominated the privateer B Sedan class for nearly a decade.
This video starts with “When the automotive world started, there was nothing for car guys”. LOL
My guess I that the history of the Fairlady/240; Bluebird/510; etc. is all jumbled together in this video. Lots of errors in this vid for sure but still glad to see younger folks appreciate the (‘68-‘73) 510.
@@m1abrams2009 Truly, "car guys" have been modifying and racing their cars since day 1. Needless to say, I LOVE 510s, but what made it the OG import tuner car was Nissan Performance Division, later called NISMO, made factory performance parts for their SSS models, and for racing teams. Then aftermarket parts companies like OS Giken took these cars to a whole other level. I've been building and racing 510s for over 40 years, and there are still companies developing performance parts for the old 510. My current '72 autocross 510 has a turbo 2.0L SR20 swap making a stupid amount of power. It has part from 6 other auto manufacturers, countless mods and upgrades, including being converted to rack & pinion steering. It's an absolute monster, and besides the custom roll cage, from the wiring harness to the fuel cell cradle, it's all done with aftermarket parts being made for the 510. Everywhere we take it, to the track or a show, it's always the ricer kids who show the most interest. czcams.com/video/H4rYbyudrhA/video.html
@@Datsun510zen Before NISMO, it was called the Datsun Competition Department
@@tenossos Not quite. Oppama Works, and Omori Works were Nissan Performance Division in Japan. They developed and manufactured factory performance upgrade parts, and racing parts for distribution around the world. The Datsun Competition Department was just the US distributor of Japanese race parts for American SCCA privateers and Nissan supported teams like BRE and Bob Sharp. In 1984 Oppama and Omori became NISMO and the name Datsun was retired.
they are worth even more here in san diego because so many of them have been stolen and taken to mexico.
Do one on jcw mini’s .. a little bit biased being that I just bought one lol
Hey I'm very new to the car community. I'm thinking of buying a german car from either Mercedes, Audi or BMW and not really sure which is best at what. Can anyone provide any info or tips for me? Would really appreciate it, I was looking at the BMW 750i as it caught my attention, is this a solid car? Probably like 2010-2013 model. I'm looking for a sedan that is kinda sporty looking. Ofc a good car is a great bonus lol
i would look for one of the old coupes- the 2800cs or the 3.0csi. great cars. late-model stuff as exported here- not so great.
can you do the brz
did you know a lot of brz's are actually built by daihatsu? i had a four-cylinder charade that could smoke a brz- talk about a pissed off driver!
Hey man. I’ve been wondering where you live? Are you in Alberta or some cold state in the US?
Haha I’m in Connecticut my friend
You left out that a was a copy of the BMW 1600, mr K benched marked the BMW. It copied suspension. The engine was a copy of the Mercedes 4 cylinder built under license. No 4 wheel discs either. Datsun supported the teams that ran the 510 unlike the Europeans.
I like the 510 and it's history, legacy etc. However the stying was boring to me. Then came the 710 series (1974-77) WOW. Hot rod styling mated to the biggest(1800cc) 4 banger at the time,4speed manual,front disc etc.
I owned 4 total. I loved those cars. But they weren't popular. Everything is the 510 and the Z-cars. You have to look hard just to find videos if them. Its been 35 years since I had mine, haven't seen another one since.
Why was that awesome model ignored ?
My first car in 1982 was a 1980 Datsun 510 hatchback with a Z engine. I would still have that car today if my then husband hadn't murdered her running into the back of a truck.
that sucks- those are really hard to find. its actually a four-cylinder engine based on the L20B, but with a different cross-flow cylinder head. it would have been the Z20S engine. ex-hubby totaled a really rare car- not the first time i've heard of that.
No disc brakes in the rear. The 510 is not a sports car either
No, it's a sport sedan with rear drums that stops faster and handles better than a sports car.
@@Datsun510zencouldn’t agree more. Goes like a sports car, handles like a sports car, is a sports car.
@@piratepete4322 Absolutely. In the contest of the era and its class, the 510 dominanted across 4 categories of racing in 6 countries. Rear drums were completely inconsequential to its success. Clearly Mr. leelock has limited knowledge of facts when it comes to the 510's legendary performance.
probably an engineer@@Datsun510zen
on or off-road. you can win a stoplight race and then go do celebratory donuts in your math professor's front yard. i have a NLA set which includes dr. decarbon rally suspension pieces- not for sale...for my glamis sand car@@Datsun510zen
Japan attacked a military port, america nuked 2 civilian city. which act is terrorism ?
a better question would be 'which act was sheer stupidity?'