Junkyard Find: 1978 Datsun 510 Sedan
The badging on US-market Datsuns and Nissans got very confusing thanks to the Datsun-to-Nissan changeover that stretched from 1981 through 1984. It resulted in vehicles with awkward names such as “Datsun 810 Maxima By Nissan” showing up in showrooms with all the Datsun logos about to be chiseled off the walls. There was an ever-shifting cast of Bluebirds and Cherrys and Violets and Sunnys sold with American-market designations ending in “-1o” that sometimes corresponded with their corporate identifiers and sometimes didn’t. And then there was the Stanza-based 510 that wasn’t related to its beloved Bluebird-based 1968-73 namesake.
Here is such a car, spotted in a Denver self-serve yard a few weeks ago.
Japanese cars of this era rusted with great eagerness. The process was slower outside of the Rust Belt, but there was no stopping it.
Remember these “SCIENTIFIC DIRT TEST” stickers from the middle 1980s? The sun has irradiated this one so thoroughly that I suspect the car spent several decades abandoned in a field with the trunk lid facing south.
This car doesn’t have much worth pulling, though a few bits here and there might be grabbed by eager Datsun-parts shoppers.
In Japan, Stanzas were pitched by this blow-dried gaijin.
Meanwhile, Datsun sponsored a Neil Diamond Special in the United States.
In Mexico, the car’s Japanese origins were emphasized.
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.
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These things were considered good cars in South Africa and Rhodesia in my younger days and did not rust because of dry climate. One model came out with a 5 speed manual box and independent rear suspension and was advertised as doing 100mph. They are still sought after today and are restored often.
The car was driven at least into the late 90s. The Broncos sticker on the back has the 'new' logo, established in 1997.