I’ve done plenty of wheels swaps, re-paints, and a few dye jobs, which would all fall in the “custom” category. But I’ve never done anything that required body work. Until now.
What you see here started life as a yellow Datsun 510 wagon. I was invited to participate in a 510 wagon specific custom contest hosted by an acquaintance on Instagram. I decided to go the off-road / baja route, lifting the wagon, adding a lightbar and cutting out a section of the rear to make room for a spare tire and fan system stolen from a Matchbox baja truck (also where I go the light bar and wheels, lol). Lots of cutting was done to get this all to fit just right, but I managed to make it work. And for paint, I decided to do a subtle homage to Jun Imai’s Boulevard 510 wagon, using the teal paint on the body and red trim on the wheels.
The judging took place at the Hot Wheels Legends tour event in Charlotte, NC this past Saturday, with all judging being done by attendees of the show. I ended up getting 4th out of 13 (which is way better than I expected)! There were some amazing customs in the competition, and I highly recommend checking them all out on the host’s IG page: xxajmxx.
Oh, and bonus pic: Mr. Hot Wheels himself, Larry Wood, stopped by to check out everyone’s work! Of course he said he couldn’t pic a favorite, hahaha. But still very cool to have him even see something I built! /endnerdingout
