Family driver, work commuter, sporty weekend plaything… coconut delivery cart? That last one I’m sure never crossed the minds of Mr. K and Nissan’s executives. Yet, here it is.
There are many uses for a Datsun 510, with a devoted fan base extolling mostly the car’s sporty virtues. Need is the mother of invention however, and regardless of the 510’s lore, a few samples fall through the cracks and end up in unusual fates.
It was my wife that came across the coconut 510 on a very hot and humid day in San Salvador. Good for her, as she was awfully thirsty and loves coconuts. Good for me, who got these action shots; taken fully with the vendor’s consent (or so she tells me).
Not that it’s common to see 510s with such fates, even in this nation. As elsewhere, the Datsun faithful are a devoted lot in Central America, and most remaining samples have been preserved for prosperity by the ‘boy racer’ circuit.
Against some of my other finds, the flourishes locals favor are usually rather minimal with 510 users. Not that they can completely control themselves, but for the most part tend to keep the 510’s clean lines fairly undisturbed.
As said, most remaining 510s have been grabbed by the Sunday racing lot and Datsun faithful. Samples sell at a premium and are as well tended to as it is possible in these lands. Soft parts and trim are always hard to find locally, which partly explains the mix of fresh body work and aging trim bits. Add to that modern performance accessories, easily available in local stores.
In all, a mix of new and old give these cars a ‘postmodern treatment’ of sorts. Then again, a lot of these old cars are getting rather thin on the ground, so I’m generally glad it’s becoming a trend to preserve them.
Not that I’m sure that coconut 510 will eventually be saved. But for the time being, looks like it will be roaming San Salvador’s streets for some time to come, living out this somewhat unusual 510 fate.
Awesome. Yes, I do like seeing old cars and trucks still being worked, he says getting ready to haul some compost and gravel in his ’66 F100.
Always a few survivors in Centro – America .
I remember wrinkled Datsun Blue Birds still doing Yeoman Duty when I lived in Guatemala .
-Nate
It looks like the remaining 510’s in El Salvador are like what’s left on the streets here in the US: all four doors.
Does anyone know what years the cars in the photos are? Early 80’s?
The 510 was built from 1968-73. They probably should’ve held onto it until the early ’80s though, it was that good of a design it could’ve held on through to the big industrywide changeover to FWD and their rebrand to Nissan, and the models that directly replaced it in the mid ’70s were something of a styling dork age.
If this one were a Canadian market one, the roundish pods on the dash would make it a ’71 – ’73. Earlier 510s had a more American-style horizontal speedometer.
There was a “New 510” sold in Canada in the late ’70s. It was not as successful as the original. I think it was an attempt to walk back the weirdness of the B210 and F10.
CC-in-scale has one in a similar shade of red, but with a few rally-inspired enhancements.
The last under-hood picture of the 510 reminds me of just how much room used to be in the engine bay of many cars. I’d imagine a pleasant day of wrenching on that Nissan with few busted knuckles, bleeding, or contortionist moves.
I love the coconut delivery cart.