Know Your Enemy

Datsun 510: Captain Bad Ass!

Everybody loves a 510, right? Well, actually, you either love it or you love to hate it, nothing in between. Why is it though, that whenever you mention the word “race car” in conversation, invariably somebody will make reference to this vehicle? Or to the fact that they or somebody they know races one? Being racers ourselves we’ve found this association that many people tend to make to be a real source of irritation. Well, that fact is that in North America this car has been raced and is still raced regularly at all levels more than any other car. The damned things just won’t go away! 30+ years on, you can still find them in your local Auto Trader, in countless sports car clubs and at nearly every track on the continent. Notwithstanding our own vigorous personal contempt for these cars, it would be unfair not to recognize their performance pedigree. Brock Racing Enterprises set the standard back in the early 70s with its little 2.5 Challenge car, the one against which all 510s are measured. In fact, one could argue that among 510 guys Pete Brock and driver John Morton are gods. By the way, don’t bring up their names around guys who race Alfas… he-he!

So what’s the appeal of a Datsun 510? Well, for starters, these old crates are dirt-cheap. For anyone contemplating a start in auto racing this is an important point. Few people can afford to get into a full-blown tube-framed GT car as a novice, nor should they. The Datsun 510 has provided countless numbers with an affordable and reliable base to get into road racing. It has been a natural favorite on the street for countless perverted big dollar modification junkies as well as for the cheap-ass rock ‘n rollers. The car is fairly easy to modify and set up for hot street or for competition. Now, if we compare either the Nissan L16 or L18 engines to the similarly displaced Fiat twin-cam power plants it’s clear that the Japanese units come up short in some key areas. Frankly, the 510 motor is about as sophisticated and aesthetically pleasing as a boat anchor. It doesn’t rev as well or have the same power making potential as the Fiat twin-cam and is nowhere near as refined. However, its simple design and reliability are very appealing attributes and let’s not be mistaken here, the L16 and L18 can be rendered powerful. Want to shop for go fast parts for the street? They’re available right now and are still reasonably priced. In addition, Nissan still provides factory competition parts through the Nissan Motorsports Division. In fact, we really salute Nissan for their commitment to the grass roots and cannot help thinking what could have been if only Fiat had stepped up their involvement in North American motorsports to the same level.

Typical performance set-ups for the 510 will include some manner of head work which is where the L motors make all their power. Racers will opt for full porting, big valves and any one of a plethora of cam choices. Domed, forged pistons and lightened steel or aluminum flywheels are also commonly found, as is the use of dual Weber, Mikuni or SK racing carburetors. For competition, Nismo 5 speeds are the tranny of choice. Suspensions can be converted to coilovers while swapping parts from other Nissans facilitates brake upgrades. For example, 79-83 ZX four-wheel disc conversions are simple bolt-ons. Not enough performance? Well, be aware of the fact that 510s are often used to host all kinds of other power plants from turbo fours to sixes to V-8s, to rotaries and everything in between. It underlines an important point about 510 guys; they’ll do just about anything to make their cars fast and then brag about it. If nuclear propulsion was an option for speed sooner or later it would probably find its way under the hood of somebody's bad-ass 510 ... Rock n roll maaan!

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