It is officially JCCS week, as we look forward to the upcoming Japanese Classic Car Show in Long Beach, California on September 15. The Lamley Group will be there, and is taking the week to celebrate:
I am really good at looking at a car's engine and nodding my head while someone who knows a lot about that engine talks about it, even though I don't know the first thing about what that person is saying. I have had a lot of practice doing this, because I can't stop staring at cool-looking cars, and I think the gearhead who owns said car feels my level of interest certainly merits a pop of the hood. That usually puts me in a head-nodding trap, just dying to get that hood closed so I can dive back into appreciating the the visual aesthetics of the car.
That does not mean I don't enjoy what these cars do. For me, however, a design nerd, whether it be furniture, homes, products, you name it, it always starts with the look. But I am determined to change that. I need to understand the ins and outs of these engine things to take my love of cars a little deeper. That is one of the reasons I will be at JCCS. Keep those hoods open, folks. I need to learn something. But it will always be about the design.
That is where the Hot Wheels Bluebird 510 comes in. I have already explained that it was this casting that sparked my interest in JDM, after years of wondering if old Japanese cars like my father's '82 Accord would ever garner collector interest later. Seeing the Bluebird on the HW pegs caused me to actually do some research. Fast forward a few years, and I have grown so darn fond of the queues of stock AND aftermarket Japanese auto design, and I am giddy about Saturday's prospect of swimming amongst the Datsuns. I just need to be able to hold my own with the gearheads.
The fact that the 510 introduced me to JDM is one of the reasons I love this casting. The other reason is because the car is cool, and it's history even cooler. The little Datsun that could ended up a racing monster, taking down its European counterparts in the 1971 and 1972 SCCA Trans-Am 2.5 Challenge series, forever linking it to the names Peter Brock and John Morton (who will be at JCCS this year). Not only that, it took the 1970 Safari Rally, a 5000km off-road race through eastern Africa. All from a car that I grew up associating with Mom's friend Joanne and her white nerdy wagon.
Of the Japanese nostalgics Jun has done for Hot Wheels, this one has by far been used the most. It has been used at least once each year since its debut in 2009, and usually accompanied with a recolor. Not to mention a plethora of wheel variations. I have them all (except for one just recently discovered), and plan on adding anymore that come out later. I think it is time to see this one put on some Treasure Hunt clothes...
Enjoy all the versions and variations, and go pick up a few if so inclined...
Hot Wheels Datsun Bluebird 510:
2009 New Models
2009 New Models chrome OH5
