Solid Survivor?! 1979 Datsun 510
I did not know there were any of these left! I thought most of these 70s Datsuns were consumed by the tin worm long ago. Cars like this one did not last long in the northeast, where the roads were salted in the winter. We have one here, for sale in Florida, that does not appear to be rusted! The seller claims it is an actual Barn Find, so perhaps this was what preserved it. This little sedan is offered near Palm Beach, Florida for only $3,500
The original Datsun 510, the Bluebird, had a cult following. Many of those cars were raced, and today, survivors are highly sought after. At the end of the 1973 model year, the original 510 ended production. What could Datsun do with the popular name that had become available? A new model was given the old 510 name. The Company’s Violet, later known as the Stanza, was sold in the U.S. as the Datsun 510. It was available in various configurations: a two-door sedan, a three-door hatchback, a four-door sedan, a five-door hatchback, or a five-door wagon. All were powered by a 2.0l inline 4. These cars were completely different from the Bluebird, and they did not have the independent rear suspension either. Many people disliked the new look. Don’t confuse this car with Toyota’s Corona, even though they are very similar when viewed from the front.
1981 would prove to be the last year for a car with the 510 name. Even the designation Datsun was not long for this world. Around this same time, parent company Nissan decided it was time to drop the old Datsun moniker. After a transition period of a couple of years and millions of dollars spent on the name change, their marketing slogan went from “Datsun, We Are Driven!” to “The Name is Nissan.”
This red example sports a manual transmission, and the seller claims 111,000 miles. Paint and body condition are harder to assess when it is raining. Cars seem to hide blemishes when they are wet. This might be the case with this example. The photos still reveal that it is far from pristine, but the price is right, and with a bit of work, it would be a great reminder of the old Datsun nameplate. Would you park it in your garage? Find it here on craigslist.
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Comments
I see some rust,so I know that there has to be even more
under the surface.
As long as it’s just surface rust, and there are no holes in the body, that the frame is solid, then the car should be safe to drive. That’s what matters to me.
My father bought one in 79 – his first foreign car after he had given up on Fords. His was a two-tone – silver over gray automatic with manual steering and brakes. In fact, this was the car I learned how to drive on – and the one I used to take my driver’s test.
It was fairly reliable – better than the Fords he had owned – but rust got it after a while. I think he got at least 150,000 miles out of it. He later bought a Stanza and then went to Camrys. Never bought another domestic car.
I’ve only recently bought (five years ago) my first American car a 2016 Chrysler 200. Until then we drove older improrts. Old VWs and Toyotas
We bought it because we needed a bigger car for my wife to be able get into and especially out of. We consider it our retirement/old fart car. It may look like every other (jelly bean) car out there and doesn’t have the looks of the older cars but it is much more comfortble and makes trips so much easier. It even gets 35 to 38MPG on the highway and 25 around town. It even has the V6 which is actually more power than you can use. I love my old car and don’t plan on selling it but there’s no denying the new car is much nicer on my body and things like a back-up camera are a big help.
Raced one of these for a couple years and had lots of fun as well as winning almost everything we entered. Nissan lost me and many others after the name change. It didn’t sound right relating to the original 240Zs and the Datsun name that covered a bunch of good cars and trucks. Heard one comment that the name Nissan sounded like a sanitary napkin brand.
These were such a retrograde step for Nissan no independent rear suspension,
no SSS option and very poorly assembled
oOoOO, these are the cars we hated in Beer City. It seemed nothing displayed a giant middle finger to our life supporting car industry than these Asian tin cans. Trouble was, they were actually superior to anything we had, and peoples US loyalty went out the window. Don’t think so? I remember once, in a traffic jam, folks taking turns letting people in, in one, a foreign car was next to merge, my old man, get this, yelled out the open window, for all to hear,, “if you bought an American car, I’d let you in, a foreign car, you can just wait for another foreign car”,,,,whew, strong words, that was my old man as we all slunk down in our seats, but that was a real feeling most had at the time.The cars jeopardized everything they worked for.
These seemed to perpetuate the common thought, a tin can, that would certainly be the end of life in an accident, but got fantastic gas mileage, and for most, that won out. What amazes me, is what car makers offered then compared to now. Talk about an about face.
Well there are at least 2 left because I have one! 37,000 miles, two tone grey-ish, same as found in the 1979 Datsun model line sales brochure. These Gen 2 510s are not as sought after for whatever reason, as a Gen 1 in the same condition would bring 5x what I paid on BaT. Do it in a Datsun!