Vidal J I first read your comment as "all of us US car guys...". either way you are correct. We might even be employed by a U.S. car manufacturer and yet the appreciation for the cars such as what we see on Jay's Garage can and perhaps should supersede brand loyalty. I'd love a "73 Trans Am 455 SD that's been built to get a lot more ponies and more torque and match the suspension and braking to go with the power. Add a sound system that cranks Highway Song loud enough to drown out the super woofers in the turning lane and we're good to go. I could say the same about a '69 Ford LTD making similar "adjustments" including front buckets and a console and knocking on 500/500 hp/torque basically turning it into a grand GT. I know there's an Volvo coupe that could massaged into something better than it was intended to be... time to turn out the shop lights.
My very first car that my Grandfather helped me purchase by saying, 'whatever money you earn this summer over your time off from school, I'll match it for your first car!' There was an important stipulation, he couldn't afford more than $750.00. So, off to work I went & earned that $750 in the summer of 1981 & with Grandpa's matched $ I found a completely 'CHERRY' 1974, 510 WAGON WITH A/C for YUP, $1500.00! I CHERISHED THAT CAR & because of the respect my Grandpa bestowed upon me, teaching me the 'value' of a dollar "earned" I simply had to repay he & Grandma SOMEHOW even though they insisted NO! So, I devised a scheme... True story: EVERY SINGLE WEDNESDAY (after school & through the summers) I would pick them up in "OUR" car & take them grocery shopping. Grandpa ALWAYS needed to divert the shopping experience to, and I swear, EVERY WEDNESDAY FOR EASILY 6 years that I owned that car, he needed his Quart of "hand-packed" chocolate ice-cream from "Thrifty" and Grandma got Pistachio & with every Wednesday visit there, he'd buy a 3-pk of cassette tapes for his love of recording anything he found worthy of recording off the TV or Radio. We'd then go to H.Salt Fish 'N Chips where the 3 of us would each get the "London Special" and a NEW bottle of MALT VINEGAR REGARDLESS OF WHAT WAS POSSIBLY HELD OVER FROM THE WEEKS PRIOR! 💚 I NEVER allowed them to pay for the ice-creams, cassettes nor dinners over those 6 years so as to somehow give back to them what they, GRACIOUSLY, gave to me. Half of my very first car. I kept that thing spotless where it sadly took me & Grandma to lay my Grandpa to rest and then ultimately many flowers to their side-by-side resting place. I've never married nor had any children of my own & have struggled just to stay afloat like many of us do. I unfortunately had to sell my beloved car to make rent way back when but vowed to one-day, somehow, buy that vehicle back. Obviously not the exact one but nonetheless it has to be a DATSUN 510 WAGON. Through over 30 years of installing tile & still chasing my music dreams the ole body has been breaking down. Forced to leave tile yet I still sing & play everyday for my Grandparent's with whom I love & miss so very much. I know that someday when I can scrape the bucks together and find a 510 Wagon, it'll be like "home" once more & the smell of Malt Vinegar will assuredly be present. Sláinte Chugat Grandpa & Grandma 💜🍀💜 & thank you Mr. Leno & your incredible friends 510 story here! It delivered tears & smiles. Thank you all for reading my little rant as well but thought I'd share a great 510 classic! Love & Light to you all indeed! 💚 🍀 💜 🍀
Getrek't kent lol how. Many cars in japan have this style. Simple, elegant, beautiful, nearly stock looking. Small wheels with a nice amount of rubber.
FXloaphy There are car enthusiasts in japan that try to keep classic cars clean, simple and as close to stock as possible, it's just that they're usually overshadowed by ricers in the media and news.
Seriously dude, I love the clean lines. I think the only thing I would change is to paint the front skirt black instead of blue. My dad owned a Fiat 124 which is a similar design - he loved the 50/50 weight distribution and said it was a lot of fun to drive.
Brings back so many memories. My dad had a 67 when I was growing up and was always asked if he would consider selling it. Unfortunately, he was in a car accident and the car had to be towed. Now as an adult, I'm hoping I can give him this car someday for his birthday. Hope to find a good deal maybe in the next 5 years.
Hey Jay, thanks for featuring the 510. The 1972 510 was my first car. They're so much fun even with a stock motor and just a little suspension work. I used to let my mom drive it from time to time. People would approach her at the gas station offering to buy it! Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
I do not know much about cars, but looking at your show I have learned a lot about cars. I am from a very small country called COSTA RICA... Here they love japanese cars, and I am A faithful lover of the 1971 240Z.
Awesome car! Awesome restomod! Love the paint. I can appreciate all the little things he did with the chrome accents, no letters on the tires, clean lines. It's truly one of a kind!
In addition, Not sure about the US but here in Australia it was always great to grab these older cars 1600, 180B SSS, etc because you could find a wrecked 240K or 200B and strip out all the good parts: brakes, swing arms, diffs, gearboxes, seats, shocks etc and make your little P510/1600 into a real performer for very little money. Great Show Jay.
I went to Japan about 10years ago with Shin Yoshikawa and The owner of Datsun Magazine. I also had dinner with Mr. Katiyama. I can verify that the story of Nissan changing the name to Datsun in case it failed is true. The Japanese are ashamed and embarrassed if something fails and when Mr. K wanted to bring Nissan to the US, Nissan thought for sure it would fail. In fact, their were many people who wanted him to fail. Well it didn't. In the end Mr. K became a cult hero in the US and still to this day not many people know him in Japan. Fascinating story and an honor to meet him.
I have a previously abused 2006 Nissan sentra se-r v. The plan for me when I am done ageing it in my driveway is to restore the aesthetic of the car to stock then to integrate the engine, drive train, and suspension of a 270z (VQ35VHR, or VQ37VHR) into it. It will require some frame re-bracing, and custom machining of some parts, but to me its worth it since this was the car I drove while in service. I believe with enough work that this can become quite the sleeper. Unfortunately I lack facilities at this time as other thinks like kids, and responsibilities have priority but one day I will get to work on it. I am willing to take options, but please don't be too harsh.
That's a beauty. I had one in high school, back in '75. I lived in central America then and there were lots of dirt and gravel roads to play on and it was a blast playing rally driver. Such a fun car.
We used to call modified Datsun 510's "Box Z's" in the early 1970's. Knew a guy that had one set up like this from Thousand Oaks and man that car adjusted my thinking on what cool was. I believe the stock 1600cc motor for this car was also used in the Datsun pickup. Very cool car.
I learned how to drive in a Datsun as well, a 1979 620 King Cab pickup with a 4-speed manual. My family owned numerous Datsuns when I was growing up and I loved them all. I sure hope to be able to buy a nice, original one for a weekend toy one day.
Holy baby jesus. This is a beautiful car! Restoration done right. And you can tell that there was a lot of love and care put into it. I've always loved Datsuns. If I'm going to ever restore a car it would be either a Datsun or an old Mustang. God, I love classic cars!
Cool little car. I'm familiar with the 240Z and 300Z but was never familiar with the 510. It looks like it would be tons of fun to drive, a great example of how a car doesn't need to have a huge engine and tons of power to be a blast to drive.
My 1st car: I had a regular new 1972 yellow (stick shift) Datsun 510 back in the day the noise around 40 mph was terrible inside .. had to put thick carpeting all over the interior floor once i was done i realized as a short 5'4" average person the ride was cramped throughout I picked YELLOW because it was easier to spot in huge parking lots
Jay: These Datsuns were all over L.A when I was a student at Art Center in the early 70s. I recall being told that there was a widespread suspicion that the 510 was inspired by the BMW 1600 and 2002...think of the suspension , size and body shape similarities! Re a clear engine bay, a black neighbour of mine in Toronto once told me those older American cars with great huge engine bays were referred to in the Caribbean as a car for shade tree mechanics..because you could climb in and stnd beside the engine ..feet on the ground, to work on it! Ken Bowes
Yeah ! The Ford Capri ! So exotic for us, europeans ! For us it looks like a muscle car with these shapes and this rear axle and blade suspensions ! And in real, it's a half of the size of a big muscle car that you have... X)
The ford capri was my first car. So much fun, easy to work on. Very fast and I had really cool mods like lowering on BBS wheels, glass pack exhaust with headers. I miss that car.
Wow that's nice for a first car. Actually I thought this model was made for europe only. We run with one of these (model of 1980 if i remember) on a mountain road. This day I drove a 1986's Renault 5 turbo 2 and I tried the Capri for few minutes, it was fun to drive.
The Capri was distributed in the US under the Mercury brand...(Mercury Capri). That said, on my 1971 everything through the car had Ford branding. It was very much a Ford Europe car.
Some game (pref the Grand Turismo series) in the Future have a "shop" that is called Jay Leno's garage, and the game devs need to visit him and get all the stats on all he's cars so we can drive them in game...
The best car I ever owned when it came to working on the car.. Like the everyday man could tinker on it was a 1999 honda civic sedan with a D16Y7 engine... So simple to work on.. everything is right in front of you and easy to access.. I totaled it 2 years ago and wish I had another one so bad. I loved that car.. I changed the whole exhaust from headers back with nothing more than some ramps to drive up on and hand tools.
Raised on USA hot rods; my best memories were tinkering on my 99 D16Y7. The wiring was crap, as were the internals, it ran hot, the paint needed constant attention, and the typical unreliable Honda A/C cost a bundle to fix.... Few understood why I loved that Civic so much.
Michael Bullington I wish I still had mine.. mine didnt run hot or anything it was in great shape plus I got it for a steal.. I bought it from original owner who was a grandma and only drove it to church on sundays.. I bought it with 54,000 miles on it in 2010 for 4100$.. only thing wrong was drivers window crank was broken.. I fixed that for 14 dollars.. I put a full header/exhaust kit on it using nothing but ramps to raise the front and back and a welder and handtools. I put an intake on it and new camshaft and hardware.. I had it dyno'd before I totaled it and for such a lightweight car it had a respectable 144hp at the wheels pretty good jump from the stock 106hp it came with. it miss it daily.
Sounds like a nice set up on yours. I did a 16" alloy wheels, intake, and ignition. Then did a D16y8 & transmission. VTEC yo! a nicer trans & stock headers to go with the rest of the stock (nonpolished) stainless exhaust (I still have part of it in the yard - not rusting). I put a straight pipe on the stock exhaust; it sounded and carved nicely.
I had a 1971 510 30 years ago or so. I took the long block and tranny 5 speed.out of a1978 200sx. Put all the accessories from the 1600 cc engine and put it back in the car. One problem you have a taller eng. now with the original eng. mounts. I shimmed the "hood to hinges" using washers . I also took 1.5 coils off by cutting the coil springs { there was no coil overs etc. in those days.}and put 260z 14 inch wheels on it. In those days it was a cool/great car. Great memories.Thanks for the video Mr. Leno and Greg Elliot. Great car you got there.
It's true Jay. They did it to "Save Face" if Datsun failed in the U.S. If you notice the 70's and 80's you will see Nissan/Datsun tags on the cars. My good friend was in a 510 club in Long Beach back in the 90's.
Madracer1000 lol About 20 years worth of whiskey and cigarettes is where a voice like that usually comes from. Sounds like Kris Kristofferson's dad. lol
This still reminds me of the Datsun 510 wagon my mom used to have. It was a nice wagon. I didn't realize until recently that the 510 had such a reputation and great racing history. I wish I had that 510 wagon now. It could have been modified into a great race car.
The truth of why Nissan eliminated the Datsun brand is simply the terrible level of jealous against Mr. Katayama and the others who succeeded for what they have done in the States. Back in the '60s, there was another car maker called Prince. Skyline was the Prince's car and they had the more sportier mind than the Nissan. The Skyline left a legend when the early Japanese Grand Prix which was the sport car racing and the early Prince Skyline GT had passed the Porsche 906. The reality was that the 906 had a electrical failure or something and had to go to the pit, and prior to that, it slowed down and Skyline passed it. At the grand stand, that passing was announced and the spectators saw the Prince Skyline GT came before the Porsche at the last corner and that wowed and encouraged all the Japanese motorsport fans and gear heads. That was the lap which made the Skyline name as the legend and grabbed the people's mind with the different level of respect. But sadly, Prince Motors had the management problem and merged by Nissan. And the designing staff of Prince have brought many great cars to Nissan. However Nissan management hated that image. And such mind went worse and they had the discrimination against the ex-Prince employees. The Nissan management had the pure jealous against the Prince brand and what they have done was to add a code number on the ex-Prince people's employee ID numbers so they can easily figure out he or she is the ex-Prince personal. And Nissan management treated them bad. Slow or no promotions for the ex-Prince guys were normal. Then a couple decades later, Nissan had the problem with the management and they are forced to have the president from their main bank. Basically that was caused by the Nissan management's lack of understanding for their customers and their own fellow workers. Therefore, they always had the opposition problems with the union, and that went worse and worse. At one time, Nissan was the rival of Toyota. But during the ill fated era at Nissan, the brand has lost major market share and let Toyota run forward. Then one of the worst tycoon came from the main bank with the name of Ishihara. President Ishihara had the big ego bigger than life. He made the relationship with the union worse and worse, and the products which Nissan sent to the market have gotten worse and worse. This guy was a dictator and all his dissatisfaction went to the union, management and then the Datsun brand. The first president of Nissan U.S.A., Mr. Katayama who is known as the godfather of the Z car and pre-Z Datsuns, who built the American headquarters at the center of many major freeways are crossing in the southern California and had the big Datsun sign on the roof of the building, so all the drivers can see that. He's the man behind the success of the Datsun brand in the U.S.A. Ishihara hated that. He had the burning jealousy against Mr. K who is respected and be loved by many, which were the things he could not earn. So he decided to eliminate Datsun with the excuse to have the two different brand in one; Nissan. The rest is history. Post Ishihara management still came from the bank and they were no car guys. And finally, the car guys went up to the management posts, Nissan was too late to stand by their own feet. So they were merged by Renault of France. But the management with the car guys had kept push the good projects forward and they brought the 300ZX with having Mr. K as its sales promotional activities. Mr. K was Zora Arkus Duntov of the Z car and the Z car fans hoorayed with that. Anyway, the elimination of the Datsun brand in the U.S.A. was decided by the ill fated president Ishihara. It was a sad story.
Thank you for that exposé. Very informative. Certainly remember the Prince Skyline GT (at Sandown Melbourne Australia in the 60's). Forerunner of many Holden upgrades with a bigger straight six and ultimately a V8.
Ok, I had heard how Datsun came about way the hell back. I remember seeing the 1600 when it first came out in the 60s and items like keys were branded both Datsun and Nissan. Some of the smart arse drivers would drive 10 to 15 mph (We had miles back then) and as soon as someone in a Holden, Falcon or Valiant tried to overtake they would keep them trapped in the wrong lane. As they said, the first stock production everyman's car in Oz that could beat 100 mph (easily). The steel used was high tensile so thin and light, but hard to panel beat. Nissan in the late 70s early 80s tried to market nostalgia with the Stanza. About all it shared with the original 1600 was the L16 engine. The body was thick soft local sheet. No independent rear end etc. When I built my 1600 up from a shell I needed donations from various Nissan / Datsun models. 180B SSS engine (L18 with twin SU carbs) and gearbox, diff, rear suspension and front cross member, 240K struts andbrakes, Stanza tail lights and bumpers and brake booster, clutch etc. Sheet metal for rust repair from flat panels of donor cars. It went well and we raced it a few times until we sold it to another rally driver.
My first car in high school was a '69 510 and I loved it. After I graduated, I modified the engine by porting it to 1600SSS specs, installed 240 Zed valve seats and valves, 455 Pontiac valve springs, HP cam, angle-milled the head and adapted a Rochester 2bbl to the intake. The engine has forged crank and rods from the factory and the addition of forged pistons finished it off. Wish I had it now.
I had a 1972 four door. Great car. Everything was visible in the engine compartment. Great handling. Drove it in snow with snow tires and chains. Went up a road only Jeeps were going.
They were very popular in South Africa as rally cars. The coupe was the 1800 and a taillight that ran across the whole back. Then there was the 1600, one being the SSS with the tachometer & SU carbs. The deluxe had no tachometer and a single carb ,therefore the dashes were different as well as the steering. It was believed the because of the independent back suspension one could not flip this car over ,unfortunately I did and the car was my dads.!!!!! I was 21.
MrSockenloch I hated how everyone on that game only used that car for drag races, got old fast, I like variety. Never could get the DeLorean tuned to be a super fast car with full upgrades, but I did add variety and had a huge coolness factor drag racing a DeLorean.. Lost every time..lol
I had a '71 Mazda RX2 two door stick with glass pipes 12B engine back in 85. Damn I wish I still had it. Nothing was like that rotary engine with the sound of the engine with those glass exhaust. Red with black interior and a white vynal top. GT steering wheel on white/chrome Epsonlons rims. Kenwood system with a 300 watt Fosgate amp and 12inch, 6x9s Cerwin Vega speakers. My boy had a 72' 510 and other buddy had a 74' Mazda RX3. Hanging out at the street races on Crenshaw Blvd back then was lot of fun early mid 80's. Seeing this car brought back lots of memories.
I had one of the first 2-door 510s in Canada- BC actually. Mine was $2100 and it weighted 2100lbs on a truck scale. I rallyed it, and draged it=16.7 , sec 1/4 mile. NHRA record for K stock for one month. Best car I ever bought. Sold it to my sister to pay for my college. I set the redline at 6000RPM and my sister never shifted below the redline; you'd hear her screeming away down the road in it. What a car.
The Way I heard it was They wanted to Import a New Car to America, and The Company said they only had Months to do it and The Designer's Said"Dat Soon?
Jay, that body was galvanized from the factory. And the Datsun name was used because the company thought that it would be a better name to use and pronounce in the US market. Then in the mid 80's when Nissan was in heavy competition with Toyota for largest Japanese car company in their hubris they decided to change the US name to Nissan. They even put the decision up for a vote by the factory workers. They chose to change it to Nissan and it was a devastating decision. It's a very bad marketing decision. I was a Datsun/Nissan dealer tech at the time and it was so bad that I ended up going to Honda. They even ended up having to close some Japanese factories. Nissan has taken years to recover and still doesn't have the market share they had before the name change.
you have it all wrong. it was always called nissan and not datsun. when nissan came to america, they called it datsun, just in case it didn't do well. this way they wont hurt the nissan brand. once datsun did well, they decided to use their real name, which is nissan.
I drive a new Datsun Go+. Well it's basically a Nissan Micra 1.2 with 30 Cm longer body, remapped ECU, no variable valve, but get subsidized tax from government. Fun to drive , nice fuel economy, reminds me to my dad's 620 pickup at 80's.
Way I heard it....... back at Nissan headquarters.... The brass wanted the Roadster out on the factory floor fast (it was basically a copy of a Mercedes 190 SL and a few other things thrown in.). Brass remarked....... "I WANT IT TOMORROW" Head engineer looked at him with BIG Japanese eyes and said it awe..... YOU WANT IT ....... (wait for it).............. wait for it......... DAT SOON :p and that you see is how the name Datsun started out as the US name. :D PS... I miss my old 510's and Roadsters (both 1600 and Solexed 2000)
I'm surprised Jay didn't make the comparison to the BMW 2002. The Datsun 510 was a more affordable alternative to the Baby Beamer. Ever since the production of these cars began, the Datsun 510 has been racing against the BMW 2002 in clubs all over the world. Just look at them side by side. The two different cars are almost the same size & shape with similar styling. I remember the 510 always referred to as the poor man's 2002. I am not slighting the 510. It was/is a great little car. These are just memories I have of two excellent cars in the same class: the Datsun 510 & the BMW 2002. It would be a good thing if both these car companies brought back their respective vehicles. Kind of like they did with the Mini. (different manufacturer did that one though) BMW makes the 1 Series now, but it's not nearly the same as the 2002.
Cj Karcher You are indeed right. I missed that brief mention by Jay. He even goes on to mention at the end of the video that he thinks the 510 is just as fun to drive as the 3 Sreies BMW. I must have been asleep the first time I watched this although, less than 30 seconds of that comparison didn't do the 510 justice in my mind.
Datsun beat all cars in the class of 2500cc which it is only 1600cc and against the BMW 2002 in the Baha . 510 king in Imsa in 1972 under 2500 cc class. Still see them win in SCCA. Great car. have one with Honda s-2000 243 hp. I am more of a honda fan and you can't beat the top hp for cc then a Honda turns 9000 Love it. Was fastest 510 at summit this spring with 31 510s there.
I owned a 1972 510 back in 1974. Loved this car, ended up lowered, 2200 cc engine, comp. suspension roll bars and topped it of with a turbo. Raced this car for a couple years locally and had a lot of fun.
I'm sorry jay but as a huge car lover, I can't help but notice in a lot of videos how close your watch gets to the vehicles you showcase on your shows !!! I just cringe every time your hands are on the car and how lose the watch gets to the paint haha had to say it love your videos!!
I always always told that Nissan asked the Germans for a nice German sounding name, and the Germans asked when they wanted the name by, Nissan replied tomorrow, so the Germans said DAT SOON?!
These were great rally cars for years in Canada and Kenya!! I drove one box stock with a skid plate in National rallies for 2 years. One year the Canadian Rally championship was one by one that started the first rally the night it came from the showroom. The engines were INDESTRUCTIBLE!
Anthony H. D. No. Mzeil Raz is right. Datsun is a brand of Nissan, like Lexus of Toyota. Not all Nissan cars were given the name Datsun. Skyline was originally made by Prince Motors, which was absorbed into Nissan in 1966. Nissan seemed only to give its original cars the brand name Datsun. 510 was called Datsun Bluebird in Japan. Skyline has not been called Datsun, just Nissan Skyline( but probably they sold Datsun Skyline 240k in the U.S. in the mid 70s because Datsun was the more familiar name there). BTW in the older comments there’s a guy who accused Americans of fucking words up, saying Datsun should be pronounced Dat Sun...or something like that. We don’t care how you pronounce Japanese words at all, rather, we like you to call them your way and feel familiar with them. Datsun, we say like Duttosun. Dut is for Dutch. To is for top in British accent and the biggest difference is that we accent on the second syllable ‘to’.
Lil' reminder, all cars from Nissan from 1958 to mid 80's imported to America or Europe were called "Datsun". Although, all cars by Nissan that stayed in Japan or Asia were still called Nissan. If you can't notice the Skyline influence on the 510 you're blind or something. Datsun is(was) a part of Nissan. I think you didn't understand my comment. BTW, the original name for Datsun came from a compagny named DAT motors or something then was changed to Datson (with a "o" yes), then was later changed because "son" in japanese had another meaning. So not it's called Datsun.
Anthony H. D. Your knowledge is great. I think you know this car is not a Skyline but a Datsun 510. sean octane is wrong and ***** is right. Or sean octane just meant this car looked like a Skyline GTR? Anyway what did you mean by your comment to ***** Raz?
It's a very long bow to draw to call this car a baby Skyline, apart from the fact that the L16 engine is based on a Prince engine which itself was a copy of a Mercedes OHC engine; but that engine was never used in the Skyline GTR, another Prince engine , the S20, was. Confused? Welcome to the wonderful world of Nissan parts swapping.
Since I discovered Jay Leno's garage I have more respect and a bigger fan of Jays then when he did The Tonight Show you really see what a nice guy he is and how he has loved cars from a young boy great show Jay
Beautiful car Greg 👌with the work you’ve done restoring it yourself it’s a real credit to you. Love it!! 😊 thanks Jay for presenting it on your channel 👍🏽
I'm class of 84. My high school best friend rebuilt a couple, back in high school. It was always a thrill to go cruising with that car. He ended up putting a turbo on one, got it to 110mph and realized the throttle was kept open by the turbo....couple of seconds and mini heart attack later, realize just turn it off....all was well. Memories.
All of "US" car guys need to be more like Jay. Just love EVERY car for what it is.....truly a purest. Beautiful car.
Well said
Purist, not purest
Vidal J I first read your comment as "all of us US car guys...". either way you are correct. We might even be employed by a U.S. car manufacturer and yet the appreciation for the cars such as what we see on Jay's Garage can and perhaps should supersede brand loyalty. I'd love a "73 Trans Am 455 SD that's been built to get a lot more ponies and more torque and match the suspension and braking to go with the power. Add a sound system that cranks Highway Song loud enough to drown out the super woofers in the turning lane and we're good to go. I could say the same about a '69 Ford LTD making similar "adjustments" including front buckets and a console and knocking on 500/500 hp/torque basically turning it into a grand GT. I know there's an Volvo coupe that could massaged into something better than it was intended to be... time to turn out the shop lights.
yep
hate to break it to you, but if you don't then you're not a real car guy..
The way Jay interacts with his “employee” shows how classy he is.
Treats him as an equal not like a lot of famous people!
He ain’t no Ellen. Lol Jay is classy
he's on camera
Rich old white guy interacts with another rich old white guy. ….. on camera. 🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️
You notice the guy "yes sir"s him though don't you?
@@seeharvester In deference to his advanced age. White hair does it.
My very first car that my Grandfather helped me purchase by saying, 'whatever money you earn this summer over your time off from school, I'll match it for your first car!' There was an important stipulation, he couldn't afford more than $750.00. So, off to work I went & earned that $750 in the summer of 1981 & with Grandpa's matched $ I found a completely 'CHERRY' 1974, 510 WAGON WITH A/C for YUP, $1500.00! I CHERISHED THAT CAR & because of the respect my Grandpa bestowed upon me, teaching me the 'value' of a dollar "earned" I simply had to repay he & Grandma SOMEHOW even though they insisted NO! So, I devised a scheme... True story: EVERY SINGLE WEDNESDAY (after school & through the summers) I would pick them up in "OUR" car & take them grocery shopping. Grandpa ALWAYS needed to divert the shopping experience to, and I swear, EVERY WEDNESDAY FOR EASILY 6 years that I owned that car, he needed his Quart of "hand-packed" chocolate ice-cream from "Thrifty" and Grandma got Pistachio & with every Wednesday visit there, he'd buy a 3-pk of cassette tapes for his love of recording anything he found worthy of recording off the TV or Radio. We'd then go to H.Salt Fish 'N Chips where the 3 of us would each get the "London Special" and a NEW bottle of MALT VINEGAR REGARDLESS OF WHAT WAS POSSIBLY HELD OVER FROM THE WEEKS PRIOR! 💚 I NEVER allowed them to pay for the ice-creams, cassettes nor dinners over those 6 years so as to somehow give back to them what they, GRACIOUSLY, gave to me. Half of my very first car. I kept that thing spotless where it sadly took me & Grandma to lay my Grandpa to rest and then ultimately many flowers to their side-by-side resting place. I've never married nor had any children of my own & have struggled just to stay afloat like many of us do. I unfortunately had to sell my beloved car to make rent way back when but vowed to one-day, somehow, buy that vehicle back. Obviously not the exact one but nonetheless it has to be a DATSUN 510 WAGON. Through over 30 years of installing tile & still chasing my music dreams the ole body has been breaking down. Forced to leave tile yet I still sing & play everyday for my Grandparent's with whom I love & miss so very much. I know that someday when I can scrape the bucks together and find a 510 Wagon, it'll be like "home" once more & the smell of Malt Vinegar will assuredly be present. Sláinte Chugat Grandpa & Grandma 💜🍀💜 & thank you Mr. Leno & your incredible friends 510 story here! It delivered tears & smiles. Thank you all for reading my little rant as well but thought I'd share a great 510 classic! Love & Light to you all indeed! 💚 🍀 💜 🍀
Hope u got your 510 man
Cool story, hope a lot of kids read this.value of hard work and love and respect for your elders 👍
I like your style, one of the good guys
Get yourself a hot wheels wagon 510 from legends tour man 👍🏼
Great story Bro'
Sweet Jesus, this guy did this car RIGHT! So clean and tasteful. 0% rice. Love it!
It's like the Europe JDM style
Getrek't kent
lol how. Many cars in japan have this style. Simple, elegant, beautiful, nearly stock looking. Small wheels with a nice amount of rubber.
FXloaphy Some of Japan's vehicles aren't this simple, most of Europes are really basic. (Love both car scenes though)
FXloaphy There are car enthusiasts in japan that try to keep classic cars clean, simple and as close to stock as possible, it's just that they're usually overshadowed by ricers in the media and news.
Seriously dude, I love the clean lines. I think the only thing I would change is to paint the front skirt black instead of blue. My dad owned a Fiat 124 which is a similar design - he loved the 50/50 weight distribution and said it was a lot of fun to drive.
Brings back so many memories. My dad had a 67 when I was growing up and was always asked if he would consider selling it. Unfortunately, he was in a car accident and the car had to be towed. Now as an adult, I'm hoping I can give him this car someday for his birthday. Hope to find a good deal maybe in the next 5 years.
How's your search going
I used to have a '77 Datsun B210. I loved that car so much. I would love to get at least one more Datsun again.
Jay seems like such a great guy, all the money and cars in the world and he treats his guests and their cars with the utmost respect. Love it.
This car is not in his chart price but i'm telling you, a good example like this can go up to $30,000 which is no joke.
Just real car guy, has priorities straight. Car guys are straight forward not snobs.
This Datsun is proper, a real quality modified build. This car would sell for big money in Japan. 160 bhp and it weighs less than one ton? Major fun!
Like 300 hp in modern car
Only Jay-can have $2mill Bugatti 1-day and 1970's Datsun the next. Love you JAY
+James Freeman lol
I'd rather have/drive the 510 any day over the Veyron.
Christian Smith Gimme that Datsun any day!
He's a gentleman without the stuffiness. Very rare.
If you watched it you would know it’s not his Datsun.
"I like it when people use the mothership parts." You and me both Jay.
+Demetrick Louis That is how I feel Chevy blood runs deep in my family but i was ecstatic to not see a ls1.
Demetrick Louis he calls the rear end posi. Isnt that a gm brand name for limited slip? Am i missing something?
@ 2:50 that looks a heck of a lot like a 92-95 Honda Civic center console and armrest.
Hey Jay, thanks for featuring the 510. The 1972 510 was my first car. They're so much fun even with a stock motor and just a little suspension work. I used to let my mom drive it from time to time. People would approach her at the gas station offering to buy it! Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
1 in lower made a world of difference
I do not know much about cars, but looking at your show I have learned a lot about cars. I am from a very small country called COSTA RICA... Here they love japanese cars, and I am A faithful lover of the 1971 240Z.
I had a straight 6 hemi 1974 240Z. Loved that car.
Awesome car! Awesome restomod! Love the paint. I can appreciate all the little things he did with the chrome accents, no letters on the tires, clean lines. It's truly one of a kind!
That car is prettier than most cars today.
+PlanetuRev agreed
+uRev the rear is a bit outdated but i do like it overall
Meh... It's okay, it's no F40 though.
+MaxTheKanuck your comparing a Ferrari to a Datsun, its two totally different cars
+MaxTheKanuck True, but my argument still stands.
My first car when I was 17 was a 510 and they were so simple even I could change the head gasket in my driveway at home, I miss it so much
In addition, Not sure about the US but here in Australia it was always great to grab these older cars 1600, 180B SSS, etc because you could find a wrecked 240K or 200B and strip out all the good parts: brakes, swing arms, diffs, gearboxes, seats, shocks etc and make your little P510/1600 into a real performer for very little money. Great Show Jay.
I went to Japan about 10years ago with Shin Yoshikawa and The owner of Datsun Magazine. I also had dinner with Mr. Katiyama. I can verify that the story of Nissan changing the name to Datsun in case it failed is true. The Japanese are ashamed and embarrassed if something fails and when Mr. K wanted to bring Nissan to the US, Nissan thought for sure it would fail. In fact, their were many people who wanted him to fail. Well it didn't. In the end Mr. K became a cult hero in the US and still to this day not many people know him in Japan. Fascinating story and an honor to meet him.
Ι live in Greece and I can say that nissan came in Europe back in seventies with the name of Datsun too
@@FotisVez Same here in Saudi! The Datsun pickup was very popular, that the word "Datsun" used to mean pickup for a whole generation
I have a previously abused 2006 Nissan sentra se-r v. The plan for me when I am done ageing it in my driveway is to restore the aesthetic of the car to stock then to integrate the engine, drive train, and suspension of a 270z (VQ35VHR, or VQ37VHR) into it. It will require some frame re-bracing, and custom machining of some parts, but to me its worth it since this was the car I drove while in service. I believe with enough work that this can become quite the sleeper. Unfortunately I lack facilities at this time as other thinks like kids, and responsibilities have priority but one day I will get to work on it.
I am willing to take options, but please don't be too harsh.
Jay is a real car guy. Appreciate his passion. Love the look of this import classic.
This car is absolutely gorgeous and well put together. It sounds really good too! Nice work GE!!
That's a beauty. I had one in high school, back in '75. I lived in central America then and there were lots of dirt and gravel roads to play on and it was a blast playing rally driver. Such a fun car.
We used to call modified Datsun 510's "Box Z's" in the early 1970's. Knew a guy that had one set up like this from Thousand Oaks and man that car adjusted my thinking on what cool was. I believe the stock 1600cc motor for this car was also used in the Datsun pickup.
Very cool car.
Ohhh man, watched this at-least three times over the years. This is my dream car.. You can tell I aspire to a lot.
Don't let anyone tell you what's cool to you.
My first car Datsun 1200, ship it to Texas from Puerto Rico when I joined the US Army in 1980. Had it fir a long time until it died.
Wow that guy killed it with that restoration its soo good, I always liked the shape of those but seeing it restored like that makes me want one
This car looks great. I learned to drive in a 1970 Datsun 510 (4 speed manual). My father still has the engin and transmission in his garage.
I learned how to drive in a Datsun as well, a 1979 620 King Cab pickup with a 4-speed manual.
My family owned numerous Datsuns when I was growing up and I loved them all. I sure hope to be able to buy a nice, original one for a weekend toy one day.
It's a gorgeous Datsun, very very beautiful and the sound is amazing.
This guy has a voice for radio.
+TheDustyaman Probably smoked millions of cigars.
+Beto de Freitas So someone in your mind with a deep voice ,has to be a smoker,how lame.
Pete Smith This "deep voice" is provoked by years and years smoking cigarettes, dude.
Dude,have several friends with deep voices like that,never smoked in there life,Dude.
Pete Smith Do you know joking, dude? God dammit...
I freaking love this car!! Beautiful shape perfect motor with perfect power, just a nice solid not too over the top classic ride, just awesome man
1971 was an outstanding year. A friend, also born in 71, restored and raced one on the street. That little car surprised a great many people.
Holy baby jesus. This is a beautiful car! Restoration done right. And you can tell that there was a lot of love and care put into it. I've always loved Datsuns. If I'm going to ever restore a car it would be either a Datsun or an old Mustang. God, I love classic cars!
Cool little car. I'm familiar with the 240Z and 300Z but was never familiar with the 510. It looks like it would be tons of fun to drive, a great example of how a car doesn't need to have a huge engine and tons of power to be a blast to drive.
I owned a 1970 something Datsun B210 hatchback in the late 70's. I loved it...it was bright orange...
I am so glad to watch you enjoy driving the 510, I loved my B210.
My 1st car:
I had a regular new 1972 yellow (stick shift) Datsun 510 back in the day
the noise around 40 mph was terrible inside .. had to put thick carpeting all over the interior floor
once i was done i realized as a short 5'4" average person the ride was cramped throughout
I picked YELLOW because it was easier to spot in huge parking lots
Thank you for not swapping a SR20 in it. That engine sounds heavenly!
Great car. This is why I love watching Leno,he brings the realistic available classics
Jay: These Datsuns were all over L.A when I was a student at Art Center in the early 70s. I recall being told that there was a widespread suspicion that the 510 was inspired by the BMW 1600 and 2002...think of the suspension , size and body shape similarities! Re a clear engine bay, a black neighbour of mine in Toronto once told me those older American cars with great huge engine bays were referred to in the Caribbean as a car for shade tree mechanics..because you could climb in and stnd beside the engine ..feet on the ground, to work on it!
Ken Bowes
That was the car to have when I was a kid growing up on California in the 80's. This and the Ford/Mercury Capri!
Yeah ! The Ford Capri ! So exotic for us, europeans ! For us it looks like a muscle car with these shapes and this rear axle and blade suspensions ! And in real, it's a half of the size of a big muscle car that you have... X)
The ford capri was my first car. So much fun, easy to work on. Very fast and I had really cool mods like lowering on BBS wheels, glass pack exhaust with headers. I miss that car.
Wow that's nice for a first car. Actually I thought this model was made for europe only. We run with one of these (model of 1980 if i remember) on a mountain road. This day I drove a 1986's Renault 5 turbo 2 and I tried the Capri for few minutes, it was fun to drive.
The Capri was distributed in the US under the Mercury brand...(Mercury Capri). That said, on my 1971 everything through the car had Ford branding. It was very much a Ford Europe car.
Jays show is just the best. If you watch all kinds of other car stuff....jay knows how to keep it right where it needs to be for all us folks.
This is the kind of guy you wanna have a beer with!
Love the car, Big DATSUN Fan
Jay's Hair At The End Looks Like You Had So Much Fun I Need A Datsun
Some game (pref the Grand Turismo series) in the Future have a "shop" that is called Jay Leno's garage, and the game devs need to visit him and get all the stats on all he's cars so we can drive them in game...
there is a jay lenos garage dealership in gt 6 but theres only 2 cars
Love the variety on this channel..Congrats Mr Jay
Sorry, thanks to the people who made this show also. Your work is appreciated.
Man I love the look of that car. I remember my Pops always talking about my Uncles Datsun B210 and how fun they were.
The best car I ever owned when it came to working on the car.. Like the everyday man could tinker on it was a 1999 honda civic sedan with a D16Y7 engine... So simple to work on.. everything is right in front of you and easy to access.. I totaled it 2 years ago and wish I had another one so bad. I loved that car.. I changed the whole exhaust from headers back with nothing more than some ramps to drive up on and hand tools.
Raised on USA hot rods; my best memories were tinkering on my 99 D16Y7. The wiring was crap, as were the internals, it ran hot, the paint needed constant attention, and the typical unreliable Honda A/C cost a bundle to fix.... Few understood why I loved that Civic so much.
Michael Bullington I wish I still had mine.. mine didnt run hot or anything it was in great shape plus I got it for a steal.. I bought it from original owner who was a grandma and only drove it to church on sundays.. I bought it with 54,000 miles on it in 2010 for 4100$.. only thing wrong was drivers window crank was broken.. I fixed that for 14 dollars.. I put a full header/exhaust kit on it using nothing but ramps to raise the front and back and a welder and handtools.
I put an intake on it and new camshaft and hardware.. I had it dyno'd before I totaled it and for such a lightweight car it had a respectable 144hp at the wheels pretty good jump from the stock 106hp it came with. it miss it daily.
Sounds like a nice set up on yours. I did a 16" alloy wheels, intake, and ignition. Then did a D16y8 & transmission. VTEC yo! a nicer trans & stock headers to go with the rest of the stock (nonpolished) stainless exhaust (I still have part of it in the yard - not rusting). I put a straight pipe on the stock exhaust; it sounded and carved nicely.
Nice one, in Europe we had a similar look & sound with mk1 & mk2 Ford Escort RS cars.
Go on Jay, you would love a Cosworth BDA Escort.
I thought it looked more Fiat like. But the idea of IRS on something in the Marina price bracket.
I had a 1971 510 30 years ago or so. I took the long block and tranny 5 speed.out of a1978 200sx. Put all the accessories from the 1600 cc engine and put it back in the car. One problem you have a taller eng. now with the original eng. mounts. I shimmed the "hood to hinges" using washers . I also took 1.5 coils off by cutting the coil springs { there was no coil overs etc. in those days.}and put 260z 14 inch wheels on it. In those days it was a cool/great car. Great memories.Thanks for the video Mr. Leno and Greg Elliot. Great car you got there.
My dad had a Datsun Stanza 1800 SSS(South Africa) was amazing... Still sad that it had to go.
jay leno's wardrobe must be sea of jeans and matching denim shirts.
Aren't we glad he made a show of his garage and not his wardrobe
Or just the one set.
Probably has 1 complete denim outfit for every 1 car.
@kragseven he has s&m leather for cycles
Except, he isn't matching...
It's true Jay. They did it to "Save Face" if Datsun failed in the U.S. If you notice the 70's and 80's you will see Nissan/Datsun tags on the cars. My good friend was in a 510 club in Long Beach back in the 90's.
I have never wanted a car more in my entire life
Well said. I totally agree.
I've never wanted a voice more than Greg Elliot's
Madracer1000 lol About 20 years worth of whiskey and cigarettes is where a voice like that usually comes from. Sounds like Kris Kristofferson's dad. lol
Want a 240z more but I totally understand what you mean
Another stellar vid from Jay Leno, they never leave me wondering about any aspect of the car being shown. Keep up the good work guys.
This still reminds me of the Datsun 510 wagon my mom used to have. It was a nice wagon. I didn't realize until recently that the 510 had such a reputation and great racing history. I wish I had that 510 wagon now. It could have been modified into a great race car.
The truth of why Nissan eliminated the Datsun brand is simply the terrible level of jealous against Mr. Katayama and the others who succeeded for what they have done in the States. Back in the '60s, there was another car maker called Prince. Skyline was the Prince's car and they had the more sportier mind than the Nissan. The Skyline left a legend when the early Japanese Grand Prix which was the sport car racing and the early Prince Skyline GT had passed the Porsche 906. The reality was that the 906 had a electrical failure or something and had to go to the pit, and prior to that, it slowed down and Skyline passed it. At the grand stand, that passing was announced and the spectators saw the Prince Skyline GT came before the Porsche at the last corner and that wowed and encouraged all the Japanese motorsport fans and gear heads. That was the lap which made the Skyline name as the legend and grabbed the people's mind with the different level of respect. But sadly, Prince Motors had the management problem and merged by Nissan. And the designing staff of Prince have brought many great cars to Nissan. However Nissan management hated that image. And such mind went worse and they had the discrimination against the ex-Prince employees. The Nissan management had the pure jealous against the Prince brand and what they have done was to add a code number on the ex-Prince people's employee ID numbers so they can easily figure out he or she is the ex-Prince personal. And Nissan management treated them bad. Slow or no promotions for the ex-Prince guys were normal.
Then a couple decades later, Nissan had the problem with the management and they are forced to have the president from their main bank. Basically that was caused by the Nissan management's lack of understanding for their customers and their own fellow workers. Therefore, they always had the opposition problems with the union, and that went worse and worse. At one time, Nissan was the rival of Toyota. But during the ill fated era at Nissan, the brand has lost major market share and let Toyota run forward.
Then one of the worst tycoon came from the main bank with the name of Ishihara. President Ishihara had the big ego bigger than life. He made the relationship with the union worse and worse, and the products which Nissan sent to the market have gotten worse and worse.
This guy was a dictator and all his dissatisfaction went to the union, management and then the Datsun brand. The first president of Nissan U.S.A., Mr. Katayama who is known as the godfather of the Z car and pre-Z Datsuns, who built the American headquarters at the center of many major freeways are crossing in the southern California and had the big Datsun sign on the roof of the building, so all the drivers can see that. He's the man behind the success of the Datsun brand in the U.S.A. Ishihara hated that. He had the burning jealousy against Mr. K who is respected and be loved by many, which were the things he could not earn. So he decided to eliminate Datsun with the excuse to have the two different brand in one; Nissan.
The rest is history. Post Ishihara management still came from the bank and they were no car guys. And finally, the car guys went up to the management posts, Nissan was too late to stand by their own feet. So they were merged by Renault of France. But the management with the car guys had kept push the good projects forward and they brought the 300ZX with having Mr. K as its sales promotional activities. Mr. K was Zora Arkus Duntov of the Z car and the Z car fans hoorayed with that.
Anyway, the elimination of the Datsun brand in the U.S.A. was decided by the ill fated president Ishihara. It was a sad story.
Thank you for your expertise...!!!;
It happened dat soon?
Thank you for that knowledge
Thank you for that exposé. Very informative.
Certainly remember the Prince Skyline GT (at Sandown Melbourne Australia in the 60's). Forerunner of many Holden upgrades with a bigger straight six and ultimately a V8.
Ok, I had heard how Datsun came about way the hell back. I remember seeing the 1600 when it first came out in the 60s and items like keys were branded both Datsun and Nissan. Some of the smart arse drivers would drive 10 to 15 mph (We had miles back then) and as soon as someone in a Holden, Falcon or Valiant tried to overtake they would keep them trapped in the wrong lane. As they said, the first stock production everyman's car in Oz that could beat 100 mph (easily). The steel used was high tensile so thin and light, but hard to panel beat. Nissan in the late 70s early 80s tried to market nostalgia with the Stanza. About all it shared with the original 1600 was the L16 engine. The body was thick soft local sheet. No independent rear end etc.
When I built my 1600 up from a shell I needed donations from various Nissan / Datsun models. 180B SSS engine (L18 with twin SU carbs) and gearbox, diff, rear suspension and front cross member, 240K struts andbrakes, Stanza tail lights and bumpers and brake booster, clutch etc. Sheet metal for rust repair from flat panels of donor cars. It went well and we raced it a few times until we sold it to another rally driver.
The brand name of this car was Blue Bird in Japanese market.
@Lucas Cruz THATS RACIST! Haha, just kidding.
@Lucas Cruz lol
Green Giant you again
The first Bluebird was the forerunner to the Datsun 1200 circa 1966. There was also a 2 litre Bluebird in the late 70s early 80s.
My first car in high school was a '69 510 and I loved it. After I graduated, I modified the engine by porting it to 1600SSS specs, installed 240 Zed valve seats and valves, 455 Pontiac valve springs, HP cam, angle-milled the head and adapted a Rochester 2bbl to the intake. The engine has forged crank and rods from the factory and the addition of forged pistons finished it off. Wish I had it now.
Would love to have that car as a run around car instead of my truck. That thing sits perfect love the paint as well
Nicely modified without looking ridiculous. Well done.
I had a 1972 four door. Great car. Everything was visible in the engine compartment.
Great handling. Drove it in snow with snow tires and chains. Went up a road only Jeeps were going.
“yeah, we put in a 10 gallon fuel cell”
“how many gallons is that?
“...it’s 10 gallons”
😂
Jay has a hearing problem or he doesn't always listen.
Gorgeous.. Clean ride.
This car looks sooooooooooo good!
Jay is a guy you talk with not too. Pretty cool dude.
gorgeous car
I owned a 1972 and we did some mods. I had the spoiler in front, SU carbs and a header. This is a great car.
They were very popular in South Africa as rally cars. The coupe was the 1800 and a taillight that ran across the whole back.
Then there was the 1600, one being the SSS with the tachometer & SU carbs. The deluxe had no tachometer and a single carb ,therefore the dashes were different as well as the steering.
It was believed the because of the independent back suspension one could not flip this car over ,unfortunately I did and the car was my dads.!!!!! I was 21.
Even if you are a young guy today, if you don't know Datsun or other such classics, you know don't know cars. Period.
I know this Datsun from Forza 4.
It´s awesome :D
But the Datsun I know(not from games) is the 240Z.
MrSockenloch
I hated how everyone on that game only used that car for drag races, got old fast, I like variety. Never could get the DeLorean tuned to be a super fast car with full upgrades, but I did add variety and had a huge coolness factor drag racing a DeLorean.. Lost every time..lol
Ampersand.
I had a '71 Mazda RX2 two door stick with glass pipes 12B engine back in 85. Damn I wish I still had it. Nothing was like that rotary engine with the sound of the engine with those glass exhaust. Red with black interior and a white vynal top. GT steering wheel on white/chrome Epsonlons rims. Kenwood system with a 300 watt Fosgate amp and 12inch, 6x9s Cerwin Vega speakers. My boy had a 72' 510 and other buddy had a 74' Mazda RX3. Hanging out at the street races on Crenshaw Blvd back then was lot of fun early mid 80's. Seeing this car brought back lots of memories.
One of my first dream cars
Stop touching the paint, Jay!
I had one of the first 2-door 510s in Canada- BC actually. Mine was $2100 and it weighted 2100lbs on a truck scale. I rallyed it, and draged it=16.7 , sec 1/4 mile. NHRA record for K stock for one month. Best car I ever bought. Sold it to my sister to pay for my college. I set the redline at 6000RPM and my sister never shifted below the redline; you'd hear her screeming away down the road in it. What a car.
The Way I heard it was They wanted to Import a New Car to America, and The Company said they only had Months to do it and The Designer's Said"Dat Soon?
Get ouda here :-) that is hilarious! Could it actually be true? Haha
Old Michigan Joke!!
Nah. That's east coast.
First heard that pun on the west coast circa 1975
My kind of car. All it's missing is a huge turbo rotary
Jay, that body was galvanized from the factory. And the Datsun name was used because the company thought that it would be a better name to use and pronounce in the US market. Then in the mid 80's when Nissan was in heavy competition with Toyota for largest Japanese car company in their hubris they decided to change the US name to Nissan. They even put the decision up for a vote by the factory workers. They chose to change it to Nissan and it was a devastating decision. It's a very bad marketing decision. I was a Datsun/Nissan dealer tech at the time and it was so bad that I ended up going to Honda. They even ended up having to close some Japanese factories. Nissan has taken years to recover and still doesn't have the market share they had before the name change.
Not just in the USA!All over the world..
Datsun was the tuner version of Nissan.....
you have it all wrong. it was always called nissan and not datsun. when nissan came to america, they called it datsun, just in case it didn't do well. this way they wont hurt the nissan brand. once datsun did well, they decided to use their real name, which is nissan.
I drive a new Datsun Go+. Well it's basically a Nissan Micra 1.2 with 30 Cm longer body, remapped ECU, no variable valve, but get subsidized tax from government. Fun to drive , nice fuel economy, reminds me to my dad's 620 pickup at 80's.
Way I heard it....... back at Nissan headquarters.... The brass wanted the Roadster out on the factory floor fast (it was basically a copy of a Mercedes 190 SL and a few other things thrown in.). Brass remarked....... "I WANT IT TOMORROW" Head engineer looked at him with BIG Japanese eyes and said it awe..... YOU WANT IT ....... (wait for it).............. wait for it.........
DAT SOON :p and that you see is how the name Datsun started out as the US name. :D
PS... I miss my old 510's and Roadsters (both 1600 and Solexed 2000)
I thought I was weird for loving old Datsuns....nice to know someone else appreciates them.
I'm surprised Jay didn't make the comparison to the BMW 2002. The Datsun 510 was a more affordable alternative to the Baby Beamer. Ever since the production of these cars began, the Datsun 510 has been racing against the BMW 2002 in clubs all over the world. Just look at them side by side. The two different cars are almost the same size & shape with similar styling. I remember the 510 always referred to as the poor man's 2002. I am not slighting the 510. It was/is a great little car. These are just memories I have of two excellent cars in the same class: the Datsun 510 & the BMW 2002.
It would be a good thing if both these car companies brought back their respective vehicles. Kind of like they did with the Mini. (different manufacturer did that one though) BMW makes the 1 Series now, but it's not nearly the same as the 2002.
He kinda did at 12:00
Cj Karcher You are indeed right. I missed that brief mention by Jay. He even goes on to mention at the end of the video that he thinks the 510 is just as fun to drive as the 3 Sreies BMW.
I must have been asleep the first time I watched this although, less than 30 seconds of that comparison didn't do the 510 justice in my mind.
Datsun beat all cars in the class of 2500cc which it is only 1600cc and against
the BMW 2002 in the Baha . 510 king in Imsa in 1972 under 2500 cc class.
Still see them win in SCCA. Great car. have one with Honda s-2000 243 hp.
I am more of a honda fan and you can't beat the top hp for cc then a Honda turns 9000 Love it. Was fastest 510 at summit this spring with 31 510s there.
You are right.
My first car was a 1969 Datsun 510 4 dr. I bought it in 1986 for 1300 bucks...
I owned a 1972 510 back in 1974. Loved this car, ended up lowered, 2200 cc engine, comp. suspension roll bars and topped it of with a turbo. Raced this car for a couple years locally and had a lot of fun.
lol , jay , please man , keep your hands of the paint work
that colour is just so awesome , no offense jay
you know you went on craigslist looking for one at a cheap price!!! ahhahaha
Doesn't matter what car your a fan of. You have to admit that this is an awesome job. Getting to see first hand every car and drive them.
This car is like the Fiat 128, is an exact copy, well, almost exact,really is very similar, the Fiat was a sport car here in Argentina.
yea its a Fiat 128 only its done much better by the Japaneses.
Not really. The Fiats had a lot of competition success in Europe, the Datsun wasn't sold there. Check out the 131 abarth, great car.
A car that I discovered in Argentina and I love is the Torino ! That's a car I really like !
Yes! is based in a Pininfarina design.
It was built by the Japanese to match the Fiats especially the 124 Sport and 124 Twin Cam models . It is very Italian in many ways.
I'm sorry jay but as a huge car lover, I can't help but notice in a lot of videos how close your watch gets to the vehicles you showcase on your shows !!! I just cringe every time your hands are on the car and how lose the watch gets to the paint haha had to say it
love your videos!!
So funny u say this. I literally think the same thing haha sign on the dash if he ever looks at mine "please remove all loose jewelry" haha
+James S I also cringe every time, but from the perspective of a watch lover :) Be that as it may, I agree that Jay's videos are awesome.
Come on guys. Cars and watches are both meant to be used and enjoyed. Quit stressing. They can afford to repair or replace either one.
what a car. dude used to own one when i was younger in my street. only now do i really appreciate what he had
Those Datsun A and L motors make real smooth power. Really reliable and well engineered, compared to say Ford Pinto OHC.
+LeonardCrassman
Yea, I mean nothing like a Lada but much better than a Pinto.
I always always told that Nissan asked the Germans for a nice German sounding name, and the Germans asked when they wanted the name by, Nissan replied tomorrow, so the Germans said DAT SOON?!
These were great rally cars for years in Canada and Kenya!! I drove one box stock with a skid plate in National rallies for 2 years. One year the Canadian Rally championship was one by one that started the first rally the night it came from the showroom. The engines were INDESTRUCTIBLE!
This is my 4th time watching this video. :-)
Same lol Sitting here staring at my 620 in vain wishing it was a 510 or 240 lol
this lil blue ride is skyline GTR baby bro.
***** You know what Datsun is? Lol, I think you missed a part of history right there.
Anthony H. D. No. Mzeil Raz is right. Datsun is a brand of Nissan, like Lexus of Toyota. Not all Nissan cars were given the name Datsun. Skyline was originally made by Prince Motors, which was absorbed into Nissan in 1966. Nissan seemed only to give its original cars the brand name Datsun. 510 was called Datsun Bluebird in Japan. Skyline has not been called Datsun, just Nissan Skyline( but probably they sold Datsun Skyline 240k in the U.S. in the mid 70s because Datsun was the more familiar name there). BTW in the older comments there’s a guy who accused Americans of fucking words up, saying Datsun should be pronounced Dat Sun...or something like that. We don’t care how you pronounce Japanese words at all, rather, we like you to call them your way and feel familiar with them. Datsun, we say like Duttosun. Dut is for Dutch. To is for top in British accent and the biggest difference is that we accent on the second syllable ‘to’.
Lil' reminder, all cars from Nissan from 1958 to mid 80's imported to America or Europe were called "Datsun". Although, all cars by Nissan that stayed in Japan or Asia were still called Nissan. If you can't notice the Skyline influence on the 510 you're blind or something. Datsun is(was) a part of Nissan. I think you didn't understand my comment.
BTW, the original name for Datsun came from a compagny named DAT motors or something then was changed to Datson (with a "o" yes), then was later changed because "son" in japanese had another meaning. So not it's called Datsun.
Anthony H. D. Your knowledge is great. I think you know this car is not a Skyline but a Datsun 510. sean octane is wrong and ***** is right. Or sean octane just meant this car looked like a Skyline GTR? Anyway what did you mean by your comment to ***** Raz?
It's a very long bow to draw to call this car a baby Skyline, apart from the fact that the L16 engine is based on a Prince engine which itself was a copy of a Mercedes OHC engine; but that engine was never used in the Skyline GTR, another Prince engine , the S20, was. Confused? Welcome to the wonderful world of Nissan parts swapping.
Since I discovered Jay Leno's garage I have more respect and a bigger fan of Jays then when he did The Tonight Show you really see what a nice guy he is and how he has loved cars from a young boy great show Jay
It's called BlueBird in japan.
I'll take this over any fucking f40, any fucking day.
Beautiful car Greg 👌with the work you’ve done restoring it yourself it’s a real credit to you. Love it!! 😊 thanks Jay for presenting it on your channel 👍🏽
Jay, we wanna see you drift.
I wish I had that guy's voice
TheLordofShell l
Smoke 3 packs a day then you will.
I'm class of 84. My high school best friend rebuilt a couple, back in high school. It was always a thrill to go cruising with that car. He ended up putting a turbo on one, got it to 110mph and realized the throttle was kept open by the turbo....couple of seconds and mini heart attack later, realize just turn it off....all was well. Memories.
He sounds like a sane Alex Jones.
his voice sounds like the CHAMP
Of the three 510 videos I've watch on your channel, none were the four door model, which my dad bought one back in 1970. Looks good, though.
"I like how they haven't gone crazy" well they have here in Australia, nothing under $10k even for a rust bucket
Used to make them in Clayton.