1971 Datsun 510 - Back in the Day - That 70's Car

DESIGN HISTORY

The 510 and Bluebird's style was a bit of a breakthrough for Japanese cars when it debuted in '68: clean and functional. Though home-market advertising called it a "supersonic" design, Nissan designer Teruo Uchino insists that traveling beyond the speed of sound wasn't his design objective. "I imagined a speedy car on a highway that could be built very soon in Japan ... but SST was not the motif of my original design. The truth is not always so exciting."

Uchino rose quickly through Nissan's ranks: he joined Nissan in 1963 after graduating from Tokyo National University, and clay work on the 510 started in the summer of '64. A 1965 design team reorganization postponed things, but Uchino's design concept won out in a design studio competition. Uchino's later ideas included the Datsun 610, 710, S11-generation 200SX, the interior of the Nissan Leopard (sold in the US as the Infiniti M30), and finally the 1990 Nissan Primera, sold here as the Infiniti G20.

OWNER Steve Pepka

HOMETOWN Beaverton, OR

DAILY GRIND Mechanic

UNDER THE HOOD 11:1 compression L16 I-4 with SSS intake, head and cam; balanced and nitrated rotating assembly; JDM 38mm SU side-draft carburetors; four-into-one exhaust

DRIVETRAIN '80 Nissan 200SX five-speed transmission with custom mount and Centerforce clutch; stock rear housing with Subaru limited-slip differential, 4.11 gear; custom axles and CV joints

STIFF STUFF Carrera coilovers; Quickor sway bars

STOPPERS cross-drilled front rotors; stock rear drums

ROLLERS 17-inch HRE 540 wheels (8-inch front, 10-inch rear); Yokohama AVS 215/40R17 front, 245/40R17 rear

OUTSIDE boxed wheel flares, smoothed-in front spoiler, reshaped rear panel with license plate recess, shaved side marker lights, '84 Honda Navajo Red paint

INSIDE recovered stock with Howard's Upholstery diamond-pleat button-tuck grey vinyl; MOMO Corse steering wheel

ICE Sony head unit; Pioneer speakers

PROPS Bob Erichson, Esquire Motors, Datsuns NW club, the Bluebird list, my son Sebastian and my girlfriend Kate

By B.K. Nakadashi

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