Datsun does not build many cars like the Datsun 510: a 2/4-door sedan / 2-door coupé / 5-door station wagon with 1.3 , built from 1967 to 1973 in the decade that gave the world the pony car and the mid-engined supercar. Its designer of record is Teruo Uchino.
How it came about
The Datsun 510 was the third generation of the Datsun Bluebird, sold from 1968 to 1973. "510" is Nissan's internal model code but was also used as the car's name in the United States. In Japan it was sold as the Datsun Bluebird, a name also used in some export markets. In most markets outside of Japan the car was sold as the Datsun 1300/1400/1500/1600/1800 (depending on engine variant), although the "Bluebird" would sometimes be referenced in advertising. The rear-wheel drive 510 Bluebird's engineering was inspired by contemporary European sedans, particularly the 1966 BMW 1600-2 – incorporating an overhead camshaft engine and four-wheel independent suspension by means of MacPherson struts in front, and semi-trailing arms on the rear wheels. The styling is attributed to Datsun in-house designer, Teruo Uchino.
Nissan USA president Yutaka Katayama pushed for offering this generation of the Bluebird with a larger overhead cam engine with more power than the preceding models. The design originated with Prince Motor Company, which merged with Nissan in 1966. The Bluebird series had been Datsun's smaller offering, but the 1966 introduction of the 1-litre Sunny allowed Nissan to move the Bluebird up into the mid-size category. The 510-series Bluebird was released in the domestic Japanese market on August 15, 1967. In the United States, the Datsun 510 was launched in October 1967 as a four-door sedan, followed by a two-door sedan (June 1968), five-door station wagon, and two-door coupé (November 1968). In Canada it was sold as the Datsun 1600. The range became famous for Nissan's r
The hardware
Under the skin sits 1.3 other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. Kerb weight is 940 kg. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 2420 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
Where it sits in Datsun's history is not in doubt: the Nissan Bluebird (610) followed it; it was built at Yokosuka, Kanagawa. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Pontiac Firebird, the Toyota Corolla, the Peugeot 504. Its Datsun stablemates include the 280Zx and the 310.
The money
There is no federal ownership record for the Datsun 510 — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.