What comes to mind when you think of the Datsun 510? Do you imagine the little coupe being hammered around a track with a transplanted SR20DET motor under its hood? Do you think of it flying around a rally course, beaten half to hell but still going like a coked-out Japanese Energizer bunny?

Southern California: it's too hot, too fake, and you commute everywhere you go. But it's all worth it for the cars, like this collection of surprisingly badass tuned 1970s Datsuns, happily shredding tires for the camera.

Judging from his garage, Duane Schaffer likes his vintage vehicles from The Land of the Rising Sun a certain way—slightly odd and extremely low.

Datsun 510 wagons on vintage 13" wheels are all the rage in SoCal. We can get behind that. [Estevan Oriol via AutoCulture]

A Datsun 510, flat olive drab, with a giant single-turbo 2JZ. Stopping power comes from C5 'Vette-sourced Baer rotors paired to Viper Brembos hidden behind those great Racing Hart C2 wheels. HOVA! (H/T @saylnch!) [6speedonline via TCL]

In Japan, the 510 was called the Bluebird. That's fitting as today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe 510 is blue, but will its condition and price make you want to flip the seller the bird?

"If a Datsun 510 with minor modifications can take this kind of abuse that long, who knows how long a new 510 will last out there."

Back when Pete Brock was tearing up SCCA with them, the Datsun 510 was considered the poor-man's BMW. Today, Nice Price or Crack Pipe has one for which poor men need not apply.

Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. Here's the fourth Datsun 510 in the series.

This is Down On The Street Bonus Edition, where we check out interesting street-parked cars located in places other than the Island That Rust Forgot. WhatWouldJesseDo caught this 510 survivor on his way to work.

Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! Let's return to Engines Not Found In Nature projects, shall we?

Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. The Datsun 510 is a rare sight on the street these days, and we've seen just one (this '71 sedan) in this series prior to today. Now we're adding another, and a wagon at that!

Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. Today we're going to check out one of my all-time favorite Japanese cars, the one that started the whole hot-rodded Japanese machinery thing here in the US of A: Datsun 510!…

A '68 Datsun 510 race car is a pretty good handling machine, but when you race in the sleet, rain, and snow of a Pacific Northwest springtime (as VintageRacer does) sometimes your car ends up taking an unscheduled detour off the track. Make the jump for VintageRacer's story.

Have you seen this classic Datsun 510? The viciously tweaked '69 dime was stolen recently in the Los Angeles nabe of Echo Park, and has been spotted — Corvette Summer style — cruising the area since then. Just like WWI veterans, 510s are rare and getting rarer, and those preserving one of the Jalop's most esteemed…

The 2TG-equipped Corolla cruised to a reasonably solid victory over the tubbed Nova in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll. And that's fine, but that Toyota makes us feel like doing an all-Japanese, all-torture selection for today. As always, the problem with Japanese Hell Projects is that the cars themselves start…

Since we all enjoyed the shots of VintageRacer's Datsun 510 in action so much, he's sent in some more quality racing photos. This time the subject is a right-hand-drive Bluebird, which has made the move from Japan to the racetracks of the Pacific Northwest. Once again, thanks for sharing this stuff, VintageRacer!

The hue and cry from the readers who demanded to see more shots of VintageRacer's Datsun 510 after seeing just its engine in yesterday's Workhorse Engine of the Day post has been answered. You can all thank VintageRacer for being kind enough to send in a bunch of high-quality shots of his car, both on the track and…

After the decrepit Crosley wagon just barely edged out the parts-nightmare DAF in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll, we figured it was time to put up a couple of projects that would give you plenty of Insane Hoonage Potential for the money (while still driving you completely berserk with frustration and sucking…