John510-1

Words: Wooley // Photos: Anh Nguyen

Whether you’re an import veteran, or whether you’re looking for your first enthusiast-inspired car… choosing a platform for a new build can be a daunting task. What do you settle on? What’s going to fit your character and your style? How is to going to define, or re-define you? Do you have the strength to define, or redefine it? What are the benefits, seductions, and timeless wins of a certain chassis? Do they outweigh the drawbacks? Is a specific car going to be a lemon, a let-down, a total rust bucket, a mistake, a money pit? Or will it be the perfect fit… with the power to ignite a life-long love affair, and turn you into a die-hard supporter. Somewhere along the line… you have to stop asking these endless, answerless questions. Instead – you have to make a decision, follow your gut & your heart… and just take the damn leap. This is basic car guy stuff – 101. ‘Basic’ car guy stuff that is really – anything but basic. And the kind of stuff that the rest of the world will never be able to fully understand or relate to.

John510-16

With this Datsun 510, John found his groove in a sleek and slender… banana wagon.!? ‘A flying Twinkie’ – as John puts it. A 40-year-old block-car with the sex appeal of… a rice cake. A car that gets mistaken for the one Clark Griswald drove in National Lampoon’s Vacation. Then – to add a little more challenge to it, John made sure the car had a long history of previous owners with questionable mechanical abilities that kept awful records of their work.

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John510-17

Words: Wooley  //  Photos: Anh Nguyen