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For $17,500, Live And Let Dime
For $17,500, Live And Let Dime-February 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:10:07

Some women like to show off their fancy undies with a peek of a bra strap here, or a glimpse of thong there. Likewise, today's Datsun lets it all hang out, prominently showing off its intercooler. Will buying it however also require showing off too much cash?

Do you think Millennials will have any love for large wagons, lacking them as a fond remembrance of their youth? Or, do you think they will still gravitate to them, but only for ironic reasons? Whatever the reason, yesterday's turned out to be the love boat, gaining a 67% Nice Price win and a lot of jonsing for those sideways-facing rear-most seats.

One way to be a Country Squire is to be a member of the landed gentry, way out in the boonies that…

Like the long extinct mega-fauna that used to roam America's vast expanses, so too are big wagons seemingly headed for the tar pits of history. Small wagons, just like more resource-efficient smaller species (think rats) continue to thrive, especially in sport wagon form. Today we have a an old kind-of-sporty wagon that, like the stinky Coelacanthe, has survived. And all it took was a heart transplant.

This is not powered by its original L-series 4. That engine had only so much power that could be realistically be wrung out of it, and Pete Brock got most of that. Instead it has that go to for go fast, the ayatollah of rock and rolla, Nissan's Sr20DET DOHC turbo four.

Now the 510 in JDM guise is known as the Bluebird, and the SR20 was popped into Bluebirds in the home market from '89 though '95 so this is just like a grandad wearing his grandson's Chucks and taking his game downtown.

This one's a redtop and those were good from the factory for something just north of 200 horsepower, which would be about double what the car's original put out. Here that's backed up by a five-speed stick and of course out back there's a live axle supported on cart springs. Only the two-door and sedan versions of the 510 got to be independently sprung in back.

Speaking of springs, this wagon is claimed to ride on KYB struts wrapped in Techno Toy Tuning coilovers. A bunch of other suspension stiffening pieces and 280ZX brakes should make the turning and stopping just as confidence inspiring as the going. On the downside the fat meats on the Traklite Holeshots rub in back.

Visually, the car is pretty arresting. The paint is said to be three months new, and the fitting of the intercooler in front of the grille and plumbed through the inner headlamp buckets is a major FU to convention. There is the dent in the driver's door and the lack of headliner on the inside, but hey, it's gots the new carpets!

It also has 200SX seats, a Momo steering wheel and a shit-load of gauges that surprisingly don't live on the A-pillar, leaving it as naked as the day it was born. Overall, it's a pretty impressive package.

I happen to love the 510 - or Five and Dime - and I imagine that so do many of you as well. Perhaps owning a related 240Z makes these seem like family that you like, and as such I'd be open to actually owning one. Of course I can't afford anywhere near this one's $17,500 asking price. That's not saying anything about whether or not its worth that, only about how broke my ass is all the time.

Somebody out there, say a Hilton heir or Matt Hardigree, could afford to pay that, and you now need to say whether do so would mean that they are getting screwed.

What do you think, is this Datsun wagon worth $17,500? Or, does that price mean you couldn't stop on this Dime?

You decide!

or go if the ad disappears.

Help me out with NPOCP. Click to send a me a fixed-price tip, and remember to include your commenter handle.

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