Datsun was a Japanese automobile manufacturer brand owned by Nissan. Datsun's original production run began in 1931. From 1958 to 1986, the only vehicles exported by Nissan were identified as Datsun. Nissan phased out the Datsun brand in March 1986, but relaunched it in June 2013 as the brand for low-cost vehicles manufactured for emerging markets. Nissan considered phasing out the Datsun brand for a second time in 2019 and 2020, eventually discontinuing the struggling brand in April 2022.
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the Nissan and Infiniti brands, and formerly the Datsun brand, with in-house performance tuning products labelled Nismo. The company traces back to the beginnings of the 20th century, with the Nissan zaibatsu, now called Nissan Group.
The Austin Motor Company Limited was an English manufacturer of motor vehicles, founded in 1905 by Herbert Austin in Longbridge. In 1952 it was merged with Morris Motors Limited in the new holding company British Motor Corporation (BMC) Limited, keeping its separate identity. The marque Austin was used until 1987. The trademark is currently owned by the Chinese firm SAIC Motor, after being transferred from bankrupt subsidiary Nanjing Automotive which had acquired it with MG Rover Group in July 2005.
The Nissan Bluebird is a compact car with a model name introduced in 1957. It has been Nissan's most internationally recognized sedan, in multiple body styles, and is known for its dependability and durability. The Bluebird originated from Nissan's first vehicles, dating to the early 1900s, and its traditional competitor became the Toyota Corona. The Bluebird was positioned to compete with the Corona, as the Corona was developed to continue offering a sedan used as a taxi since Toyota Crown was growing in size. Every generation of the Bluebird has been available as a taxi, duties that are shared with base level Nissan Cedrics. It is one of the longest-running nameplates from a Japanese automaker. It spawned most of Nissan's products sold internationally, and has been known by a number of different names and bodystyles, including the Auster/Stanza names.
The Nissan Sunny is an automobile built by the Japanese automaker Nissan from 1966 to 2006. In the early 1980s, the brand changed from Datsun to Nissan in line with other models by the company. Although production of the Sunny in Japan ended in 2006, the name remains in use in China and GCC countries for a rebadged version of the Nissan Almera.
The Datsun Sports, was a series of roadsters produced by Nissan in the 1960s. The series was a predecessor to the Z-car in the Fairlady line, and offered a competitor to the European MG, Triumph, Fiat and Alfa Romeo sports cars. Beginning with the 1959 S211, the line was built in two generations: the first generation was largely handbuilt in small numbers, while the second generation was series produced. The second generation first appeared in 1961 and continued through 1970 with the SP311 and SR311 lines.
The BMC B series was a line of straight-4 & straight-6 internal combustion engine mostly used in motor cars, created by British automotive manufacturer Austin Motor Company.
The Nissan A series of internal combustion gasoline engines have been used in Datsun, Nissan and Premier brand vehicles. Displacements of this four-stroke engine family ranged from 1.0-liter to 1.5-liter and have been produced from 1967 till 2009. It is a small-displacement four-cylinder straight engine. It uses a lightweight cast iron block and an aluminum cylinder head, with overhead valves actuated by pushrods.
The Nissan E series name was used on two types of automobile engines. The first was an OHV line used in the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s. The second was an OHC version ranging from 1.0 to 1.6 litres and was produced from 1981 till 1988. It was replaced by the GA engine series.
The Nissan Z engine is a series of automobile and light truck four-cylinder engines that was engineered by Nissan Machinery, manufactured by the Nissan Motor Company from 1979 through August 1989. All Z engines had 4 cylinders, a total of 8 valves and a single overhead camshaft (SOHC). Displacements ranged from 1.6 L to 2.4 L.The Z series' engine blocks were nearly identical to those of the earlier L Series with the exception of the Z24. While the Z16 and Z18 engines had a deck height similar to the earlier L13/L14/L16/L18 variants, the Z24 had a taller deck height to accommodate a longer stroke. The most notable difference between the Z-series engine and its predecessor was the introduction of a new crossflow cylinder head which reduced emissions by moving the intake ports to the right side of the engine opposite the exhaust ports. This change allows the exhaust port velocity to more effectively scavenge the cylinder and reduce reversion pulses to enhance induction. This change also limits maximum valve lift/lobe lift profiles rendering the cylinder head and valve train configuration undesirable for high-performance uses. The Z series evolved into the NA and KA engines which, along with the smaller CA series, replaced the Z series.
The Nissan D-series is an overhead valve series of engines which first appeared in 1964, with the 1.05-liter D engine. Similar to a number of British and other Datsun engines, it may have been derived from an Ohta design which also found its way into some Kurogane vehicles - both of these companies were swallowed up by Nissan in the early 1960s.
The Austin 7 is an economy car that was produced from 1923 until 1939 in the United Kingdom by Austin. It was nicknamed the "Baby Austin" and was at that time one of the most popular cars produced for the British market and sold well abroad. Its effect on the British market was similar to that of the Model T Ford in the US, replacing most other British economy cars and cyclecars of the early 1920s. It was also licensed and copied by companies all over the world. The first BMW car, the BMW Dixi, was a licensed Austin 7. In France they were made and sold as Rosengarts, and in the United States they were built by the American Austin Car Company. In Japan, Nissan also used the 7 design as the basis for their first cars, although not under licence. This eventually led to a 1952 agreement for Nissan to build and sell Austins in Japan under the Austin name.
The Datsun Truck is a compact pickup truck made by Nissan in Japan from 1955 through 1997. It was originally sold under the Datsun brand, but this was switched to Nissan in 1983. It was replaced in 1997 by the Frontier and Navara. In Japan, it was sold only in Nissan Bluebird Store locations.
The Nissan J series are straight-4 and straight-6 gasoline internal combustion engines produced by Nissan from the 1960s through the 1980s. It is similar to the BMC B-Series engine that was built in Japan under licence as the Nissan 1H before being de-stroked to become the 1.0 L Nissan C and 1.2 L Nissan E engines, but wasn't a direct copy.
The 1933 Datsun Type 12 was a small car produced by the Nissan corporation.
The automotive industry in Japan is one of the most prominent and largest industries in the world. Japan has been in the top three of the countries with most cars manufactured since the 1960s, surpassing Germany. The automotive industry in Japan rapidly increased from the 1970s to the 1990s and in the 1980s and 1990s, overtook the U.S. as the production leader with up to 13 million cars per year manufactured and significant exports. After massive ramp-up by China in the 2000s and fluctuating U.S. output, Japan is currently the third largest automotive producer in the world with an annual production of 9.9 million automobiles in 2012. Japanese investments helped grow the auto industry in many countries throughout the last few decades.
Tokyu Kurogane Industries, or Kurogane, was one of the first Japanese automakers. It built vehicles from about 1926 until 1962 when a subsidiary of Nissan, called Nissan Machinery, assumed operations as the company had become a member of the Nissan Group keiretsu. The word kurogane is an old term for iron, and one of the kanji used in Mr. Makita's first name. Remnants of the company were called Nissan Machinery until 1985, and operated as a separate entity within Nissan Techno until 2006, building and developing all of Nissan's current engines.
The Datsun Type 14 was a small Japanese car introduced in February 1935 and built until 1936. It had a 15 PS (11 kW) sidevalve engine and was offered in several body styles. According to Britain's National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, the Type 14 "marked the birth of the Japanese car industry."
Nissan's sidevalve engines were based on the Austin 7 engine, with which they shared the 76 mm (2.99 in) stroke. The series began with a 495 cc iteration for the 1930 Datson Type 10 and ended with the 860 cc Type 10 engine which was built until 1964 for light commercial vehicles. Later versions were called the B-1, before being replaced in 1957 by the OHV Nissan C engine that was essentially a de-stroked version of another Austin design this time the BMC B-Series.
The 1934 Datsun Type 13 was a small car produced by Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. Introduced in July 1934, it remained in production until March 1935 after its replacement, the Type 14, was introduced in February 1935. The Type 13 was basically similar to the earlier 1933 Type 12, but was more stylish in appearance. For the first time, a truck version was also available; the Datsun Type 13T.
