Remembrance Day and a Datsun 510

Art Hughes 510
Courtesy James McMillan

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
—John McCrae

November 11 is Veterans Day in the U.S., but north of the border and in other Commonwealth countries, the holiday marked is Remembrance Day. Held every year since 1919, Remembrance Day is more like Memorial Day and honors the sacrifice of those veterans who gave their lives; it is a day for somber ceremony and reflection. Its symbol is the poppy, worn over the heart by thousands around the world, their sales a fundraiser for supporting veterans. Up until 10 years ago, one man did more for this cause than anyone else in Canada.

Perched on the corner of Robson and Hornby streets in downtown Vancouver, Arthur Hughes fairly crackled with energy, right into his late 70s. You’d find him there, no matter the weather, parade-ground sharp in his woolen British Army uniform, pressed to creases you could cut yourself on. He’d have his tray of poppies hung from his neck, ready to greet his regulars and also surprise and charm a passerby; Vancouver is a multicultural city and Art was fluent in six languages.

Art Hughes 510
Courtesy James McMillan

Over the years, he is reckoned to have raised some $200,000, 10 hours a day, every poppy pinned to his customers’ lapels by his own hands. The poppies were the first thing everyone knew about Art Hughes. The second was his pristine 1972 Datsun 510.

“People ask me how I’m able to drive a stock 510,” says Dan Uphoff, who considers himself the caretaker of Art’s Datsun 510. “They say they are not fun to drive stock, and I have to disagree. The looks and attention the car gets are amazing. People see it and it transports them back to when they were a kid, growing up in the back seat of a 510.”

The Datsun 510 is now a beloved classic, and in the early 1970s it had done its work as an ambassador for the Japanese auto industry. Before that, however, postwar resentment toward Japan lingered far and wide. One example: When Nissan executives visited the Austin factory in Britain after the war, seeking to learn more about manufacturing to restart their industry, there was open hostility. Some of the factory workers were veterans of the Pacific, and they were not ready to forgive and forget.

Hughes, a Shanghai-born British-Canadian veteran who’d been forced to flee China with his family to Nanaimo, B.C., had his own complex feelings on the matter, especially because he had received his early schooling in Japan. And his linguistic capabilities led to him being appointed to serve in Geneva after the war ended, working toward setting up the United Nations. Uphoff recalls Art being incensed by seeing an Imperial Rising Sun graphic painted on the hood of a Datsun—he left the owner a sternly worded educational note as to what that symbol meant—but Art knew the Japanese as a people, not as an enemy.

Art Hughes 510
Courtesy Dan Uphoff

Hughes’ Datsun formerly belonged to his Aunt Isobel, who bought it new on his recommendation from Brasso Nissan in North Vancouver in the fall of 1971, and then proceeded to drive it just 7000 miles over the next eight years. When she gave up her license, Art took over the keys.

Before inheriting the 510, however, Hughes owned a bright yellow Mustang convertible. To this day, the members of the Greater Vancouver Mustang Association remember him as an active member who was often an emcee at charity events. Hughes was a joiner and a volunteer, and the amount of work he accomplished in charitable and community service beggars belief. He served as volunteer groundskeeper at his church, and he hand-restored every nicotine-stained plaque and medal at his local Legion. In 1965, as a response to a call for volunteer drivers, Art drove down from Ontario to Alabama and pitched in on a Civil Rights march from Selma to Montgomery.

Ever a man of involvement, Hughes signed up with the local Datsun 510 club as member #80. The club was not prepared for the whirlwind that was about to hit them.

Art Hughes 510
Courtesy James McMillan

“I always enjoyed Art’s company, as he was quite an engaging man,” says 510 club member Bryon Meston. “However, you never get to really know a person’s character until you take on a project together. And our first project together was a simple replacement of a steering arm component on his beloved Datsun 510—a fairly simple and straightforward job, right? Well, by the time six hours had passed, the entire motor was out of the car because Art wanted to touch up some paint on the block and oil pan! This is how Art kept me on my toes.”

Hughes had a meticulous eye for detail and a refusal to accept less than perfection. This perfectionism was married to a restless energy, and as such, what should have been an ordinary blue Japanese compact car turned out to be probably the nicest example on the planet. At a local concours event in the late 1990s, he beat out a Mercedes 300SL Gullwing and a Jaguar E-Type for top prize. The lower mainland’s All-Japanese Classic event created an award in his name for the best stock collector car in show; it was the highest honor anyone could think of bestowing on a car—that it was good enough for Art.

Art Hughes 510
Courtesy Ben Vogon

Further, while the 510 was a show car, it was not a garage queen. Art drove his car frequently around town (though never in the rain), so you never knew when you were going to come across him and wonder if some rift in time had opened and transported you back to 1972. The car always looked like it had just rolled out of a Datsun showroom, and Art always waved and grinned at anyone gawking at him.

He gave his beloved 510 up only at the very end, just a year before he died at the age of 80. Right until the end, though, he was out selling his poppies, having raised $125,000 in the last six years of his life alone.

His obituary in the Globe and Mail was simply titled, “My God, he was a good fellow.” It was a fitting epitaph for someone who lived a full life of service, brightening the world through his work.

“Art’s car has been an important part of the community,” says Uphoff. “On the West Coast you hardly meet someone that Art didn’t make a huge impact on. So many people have stories of this kind man and how he could just talk your ear off. He was loved by everyone who knew him, and this 510 meant a lot to him. I have no plans to ever sell her and hope my kids will love her as I and Arthur have.”

It is also fitting that Art Hughes’ passion lives on in a four-wheeled form—not in some rare exotic but in an ordinary, extraordinary little car. One that is special only because of the incredible amount of work Art poured into leaving things better than when he found them. As he did with his poppies. As he did with his Datsun. As he did with people.

 

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Comments

    On this Remembrance Day, I, a veteran here in the U.S., honor and salute those Canadians who made sacrifices in all wars in defense of freedom and liberty.

    Note to my American neighbours, there were quite a few young America me who fought in Europe while enlisted in the Canadian military before the US entered WW II. Thank you to those who fought for freedom alongside our soldiers.

    The Datsun 510 was a nice car to drive in factory original condition back in the early seventies. I remember testing one along with a Datsun 1200. A co-worker at my radio station in central British Columbia had a two door model with automatic. If we only knew then what we do now. Perhaps more Japanese cars from that era would have been preserved. But rust was the main killer of those little Japanese cars unless they were pampered or modified like John Morton’s little 510.

    Arthur was just a plain amazing man. And he had such a dedication to him. Love that the car I had drooled over as a kid sits in my garage. I hope he’s happy with how I’ve kept her for him.

    Why all of a sudden is there a number of 510 stories on a car most have forgotten and not seen. I see perditions of increased value and then a ton of stories.

    This happended on the 928 and the ZR1 the C4 version. A few other cars.

    Too often it almost appears as if the web sites and writers try to create markets for cars that really are not moving that many predicted would be good investments.

    We see a number of Asian car now being brought up now that are of some interest but they are not got going to dominate any market as a must have.

    I just saw a 510 this year for the first time in years, It was done up like a track car and cool. But you never see these in the mid west as they were used up and rusted out never saved.

    There are other cars I have seen and it is as if they are pushed in the media to try to create a stir in values that just are not there.

    The demand is there. They have been flying through the roof for the last 15 years. And good luck actually finding one. Anywhere else in the world and you would notice this. Where you been ?

    You tell him Dano!!
    They have a huge following and it’s been that way for decades. Once you have one you will never give it up. Great story!!

    Lol thanks. Like his comment is totally a example of someone who thinks he has a idea what he’s talking about yet has just proven he has no idea with a single comment. I don’t say it to be a jerk but don’t say there is not a following when you haven’t even researched lol.

    I have seen 510’s here and there over the last 3 decades so there has always been a following for these cars. most are a bit modified by now.

    A very nice story about a good man and his love of a car.

    Arthur was just an amazing human being. I miss him. I’d trade his car for him back. I miss seeing him as a kid at shows. I was always excited to see his car all done up.

    I bought a 71 510 wagon from a junk yard with a blown engine back in 1979. Installed a take out l16 engine and drove it all over, even on my honeymoon in 1981. It was such a great indestructible car. I found another 78 510 wagon with a roasted engine because of a coolant line leak, fixed it and sold the 71 to a friend who seemed to have people wanting to crash into his car at regular intervals. After patching it up two times it finally ended up in the scrap yard where I worked and I crushed it. It was like putting my dog down. Very painful.

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