![]() can be attributed to their unique design, efficiency, speed, and affordability. ![]() It still is.The JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) scene has been thriving in the U.K. It wasn't a halo car-the Dime was the real deal. Street, gravel, or circuit, the 510 arrived ready to rip it up at a moment's notice. It became a lasting hero, a machine that carried more weight than any esoteric supercar. But the 510 laid the foundations of Japanese performance, making sure we'd experience the brutality of the R32 Skyline GT-R, the gravelly battles between the Mitsubishi EVO and the Subaru STI, the scream of the Lexus LFA.įrom the outside, it was just a box, one designed to be inexpensive to buy and thrifty to run. The Toyota 2000GT, beautiful as it may be, is a one-chapter story of what might have been. It's still a footsoldier of the rising sun. The 510 marked the point where Japanese cars transcended a reputation for cheapness to become something truly special. Fifty years on, with the Z badly neglected and the Nismo Sentra more sow's ear than silk purse, the folks at Nissan seem happy to let a past legacy of performance fade into the shadows. It's the kind of authenticity any marketer would kill for. Just the clank of oily metal meshing and thrashing, and the faint whiff of gasoline. No faux plastic aggression, no thought of infotainment. Part of the charm of the 510 is that it's from an age where the mechanics of driving were still totally exposed. The swapped-in racing seats provide considerable bracing, and a set of aftermarket pedals turn heel-toe shifting into a simple side-step. Like all old cars, the 510's outward vision is excellent. Katayama wrote a long memo detailing his plans for a European style sport sedan, and Matsumura signed his name to it. K hatched a plot with Keiichi Matsumura, an executive well-placed in Nissan's upper hierarchy. Left to their own devices, Nissan's brass would have presented a watered-down version. Repeated calls from Katayama to the head office involved outlandish suggestions, such as using the BMW 1600 as a benchmark. He knew that for the 510 to succeed, it would need to be more than simply another cheap runabout. Exiled to the US for being a little too into racing-very unseemly for a Japanese executive-he adapted to California car culture as if coming home. K's earlier work was even more important. Later remembered as the father of the 240Z, Mr. The 510's other lucky stroke was being midwifed into existence with the help of Yutaka Katayama. It wasn't revolutionary technology, but at the time it was unheard of at an economy car level. ![]() The 510 got MacPherson struts up front, semi-trailing arms in back. The result was a lightweight unibody with a fully independent suspension at all four corners. Nissan's head of design was Kazumi Yotsumoto, and his vision wasn't frugality, but driver engagement. Just as the styling was balanced, so too was the performance. It wasn't just the Bluebird, it was the 510. What a not-very-talented child might produce, if asked to draw a generic car.įeaturing a 1.3L single overhead cam engine and a three speed gearbox, the tiny Datsun seemed typical of the disposable, economical machinery coming out of Japan at the time. To the modern eye, it perhaps doesn't look like much, merely a box with another box on top of it. This August marks the 50th anniversary of the Nissan Bluebird, first shown at the Tokyo Motor Show before hitting the North American market wearing the Datsun 510 badge. Never mind that: The 2000GT wasn't half as important as a homely little shoebox that showed up in the same year. It was quick, curvaceous, expensive, and exotic. It was a watershed moment for Japan's automakers, a chance to prove they could make a car that stood shoulder to shoulder with the world's finest machines. Fifty years ago, production began on the Toyota 2000GT, arguably the best-looking car to come out of Japan, and inarguably the country's first supercar. ![]()
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