The story of Todd Manning’s 1973 Datsun 610 unfolds like most classic car stories. Scour forever and eventually purchase a car from some faraway seller via the internets or classifieds. Spend at least the initial purchase price of the car again repairing thirty year old spun out suspension bits and replacing rotten hoses. Spend countless yet rewarding hours at the local self-service junkyards finding missing bits and bonus pieces. Among some of those pieces Todd found were a set Mitsubishi Starion wheels, a factory sway bar, and four-cylinders worth of Datsun Trans-Am era gold from scrapped Datsun sleeper.
It was down at the junkyard under a Datsun 710 that Todd saw something for the first time in his over 25-year history with Datsuns. Peering out from under the car was a factory Trans-Am Datsun Competition 7-quart baffled oil pan. Knowing he was onto at the very least a valuable piece, Todd yanked the engine out of the car and hauled it home. Removing the pan revealed a knife-edged crankshaft and forged pistons on the connecting rods. The best part? A draw through supercharger kit that was part of the deal! Todd says he’s got the sway bar from the 710 on the car now and plans on getting the engine together and in the 610 soon.
While the Datsun 610 sports a fastback slopey exterior, the powertain and suspension bits are shared with the relatively more common Datsun 510. The means the car has rear-wheel drive, independent rear suspension, and macpherson style front damping. Scaling in at about 2200 pounds and sporting 90 or so horsepower in stock form, the 610 adds a bit of style to the box on box formula of the 510. In talking with Todd Manning about his 1973 Datsun 610 there was one observation that still rings clearly over the rest.
“It reminds me of a Japanese Torino”.
That it does. Who the Japanese equivalents of David Starsky & Kenneth “Hutch” Hutchinson were is unknown, but one can only hope they had Starion wheels on their brown Datsun 610.
The proportions are a little weird, so I’m not sure if I like the styling or not. But with the fender mirrors, wheels, brown paint, and upcoming engine swap, that’s almost rad enough that I don’t sound like a massive tool for saying rad.
My dad used to have one of these when I was little. I still remember riding in it. As for the engine, I think the 610 uses a L18B whereas the 510 uses a L16B. Same engine except for displacement. Ironically, I drive a Frontier today with a KA24DE, which is the last engine Nissan built that was a derivative of the L series.
Did those fender mirrors come on the US version? I think the retirement of that particular styling detail is one of the great tragedies of Japanese motoring. It makes any car look 50% better instantly. Great car.
WOW – My very first car was a 610 in a similar shade of green with a white interior! I don’t remember the exact year of it, I think 76? Mine had the solid rear taillights, instead of the three squares this (and every other one I’ve seen) has. I always liked the pillarless design of the side windows, but when I had the car – lots of detail design bits bothered me – front grill, rear trunk should be a bit higher, etc..
@harumph: The US versions didn’t come with fender mounted mirrors.
It is a nice car. Hope it fell in the hands of an enthusiast. It is a nice car.
The proportions could be felt strange as Maymar said because these cars were sold with skinny little tires. These vehicles are big in proportion to the tire width as sold. Add hefty rubber and a lower performance oriented suspension and the stance changes completely. Today’s cars, modern ones like BMW and MB among others have learned this detail, so these cars are offered from factory with nice suspension heights and wheel/tire set ups, the end result is a car that comes from factory the way it has to look, to its full potential. I can only imagine a 610 in sport package from factory as in today’s standards.
The Mitsubishi wheels are a nice complement. I think those look very nice. The rear could use more width. Some Starions ( Mitsubishi ) came with wider wheels, same or similar style, but wider rear set ups, perfect wheels for this Datsun 610.
My 610 is a ’74 year model. I did not like that grille as offered , I shared Jeff’s concerns. The 1973 grille is the best looking of them all in my view, without the ’74 and later marker lights at the front edges of the front fenders/ea end of the grille. The fenders are better looking as well, because of the absence of said corner markers.
I took care of that by finding a ’73 sedan grille, and a ’73 hardtop grille. Both are very nice looking grilles, which by the way shorten the width of the grille as seen from the front of vehicle by not using those end markers, complementing this better look by using the ’73 fenders as well.
Good to know Mitsubishi wheels fit. A set of Mitsubishi Starion wheels would be a nice extra set up to own.
Happy New Year 2010!!!