It is sad to see a 510 in such condition. I would have loved to have made it the centerpiece of my own hell garage and am saddened to see it meet it's demise in LeMons. That said, I will be cheering for it as the Datsun 510 is one of my all time dream cars, right up there with the original Mini, the Trabant and the Lamborghini Miura SV.
@Jim-Bob: Cars no longer "meet their demise" in LeMons, now that no more races take place at Altamont "Demolition Derby" Motor Speedway. These days there's very little metal-on-metal or metal-on-concrete contact at LeMons races.
Found a really badly hit 510 on eBay recently, would have been a perfect contender. I think the bidding was still less than 5 bills, too, and it had all manner of aftermarket performance equipment on it.
Question: Is it Jalopnik-approved to buy this thing, put a modern high-revving 4-banger into it, and have a lightweight sleeper? Not that I have the money to do any of that, but I'm looking at this thinking it's a perfect project car and the comments here make me think the Jalopnik secret police will throw me in the Jalopnistan gulag for thought crimes.
Seriously though, cool car. Like everyone else here, if I had $3000 plus travel money, I'd be all over this in a heartbeat.
@despisethesun: Normally I'd say that an engine upgrade would be a great idea, but this is one of the very last relatively unmolested 411s on the planet. Probably best to keep the original running gear.
Have you ever driven one of these? 1300cc's of get-you-to-60mph-sometime-today power. A period-correct upgrade would be an R16 out of a 311 Roadster, although I think that tiny engine compartment is calling out for a rotary.
@Gearhead's Garage: I rode in it from Alameda to Vallejo for the Motoring J Style show, and it was indeed pretty damn slow (though not anywhere near as slow as, say, a VW Rabbit Diesel). I think staying original is still worth it in this case.
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We can get you one of these if ya' want....
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It's a Japanese juggernaut
You better get out the way
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Seriously though, cool car. Like everyone else here, if I had $3000 plus travel money, I'd be all over this in a heartbeat.
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06/15/09
Have you ever driven one of these? 1300cc's of get-you-to-60mph-sometime-today power. A period-correct upgrade would be an R16 out of a 311 Roadster, although I think that tiny engine compartment is calling out for a rotary.
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