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Datsun Bluebird Nirvana-- My Visit to Tokyo-2U


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Datsun Bluebird Nirvana—My Visit to Tokyo-2U

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“Take the Shinkansen Hayabusa to Sendai…” said Craig— a quick 1.5 hour journey north of Tokyo, where I spent the last couple of weeks.  As the train glided along at over 200mph, I pondered my long awaited visit to Bluebird Nirvana…

Craig Ford is a transplanted Australian, who has lived in Japan the last 12-years with his wife Yuka and son Tarou.   Craig makes his living off of buying Datsun Bluebirds and other vintage Japanese tin and selling the cars and parts to an eager worldwide customer base, anxious to get the rare unobtainium…

Craig and I have been buying and selling cars and parts for nearly 20-years, but had never met in person, so I was looking forward to finally putting a face to the name.  As the Shinkansen glided into Sendai station, I got a text telling me where to meet, and soon I was shaking hands with one of the world’s most renowned Datsun gurus.

We hit it off immediately, and I knew that the day was going to be overload… and I was right.  First we visited a couple of Craig’s Datsun 610 Bluebirds—a near mint 2-door EFI L-18 powered coupe:

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The 610’s were nice… but who are we kidding,  I was here to see some 510s!

After the 610s we drove out of town to Craig’s holding yard for cars that are either going to be parted out, or exported.  
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Damn.

Finding a 50-year old Bluebird in Japan is quite a rarity, they are very seldom seen. The corrosive environment and ridiculous licensing laws for cars over 10-years old have erased these cars from the roads—most disappearing 20-30 years ago.   But finding a field of 25+ Bluebirds was really making my head swim.

The environment has not been kind to most of them—crazy rust etches deep into their bones

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Shoddy body work rears it ugly head on some of the cars;

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To be continued

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Continued:

 

But not all is lost—there are some gems in here as well--- such as this exceptionally rare 68 2-door sedan

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These three Coupes (in the foreground) have paperwork and will likely be exported:

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Others are destined to be parted—either due to severe rust, or lack of registration papers

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Craig in his field of madness!

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To be continued....

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More Parts, More Cars, More Mayhem

Down the road is Craig’s workshop, where he works alone, 7-days a week processing cars and orders to support his business.

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Some of the cars are just holding parts:
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And suspension and steering parts are stacked high:
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And others are awaiting further attention:
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And then we went inside…
Some of Craig’s person collection is housed in the building—jam packed with Bluebird Coupe’s, sedans, and wagons (vans):

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NOS Set of 72 GL Bluebird hubcaps:
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71 Heater assemblies:
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Early and late warning flares:
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Early 1300 valve cover (with no breather):
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There was too much to see and even concentrate on.  I have been playing 510s for 35 years, and have seen a collection like this... Jaw on floor.








 

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Unreal read, I still think of going to my friends junkyard 30 years ago and there where so many 510's there now all gone. How the times have changed in the junkyard world. I wish they where still there. Love this read, and I want a Coupe.

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Great story. I feel like there is more to tell though...perhaps why your friend is so drawn to bluebirds and Datsuns.

 

May i suggest...finish the story, include some promo for you and your friend's business in there somewhere, and approach BAT about running the story on their site. This stuff is prefect for car-geeks and will serve as promo in many ways.

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It would be Awesome to see this collection in person! I watch Craig's site on Ebay,and Facebook, but haven't bought anything...yet. I would also Love to have that deluxe wagon trim....& a coupe!

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