Looking For A "poor Man's Bmw"

[Randhiv]

I'm looking for a Datsun Bluebird dubbed the "510", often referred to as the "poor man's BMW"

I'm new to Autolanka and am glad to know such a community exists for us petrol heads..

The Datsun "510" began production in the late 60's through to the early 70's.. amazing car.

If anyone knows of one or seen one anywhere in SL, pls let me know.., I have an evil plan I'm brewing..

PS: I've already spotted 6 such cars;

1. 1600cc 4-door (by far the best) lost it to a another bidder who was quick to produce the cash..(it was in his pocket )

2. 1300cc 4-door (best body condition, show worthy example) but the down-side being column shift 3-forward and 1300cc engine (no engine swap is possible due to rarity of these models)

3. 1300cc 2-door A very protective owner who almost called the cops on me for pestering him to part with it..didnt go well, lovely 2-door though..

4. 1300-cc 4-door caught in the classifieds, absolutely messed up with column-shift converted to floor shift and a nissan HB13 steering wheel...the ist of cheap retro fits go on and on...

5. 1300cc 4-door (I believe) rotting away on the side of the rajagiriya madinnagoda rd; too far gone to resurrect..

6. 1400cc 4-door (Rare engine option L14) all the way off 30km from kandy, established contact with owner but need to do a drive upto determine actual condition.

Please help if you know of any others..

Many thanks fella's.

[Randhiv]

I'm looking for a Datsun Bluebird dubbed the "510", often referred to as the "poor man's BMW"

I'm new to Autolanka and am glad to know such a community exists for us petrol heads..

The Datsun "510" began production in the late 60's through to the early 70's.. amazing car.

If anyone knows of one or seen one anywhere in SL, pls let me know.., I have an evil plan I'm brewing..

PS: I've already spotted 6 such cars;

1. 1600cc 4-door (by far the best) lost it to a another bidder who was quick to produce the cash..(it was in his pocket )

2. 1300cc 4-door (best body condition, show worthy example) but the down-side being column shift 3-forward and 1300cc engine (no engine swap is possible due to rarity of these models)

3. 1300cc 2-door A very protective owner who almost called the cops on me for pestering him to part with it..didnt go well, lovely 2-door though..

4. 1300-cc 4-door caught in the classifieds, absolutely messed up with column-shift converted to floor shift and a nissan HB13 steering wheel...the ist of cheap retro fits go on and on...

5. 1300cc 4-door (I believe) rotting away on the side of the rajagiriya madinnagoda rd; too far gone to resurrect..

6. 1400cc 4-door (Rare engine option L14) all the way off 30km from kandy, established contact with owner but need to do a drive upto determine actual condition.

Please help if you know of any others..

Many thanks.

[Ripper]

I'm looking for a Datsun Bluebird dubbed the "510", often referred to as the "poor man's BMW"

I'm new to Autolanka and am glad to know such a community exists for us petrol heads..

The Datsun "510" began production in the late 60's through to the early 70's.. amazing car.

If anyone knows of one or seen one anywhere in SL, pls let me know.., I have an evil plan I'm brewing..

PS: I've already spotted 6 such cars;

1. 1600cc 4-door (by far the best) lost it to a another bidder who was quick to produce the cash..(it was in his pocket )

2. 1300cc 4-door (best body condition, show worthy example) but the down-side being column shift 3-forward and 1300cc engine (no engine swap is possible due to rarity of these models)

3. 1300cc 2-door A very protective owner who almost called the cops on me for pestering him to part with it..didnt go well, lovely 2-door though..

4. 1300-cc 4-door caught in the classifieds, absolutely messed up with column-shift converted to floor shift and a nissan HB13 steering wheel...the ist of cheap retro fits go on and on...

5. 1300cc 4-door (I believe) rotting away on the side of the rajagiriya madinnagoda rd; too far gone to resurrect..

6. 1400cc 4-door (Rare engine option L14) all the way off 30km from kandy, established contact with owner but need to do a drive upto determine actual condition.

Please help if you know of any others..

Many thanks.

sorry to be of not much help but i did enjoy reading you post... that's quite en effort you've already put into this good luck with your hunt mate

just saw this mate

this guy has dropped in an SR20DET into a 510... so i suppose with enough effort a swap might be possible

Edited July 3, 2009 by Ripper

[Randhiv]

sorry to be of not much help but i did enjoy reading you post... that's quite en effort you've already put into this good luck with your hunt mate

just saw this mate

this guy has dropped in an SR20DET into a 510... so i suppose with enough effort a swap might be possible

Thanks Ripper, thats nice of you.

Yep there are plenty of engine swap options, but for those of us in the lower end of the food-chain a panchikawatte option is the best way budget wise

I'm planning on doing most of the work myself, might need a new tool shed!

Hopefully with a some elbow grease and repeated references to an old w/s manual I picked up, we should be able to get an old 510 back to "East Arica Safari Rally" standard..well almost hopefully.

The reason I'm so fussy about the condition is that I need a structurally strong/rigid car, the cars should be dead-staright, the rest can be fixed.

Oh dear I've said too much..bet you guys now know what my evil plan is.

Keep it comin' fellow motorheads.

[KLM]

That's an awesome car. Look up the famous battles the Datsun 510 had with the BMW 2002 in the early 1970's in the 2.5 litre category of Trans-Am. I remember reading a Road & Track article about some epic championship fights the 2 works teams had, especially at Laguna Seca. It might be worth your while to look up the 510's racing history.

Please let us know if and when you find one.

[Randhiv]

That's an awesome car. Look up the famous battles the Datsun 510 had with the BMW 2002 in the early 1970's in the 2.5 litre category of Trans-Am. I remember reading a Road & Track article about some epic championship fights the 2 works teams had, especially at Laguna Seca. It might be worth your while to look up the 510's racing history.

Please let us know if and when you find one.

Yes, you're right the 510 won the '71 and 72' Trans-Am, quite alot of history for this little japanese car..

What amazes me most is that back in the 60's, Datsun built this car with independant rear suspension! still most modern day production cars have a silly trailing link set-up, mostly for cost saving reasons..

The L series engine was one of the first ever in its class to have an OHC engine.

Its built like a tank and looks as good as any period european car.

This was the era that the japanese built cars to last, built cars for a reason.

Thanks KLM

[Elvis_Pil]

I'm looking for a Datsun Bluebird dubbed the "510", often referred to as the "poor man's BMW"

I'm new to Autolanka and am glad to know such a community exists for us petrol heads..

The Datsun "510" began production in the late 60's through to the early 70's.. amazing car.

If anyone knows of one or seen one anywhere in SL, pls let me know.., I have an evil plan I'm brewing..

PS: I've already spotted 6 such cars;

1. 1600cc 4-door (by far the best) lost it to a another bidder who was quick to produce the cash..(it was in his pocket )

2. 1300cc 4-door (best body condition, show worthy example) but the down-side being column shift 3-forward and 1300cc engine (no engine swap is possible due to rarity of these models)

3. 1300cc 2-door A very protective owner who almost called the cops on me for pestering him to part with it..didnt go well, lovely 2-door though..

4. 1300-cc 4-door caught in the classifieds, absolutely messed up with column-shift converted to floor shift and a nissan HB13 steering wheel...the ist of cheap retro fits go on and on...

5. 1300cc 4-door (I believe) rotting away on the side of the rajagiriya madinnagoda rd; too far gone to resurrect..

6. 1400cc 4-door (Rare engine option L14) all the way off 30km from kandy, established contact with owner but need to do a drive upto determine actual condition.

Please help if you know of any others..

Many thanks fella's.

Know of a blue one that one of my Mechanics restored.. Will check and see what happened to it. If you dont mind me asking- why the fascination with this particular model?

[pradfred]

Hey welcome to Autolanka mate.

Yup I too wanted to make a old Jap car go faster....(in the interests of your secrecy I too am being so, lol)

I got so much flak ha ha that i had to give up the plans temporarily of course......

Good luck and I am sure that you will find the car of your dreams.

cheers

[Randhiv]

Hey welcome to Autolanka mate.

Yup I too wanted to make a old Jap car go faster....(in the interests of your secrecy I too am being so, lol)

I got so much flak ha ha that i had to give up the plans temporarily of course......

Good luck and I am sure that you will find the car of your dreams.

cheers

Thanks Fred.

Nothing like a fast classic..

Lets hope the drive to Kandy will be a deal made.

Will keep you posted.

[Randhiv]

Know of a blue one that one of my Mechanics restored.. Will check and see what happened to it. If you dont mind me asking- why the fascination with this particular model?

Well, Independent Rear Suspension to start with..solid build quality and absolutely stunning design..perrrfect for classic events and hill climbs..

I would really appreciate it if you get me some info Elvis..really would be great to hear of it.

PLs let me know.

Many thanks.

[harshansenadhir]

Welcome to auto lanka and I must agree with ripper on your writing.. I bumped into few during one of budget hunts I executed and the best one I found in Delkanda, between Nug & delkanda alongside the lane adjoin to Sujatha Balika. But that was abused to a greater extend. Came across this one in one of online classified sites ... have you seen this already?

[Randhiv]

Thanks alot Harshan, I shall go check it out anyway.

The Datsun in the online classified ad appearing above is actually not the real picture of the actual car, it was a borrowed image, however its the same guy who has a car in kandy..the one I'm going to have a look at., the bloke is overseas now and the car is with his father-in-law, did a lot of detective work to get the phone number!

What great lengths we go for cars..amazing!

Thanks again for the info, I shall go check it out.

cheers.

[Supra_Natural]

Thanks alot Harshan, I shall go check it out anyway.

The Datsun in the online classified ad appearing above is actually not the real picture of the actual car, it was a borrowed image, however its the same guy who has a car in kandy..the one I'm going to have a look at., the bloke is overseas now and the car is with his father-in-law, did a lot of detective work to get the phone number!

What great lengths we go for cars..amazing!

Thanks again for the info, I shall go check it out.

cheers.

If i remember correctly, there was a maroon colored 4 door in at a place between kohuwala and pepiliyana, on the main road itself... after you pass kohuwala junction, head towards pepiliyana, just before you come to the Mlesna building, it was on the right hand side of the road... Was there recently as well i think...

Best of luck with the hunt, let us know how it goes!

[GTAm]

If i remember correctly, there was a maroon colored 4 door in at a place between kohuwala and pepiliyana, on the main road itself... after you pass kohuwala junction, head towards pepiliyana, just before you come to the Mlesna building, it was on the right hand side of the road... Was there recently as well i think...

Best of luck with the hunt, let us know how it goes!

Yes that's the best one I've seen in a long long time. The two door look pretty original as well.

[GTAm]

Yup I too wanted to make a old Jap car go faster....(in the interests of your secrecy I too am being so, lol)

I got so much flak ha ha that i had to give up the plans temporarily of course......

Stop smoking that stuff Prad. Your brain needs a rest