it was the rarest body style in japan and highly sought

This Datsun 510 wagon of Koji and Terry Yamaguchi, founders of the Japanese Classic Car
Show, is equipped with Longchamp XR-4s, which
are popular vintage Japanese racing wheels.
(Photo Courtesy Dan Hsu)
Vowing to reclaim the top sales spot from
Toyota, Nissan designer Teruo Uchino sculpted
a minimalist Japanese straight-edged form
with just a hint of malevolence lurking underneath. Uchino straightened out the character
line that ran down the 410’s flanks and dubbed
it the “supersonic line.”
Americans were offered three of the four
available body styles: four-door sedan, wagon
(which used a rear solid axle), and two-door
sedan sharing the same roofline as the fourdoor sedan. The latter should not be confused
with the Japanese market’s two-door coupe,
which has a more swept-back roofline and
wears a sportier grille and taillight treatment.
Because the coupe was never exported to the
United States, it’s quite desirable for collectors
today, and several have been imported from
Japan. Ironically, what we consider the “common” two-door sedan was only produced for
the Bluebird’s inaugural model year in Japan,
making it the rarest body style in Japan and
highly sought by Japanese collectors.
510 Bluebirds in Japan and those exported
to less-developed markets received 1.3- and
1.4-liter L-series engines as standard equipment, but Katayama insisted that the US market receive, at minimum, the 96-horsepower
L16. Coupled with a curb weight of about
2,100 pounds, the 510 achieved a 100-mph
top speed on par with any contemporary rival.
Its advanced semi-trailing arm and independent rear suspension were unheard of in its
price range and gave it nimble handling that
out-performed most American compact sixes.
On top of it all, its $1,996 sticker price was an
absolute bargain. Datsun
sold nearly 40,000 cars in
the United States that first
year, comprising almost
two-thirds of its total
sales, and the numbers
only increased from there.
By 1970, Katayama was living his dream
overseeing an all-out motorsports program.
With the 510 and newly arrived 240Z, Nissan
finally had competitive cars for racing. Nissan’s
continued involvement with the Safari Rally saw
a 510 Bluebird take the overall victory, a point
of immense honor for both Nissan and Japan.
The event was mostly unheard of in the United
States, however, and most Americans took
the dominance of British Triumphs, German
IT WAS THE RAREST BODY STYLE IN
JAPAN AND HIGHLY SOUGHT BY
JAPANESE COLLECTORS.
The Datsun 510’s humble L16 inline-four was a mill that changed the
world. (Photo Courtesy John Roper)
CHAPTER 1: NISSAN17
This is the Nissan Bluebird
PL510 1600 SSS that won the
18th Safari Rally in 1970 overall.
(©, 2010 Nissan)
The BRE Datsun
510 was a legend
in its own time,
spawning dozens
of replicas such
as this one from
Washington State.
The original racer
still survives in
Nissan USA’s
collection.
BMWs, and especially Italian Alfa
Romeos in road racing as
a given. That all changed when two Nissansponsored teams on opposite sides of the country simultaneously won their respective Sports
Car Club of America (SCCA) championships
behind the wheels of the Datsun 510.
On the East Coast, Bob Sharp Racing took
the national SCCA B/Sedan title for two consecutive seasons. On the West Coast, in the more
closely watched Trans-Am 2.5 Challenge series,
John Morton drove the Brock Racing Enterprises
(BRE) 510 to victory, defeating the previously
dominant Alfa Romeo GTVs in a controversial
and stirring rivalry that lasted throughout the
1971 season. The clash continued into 1972;
BRE trounced the competition so badly that the
series was canceled the next year.
510 production came to a close in 1973. As
is the case with many cars, the next-generation
610 had more power, more room, and more
amenities, but also more bulk. Soon the world
fell deep into the throes of the oil crisis, and
ever-stricter emissions
standards hobbled engine
performance while safety concerns visually
saddled cars with 5-mph bumpers. Bob Sharp
Racing campaigned a 610 briefly, but the glory
still resided with the 510. Most customers felt
that the driving dynamics that made the 510
so magical were diminished on the 610. As
interest in classic Japanese cars grows, however, the 610 is getting a second lease on life
from the enthusiast community.
With the 610 all grown up, Nissan introduced some confusion into its model lineup
with the 1974 710. Though it seemed to follow
Bluebird naming conventions, the 710 was
actually called the Violet in Japan and sold as
a separate model. It was a smaller car meant to
take over the niche left by the now-upmarket
Bluebird. Though it didn’t have the success in
the United States that Nissan hoped it would,
in other parts of the world the 710 was actually a successful rally car, returning Nissan to
Australia to win the Southern Cross Rally.
The second BRE car was driven by many racers,
most notably Bobby Allison. It has been restored
by Classic Datsun Motorsports of Vista, California.
18
CLASSIC JAPANESE PERFORMANCE CARS
Though the Datsun 610 is not as beloved as the
510, it does have a loyal following in the vintage
Japanese car scene. This one wears the Libre
wheels popularized by Peter Brock. (Photo Courtesy Dan Hsu)
Trying desperately to recapture the 510’s
“lightning in a bottle,” Nissan USA tried
badging the Violet’s successor, the A10 Stanza,
as the 510 in the US market. Sadly it was
unsuccessful in its attempt to rekindle a fire
in the hearts of Datsun enthusiasts. However,
the A10 Stanza was hugely successful as a rally
racer, wresting dominance of the Southern
Cross Rally from Mitsubishi and winning the
race three times from 1978 to the event’s final
run in 1980.
Meanwhile, the 810 Bluebird grew into
a full-bodied luxury cruiser. With the bigger
body came a need for more power, and Nissan
gave it a standard inline six-cylinder shared
with the sporty Z-car. Further confusion came
when Nissan USA sold the following 910 generation Bluebird as the 810 Deluxe at its introduction in 1981. Probably most well known
for the tiny phonograph music box that
gave recorded “door is open” warnings
to the driver, it grew into a sedan on
par with the Toyota Cressida rather
than a sprightlier alternative to the
Bob Sharp and
his Datsuns won
six SCCA championships, later
moving to IMSA,
where actor Paul
Newman became
one of the most
famous Nissan
drivers of all time.
(Photo Courtesy
Dan Hsu)
Enthusiasts often covet JDM versions with RHD
(right-hand drive) interiors, which often have different trim and colors than their US counterparts.
(Photo Courtesy John Roper)
Corona. None of this hurt Nissan’s growing
sales, though, and by 1982 the home office
decided to brand itself as Nissan in all export
markets, including the United States. In 1982,
the 810’s numeric designation was dropped for
a name that anyone will recognize: Maxima.
The Datsun 710 was Nissan’s
attempt to go back to the 510’s
magic after the 610 moved
upmarket. (©, 2010 Nissan)
CHAPTER 1: NISSAN19
During the 1970s,
Nissan and
Mitsubishi fought
relentlessly for the
title of rally champion on faraway
continents. The
Violet 710 wrested
the title from the
Mitsubishi Lancer
1600 GSR at the
1977 Southern
Cross Rally. (©,
2010 Nissan)
Though it was an important name in the Nissan canon in and of itself, the Maxima was a
completely different animal from the 510.
As the wave of front-wheel-drive hysteria
swept across the auto industry in the 1980s,
the Bluebird was converted to an FF layout
and given a new chassis code, U11. It continued to be sold as the Maxima in the United
States, but after that the Maxima and Bluebird
lines deviated significantly with little relation
to each other. The Japanese-market Bluebird
made a brief but successful reappearance as
the bubbly first-generation Nissan Altima in
the United States.
It’s not surprising then that the 510 is
considered the most collectible of the Bluebirds, and one of the top Japanese classics fueling the current boom. That’s not to say 610s,
710s, and 810s aren’t collectible—in fact, their
THE JAPANESE-MARKET BLUEBIRD
MADE A BRIEF BUT SUCCESSFUL
REAPPEARANCE AS THE BUBBLY
FIRST-GENERATION NISSAN ALTIMA
IN THE UNITED STATES.
curvy lines and easily swappable powerplants
have made them a desirable option for those
who want a stylish, nostalgic ride. They just
happen to be overshadowed by the 510. The
iconic white-on-red livery of the BRE 510
inspired an entire generation of Datsun fans,
and many have built replicas of that famous
racer. After retiring the 510, BRE launched a
healthy aftermarket business cranking out
20
CLASSIC JAPANESE PERFORMANCE CARS
The A10 Violet, also known as the Stanza and the
510, won the Southern Cross Rally three consecutive times, from 1978 to the race’s end in 1980. (©,
2010 Nissan.
The Holy Grail of 810 collectors is the Datsun 810
coupe, which shared mechanicals with a 280Z but
was wrapped in a more stately skin. (Photo Courtesy Dan Hsu)
The Datsun 810 Maxima was actually a rebadged
910 Bluebird in Japan. Arriving just in time for Nissan’s US rebranding of Datsun, it confusingly wore
“Datsun by Nissan” badges during the changeover.
(©, 2010 Nissan)