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The Early Years
1968
In late 1967, Nissan Motor Company, Ltd. introduced the new Bluebird sedan to the press. Soon after, the new Datsuns were imported into the United States and Canada as the Datsun 510.
BODY:
The 1968 model is different than later models in many small details. Starting from the front, I will outline the differences.
GRILL:
The 1968 Grill is made of polished stainless steel. The headlight bezels are a little longer than later years and actually have a bend that blends them into the center grill. The individual bars on the grill are flatter than the later years. The grill is accented with black paint to make the individual bars stand out. In the center of the grill is a long, rectangular DATSUN badge highlighted in red.
Front turnsignals:
The 1968 model has smaller amber (almost yellow) turnsignals. Very early Canadian models had the split amber/white turnsignals that were available on most export model Datsuns, but none came to the United States with them.
Front Side Marker Lights:
The side marker lights on the 1968 model are often called "Arrow marker lights" since their shape resembles an arrowhead.
Front DATSUN emblem:
The front DATSUN badge is placed just behind the side marker light on the front fender. It is made from chrome plated metal. Very early Canadian models had DATSUN 1600 badges instead of the standard ones.
Windshield Wipers:
The wiper system on the 1968 model is unique to this model year. It has a standard wiper on the drivers side, and a wiper that goes the opposite direction on the passenger side, like many 50's era American cars have.
Windshield Wiper Valance:
The valance is also unique to this year. It is very narrow and has two protruding chrome washer nozels for washing the windshield.
Radio antenna placement:
The Radio antenna comes through the sheet metal near the passenger wiper arm through the sheet metal. Most radios antennas had a large round base and the antenna would go straight up.
Front and rear window rubber seals:
Very early 1968 cars had different window rubber than later models. The seal looks a little heavier and has different slots for the stainless inserts. I have only seen this window rubber on the very early Canadian cars.
Side Air Vents:
The side air vents on the 1968 model are made from chrome plated metal and are mounted from the inside with no visible screws from the outside. The center part of the vent has a flat silver finish, while the edges are chrome. The wagon's rear air vents are located below the rear hatch window and are also made of chrome plated metal.
No rear side marker light:
1968 cars do not have a rear side marker light.
Taillights:
The 1968 cars have a taillight that is unique to this year. The taillights are made from the standard red plastic, with a clear section for the reverse lights. When looking at the 1968 taillight it is possible to see the round reflector for each section. Very early Canadian cars came with "Euro Lenses" that had an amber turnsignal section. The taillight is surrounded by a chrome plated frame.
Badge placement:
1968 cars had their badges placed differently than other years. The Datsun badge was located just above the license plate. The badge is a long spelled out D_A_T_S_U_N badge that is chrome plated metal. The 510 badge is also chrome plated metal and is placed in-between the license plate recess and the right rear taillight.
Rear Bumper:
The rear bumper is also unique to this year. It has the license plate light incorporated into the top edge just below the license plate. There are no license plate lights on the body itself. If the car was a four door or wagon, it would be equipped with two overriders that are chrome plated metal with a rubber insert that runs down the middle. Two door cars have a black rubber plug that inserts into the hole where the overrider would attach.
Interior:
The dash on the 1968 model is also unique to this year. The flat dash pad has a dip in the center of it that is about six inches wide. The speedometer's shape is unique to this year, and is the flat "Bar" style. Just to the right of the speedometer is a plastic blank, with a stylized D (for Datsun) which could be removed and replaced with the optional clock. The heater controls are a horizontal slide style and are located on the right side of the dash below the speedometer. The ignition switch is located on the left side of the dash, not on the steering column. A single one-sided key opened all locks. The fresh air vents are operated by turning a control knob below the dash under each vent. On some cars, the interior dome light is located on the pillar in between the front door and rear door (or window) instead of in the center of the headliner. The head liner is dotted style and is off white.
The front doors have a simple black plastic pull handle that is located towards the top edge of the door panel. There is no arm rest. All glass on the early cars is clear and is not tinted.
The front seats do not have head rests.
1969
BODY:
Grill:
The 1969 model got a new grill. The headlight bezels were changed and ended around the highbeam headlight. The center part of the grill is unpainted stainless steel, with rounder bars than the 68 grill. The grill is highlighted with two larger bars in the center. In the center of the grill is a rectangular D (for Datsun) badge.
Front turnsigals, Datsun emblem, side marker lights, are the same as the 68 model year.
Windshield Wipers:
The windshield wipers on the 69 car were changed to the normal style, with both wipers facing the same direction. This system was left this way for the rest of the model run.
Windshield Wiper Valance:
The Valance was redesigned to house the new wiper setup, and the new wiper nozels were hidden in-between the slits for the fresh air vent.
Side air vents are the same as the 68 model.
Side marker light:
To comply with DOT side marker light regulations, Datsun added a small, round red light to the side of the car in the rear. You will only see rear side marker lights on US and Canadian cars.
Tail lights:
Datsun redesigned the tail lights for the 1969 model year. The taillights got slightly larger, and were made of solid red plastic, with a clear reverse light section. They also added a chrome trim piece that was parallel to the chrome surrounding frame. These tail lights stayed the same through the end of the model run in 1973.
Rear license plate light:
Datsun moved the bumper mounted license plate light to the rear tail light panel. There was one chrome plated light each side of the rear license plate.
Rear badge placement:
The D_A_T_S_U_N badge remained in-between the tail lights, but the 510 badge was moved under the right hand tail light.
Rear bumper:
As noted before, the rear license plate light was moved off the rear bumper and so the 1969 model got a new bumper without the hole for the light. The bumper design stayed the same for the rest of the production run.
Interior:
Datsun redesigned the dash for the 1969 model year. The dash looks very close to the 1968 dash but without the dip in the center of the dash pad. The speedometer again is the "bar" style, but is slightly different. The heater controls were changed to a vertical slide style, but are located in the same place. The ignition key is now located on the steering column.
The front seats now have headrests on them.
1970
Datsun freshened up the 510 for the 1970 model year and made several changes to the car on the outside and inside.
BODY:
Grill:
The front grill was changed yet again for the 1970 model year. The new grill sported 9 bars and came in two styles. The two door was equipped with a grill that had bars 1,2 and 8,9 in polished stainless steel, with the center section painted in a graphite color.
The four door and wagon came with the same grill except it was all stainless construction, with bar 5 is also polished and the others painted black.
Both cars came with a red, white and blue DATSUN badge with the standard Datsun racing stripes crossing it. These changes stayed the same until the end of the production run in 1973.
Front turnsignals:
Datsun redesigned the front turnsignals to comply with DOT lighting regulations. They are a little larger than the original 68-69 style, and are made of a bright orange plastic. These turnsignals stayed the same until the end of the production run.
Front valance:
The front valance was redesigned to fit around the new turnsignals, otherwise it is very close to the 68-69 style valance.
Front Fenders:
The front fenders were also revised to meet the DOT lighting regulations. New rectangular front marker lights replaced the early "arrowhead" style lights, and they were mounted well below the body line on the fender. The fenders and lights stayed the same until the end of the production run.
Front Fender Datsun Badge:
The front fender Datsun badge was also moved from behind the "arrowhead" marker light to the rear part of the fender, but still below the body line. The badge was now made of chrome plated plastic instead of metal.
Side air vents:
The side air vents on the sedan models also were changed. They were now made from chrome plated plastic, and were mounted from the outside with four screws. The vents center section was now highlighted in black with chrome accents. The wagon's rear hatch vents were also changed to plastic, and have a slightly different design than the 68-69 models.
Radio Antenna:
The radio antenna was moved from next to the windshield valance to on the passenger side windshield pillar.
New rear side light:
The round 69 style marker light was replaced with a rectangular red light the same style as the front amber one. These lights remained the same until the end of the production run.
Rear Datsun Badge:
The rear Datsun badge was moved off the tail light panel to the right hand side of the trunk lid. Datsun eliminated the long spelled out Datsun badge and replaced it with the same badge as the fenders, which was chrome plated plastic.
Wagon Rear Reflectors:
Again to comply with DOT lighting specifications the wagon got round reflectors below each tail light.
INTERIOR:
Datsun did a major redesign of the dash for the 1970 model year. The new dash looked much more modern than the dated early style dashes. The new design was made from black textured plastic with individual "pods" to house the gauges. The wiper and light controls were moved to the upper right of the dash for easier use. The knobs for the lights and wipers had international icons on them, instead of the spelled out name for each knob like earlier years. The speedometer was a round dial style, and an optional trip speedometer was available. To the right of the speedometer was the temp/fuel gauge. To the right of that was a blank "pod" that housed the oil pressure light, parking brake light, and the charge light. An optional tachometer or clock could replace the blank. The gauges on the 1970 car are called "white needle" because the needles on the gauges are painted white. The hazzard light switch was also moved to the steering column.
The heater controls were moved to the upper middle section of the dash, and again had horizontal slide controls. To the right of the heater fan controls was a blank for the optional map light. Datsun put the graphic and the lens for the map light in every car, but the switch, which looks the same as the heater switch, and the light was a factory option. The radio is located below the heater controls, and the white lens just above the radio is the the map light. Basic 510's that did not come with the factory radio, got a coin tray that fit in the section where the radio would go. Below the radio was the ashtray, with the cigarette lighter, which was also an option on some cars, and another blank on the right. Canadian cars that came with a rear window defroster would have the switch located here.
The fresh air vents got a simple pull tab to operate the vents and the round knob was discontinued.
The front door panels finally got an arm rest.
The SSS model:
In the United States Datsun came out with a SSS model that had some other changes. The SSS model was just a trim package only, unlike other countries there were no performance modifications. The SSS model was equipped with a vinyl roof with rectangular SSS badges located on the middle of the C pillar just above the side air vent. These badges are the same ones used on the grill/tail lights on a 411SSS sedan. The SSS model came in the two door, four door and wagon. Most SSS cars came with the automatic transmission. Interior changes included a "wood" steering wheel (like the 240Z) with a SSS badge located on the horn pad. Most SSS models also came with many factory option like a tachometer, trip speedometer etc.
1971
Datsun did not make many changes for the 1971 model year.
Body:
No changes
Interior:
The gauges were changed sometime during the 71 model year to an "Orange Needle" setup. All needles on the gauges were painted bright orange instead of white. The speedometer and optional tachometer or clock also had a white circle added to the center of the gauge. The white needle gauges do not have this circle.
Datsun also went to a single, double-sided key for all locks on this vehicle.
The design on the door panels was also changed for 1971. This same design stayed the same until the end of production in 1973.
All glass was now tinted, unlike the earlier models.
1972
Datsun did not make many changes for the 1972 model year.
BODY:
No changes
INTERIOR:
The windshield wiper and headlight knobs were changed back to having a text description on them instead of the international icons. The wiper knob also had small ears added to it to assist the washing mode. (It may have also got the ears to assist drivers to find the knob in dark.) The blank for the map light was removed and replaced with a red lens that was supposed to remind people to fasten their seat belts.
1973
The 1973 model year was the last for the Datsun PL510. Datsun produced ALL 1973 510's in December of 1972. All 1973 510's are two doors only.
BODY:
Front bumper overriders:
The 73 model had heavy rubber overriders which replaced the earlier chrome and rubber ones, (although the 68-72 two door never came with factory overriders.) The rubber overriders were added to comply with the new bumper regulations that were starting to come into effect in the early 70's.
Rear Bumper overriders:
The rear bumper also had the overriders added to it as well.
Rear window defroster:
The 73 model finally got a rear window defroster for the US market.
INTERIOR:
The dash was again revised for the 1973 model year. The windshield wiper knob and the headlight knob were replaced with backlit fiber-optic ones. These are easy to spot since they have a green surface, with a rubber edge. At night the knobs are backlit, and are easier to find on the dash. The heater control panel was also revised for 1973. The panel is flat and does not have the curve on the front like the earlier models. The panel is also backlit at night for easier use.
The front seats have a reclining feature that was not seen on earlier models.
