Slammed Is The Way Of Life For This Datsun Wagon
For as much as I equally love and despise the Internet, I can say that it's opened up so many doors when it comes to seeing cars from all corners of the world. Where else but with a few clicks of a mouse can you see a person's labor of love other than the World Wide Web? No longer do you have to scout out of town events or rely on locals for knowledge pertaining to hot cars in the area; you can basically do the hard work without even leaving your house.
You don't even need to pick up a phone (gasp) in this text and IM dominated world anymore! While Sunnyvale isn't terribly far from home, (it's a reasonable six-hour commute), it would have been harder to spot Justin Hrenko's sweet little Datsun 610 wagon without the help of Speedhunters.com (thanks Rod and Linhbergh), thus stopping a photoshoot like this from actually happening.
But we can't credit or blame the Internet entirely as we probably would have crossed paths with Justin eventually, simply because he is part of the Bay Area old school collective that's better known as the Heartbreaker crew. We shot three of their cars on our last trip - one of which you've already seen in our June issue, (Henry Nguyen's S12), now Justin's 610 and the soon-to-be-featured S30 that's owned by Yuta Akaishi.
What we love about these guys is their simplistic approach to building cars: do it by your own means and get them LOW to the ground. Yeah, they're not the fastest; they're certainly not the prettiest - and let's be perfectly honest, some of you really hate this look. But to us, this is sweet glory. The rawness of it all is what keeps it real. Tell us how often you see a 610 roll through, especially at that ride height - that's right, practically never. For Justin, it was a must-do action and a task that doesn't come with ease. The 610 used to ride on airbags but its soft ride persuaded him to take the next step and custom modify the subframe to accept a rear coilover suspension. Now, with its new suspension in place, it can easily swallow the intense, negative offset of the 15'' SSR Longchamps
once again.
Speed has never been a main priority for Justin's 610 so its L28 remains untouched for the most part, the only performance part being a Nissan Calsonic 350Z resonator for the exhaust with an Empi VW Stinger tip. A couple of modern touches to the interior include a pair of S14 seats and a small stereo upgrade. But what it lacks in power, this 610 wagon more than makes up for in style. As Justin says, "It's a blast driving this car around and seeing the looks it gets." Pretty simple formula: Get it low and watch the heads turn. Now that's our kind of car.
Tuning Menu
1973 Datsun 610 Wagon
Owner Justin Hrenko
Hometown Sunnyvale, CA
Occupation Corner Store Clerk
Engine 2.8L L28; Nissan Calsonic 350Z resonator; Empi VW Stinger tip
Drivetrain stock 4-speed transmission; shortened stock driveshaft; Datsun 510 axles
Footwork & Chassis
KYB inserts with 8k front springs/sectioned stock strut tubes (front); QA1 coilovers with KTS 8k springs (rear); Megan Racing Nissan S13 camber plates; Cusco Nissan S13 front strut bar; Daft Innovations-25-degree roll center adjusters
Brakes Earl's stainless brake lines
Wheels & Tires 15x7'' -1, 15x9'' -27 SSR Longchamp wheels; Falken 194/45R15 and 195/50R15 tires; Work lug nuts
Exterior custom rolled front/rear fenders; 16k HIDs
Interior OEM Nissan S14 front seats with custom seat rails; Payton woodgrain steering wheel; MOMO steering hub; custom shift knob
Ice Alpine head unit and 4-channel amp; Focal components and coaxials
Thanks You Dan G of DGR Fabrication; Rich G of Daft Innovations; Drive Line Service in San Leandro, CA; Goodies Speed Shop; Chad, Minami, Henry Nguyen, Yuta Akaishi, Matt 9000, Danny Youngs and all my friends for inspiring me to build this car; to Super Street for taking interest in featuring this car