Beasts Of The East: 10 Asian Cars Which Deserve A Restomod

November 29, 2017

Datsun 510

Years produced: 1967-1973

It’s a car that’s often unfairly called a poor man’s BMW. I get why, it looks shockingly like a BMW 2002, but it has a full range of its own charms. Like the Lancer or Impreza of its day, the 510 performed superbly in rally championships. It may not be the fastest car around (okay, it definitely isn’t), but it’s very well-designed. Inside, there’s plenty of room for passengers, and it also handles wonderfully. The cars are often highly modified already, because of the aforementioned lack of power, meaning finding a base model which you can build on from the ground up will be nigh-on impossible.

They’re collectors’ items these days, so expect to spend more than you might assume, probably somewhere around $7500. There’s quite a bit of room for an engine swap, if you want to improve the power. I’d recommend taking inspiration from the vast amount of upgrades which various customers have performed to BMW 2002s over the years. Even though they’re not directly applicable, there are numerous comparable upgrades which you can do to turn your Datsun 510, once again, into a BMW killer.

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