VIDEO: Turbocharged Datsun 510 Resto-Mod is Your New Blue Crush

Ever had a project that began simply and cheaply enough, yet eventually snowballed into something much more elaborate, nicer and – oh by the way – more expensive than you ever would have anticipated? That was the case with Rick O’Donnell’s 1972 Datsun 510 2-door sedan. Initially, Rick wanted it to be a simple, no-nonsense track car, with a scruffy-looking body but tight suspension and an early- to mid-‘90s Nissan SR20DET 2.0L turbo inline-four growling away under the hood. Then he decided he needed wider wheels and tires, and to fit them, he fabricated some integrated box-type fender flares. He then had a friend paint the car blue, and the result, as you can see, is almost too nice to take on the track and thrash. Thankfully, Rick was kind enough to let Drive’s Matt Farah exercise his delightful Datsun on some curvaceous canyon roads for the benefit of all humankind (or at least all humankind that digs this sort of thing).