British footprint
The fame of Datsun (and related Nissan) cars was born in the early 1930s. On the contrary, there was no glory then, certainly not internationally. The company presented a modest Datsun Type 11, a copy of a simple British Austin Seven. This mass model was also produced in Germany under the name Dixi. And with her began the history of the BMW brand.
The engine on the Datsun was a variation on the English theme, but had a displacement of 0.5 liters (instead of 0.75 liters like the Austin model). The reason was the Japanese law, which then made it possible to drive cars with engines up to 0.5 liters without a driver’s license.
Since 1933, however, an engine of 0.75 liters has already been installed. Such Datsuns (up to the Type 17 model) were made until 1937. Then in Japan, after the beginning of the war with China, they practically stopped producing civilian cars.
Datsun type 11.
From England to France
It was not until the early 1950s that Nissan returned to passenger car production. And again – British brand Austin. Initially, sedans were assembled from imported parts, gradually developing the production of components at home.
Even in the original Datsun compact 110/112/113 series, which went into production in 1955, there was a British technology footprint.
And the more solid Datsun 310 Bluebird with 1-1.2 liter engines was similar in appearance to the Austin A50 Cambridge.
The first Nissan Skyline, launched in 1957 and equipped with a 1.5 liter engine producing 60 hp, was branded Prince. This initially independent company is working with Nissan to strengthen its export position.
Outwardly, the car was a bit like the French Simca Vedette sedan, which was also copied in China. Both Japanese and French cars were made in the American style – the most fashionable at the time.
Pajero didn’t work right away
The Mitsubishi shipbuilding company built the first model with the A-index in 1917. It was inspired by the Italian car FIAT Tipo 3. The Japanese devised a car with luxurious finishes for high officials. But either it turned out to be too expensive, or the officials weren’t rich – in general, the idea was not pursued.
And in 1937 they created a very advanced Mitsubishi PX33, unusual for those years. A convertible with a light, comfortable body had four-wheel drive. Similar machines in small quantities were made only in the USA at the time and began to be designed in the USSR.
The car of course made for the military. They even prepared a 6.7-liter direct-injection diesel engine (a few years later, such a design under the name V-2 was conceived in the USSR for the T-34 tank). But the ideological ancestor of the now famous Pajero had no continuation. Mitsubishi’s successful and now famous SUV was four and a half decades away.
Road to the Crown (car)
Toyota began its automotive business in 1937 with a large sedan – an outwardly simplified copy of the American Chrysler Airflow.
This sensational American car was also copied by Volvo. Although an unusual car in the States was not a success. The engine on the Toyota AA model was original – a 6-cylinder 3.4-liter with 62 horsepower. But the time for passenger cars in Japan was not ripe.
And after the war in 1955, the first generation Toyota Crown began. The sedan with a 1.5-liter 60 hp engine resembled a model of the French branch of Ford called Vendome.
Admittedly, the resemblance was only external, especially in the front lines and in the swinging doors, which already looked archaic in those years. The French Ford Vendome was noticeably larger and powered by a V8.
Interestingly, the police version of the Crown sedan was called Patrol. Toyota Crown was one of the first Japanese cars to be exported.
Clones of “Uncle Willis”
US Army Willys MB had a huge impact on the automotive industry around the world. The car was produced under license in several countries. It served as a model for the first Land Rover SUV and for Japanese off-road vehicles – in the future the famous Nissan Patrol and Toyota Land Cruiser.
Both cars started in 1951. Willys was central to their construction and design. But the Japanese engines were much more powerful – 6-cylinder.
The engine of the Nissan Patrol SUV with a working volume of 3.7 liters developed 75 horsepower. On the Toyota Land Cruiser model, a 3.4-liter engine produced 85 horsepower. Ready-made cargo engines were used for both off-road vehicles.
The main customers of the first SUVs were the military. Civil glory for the Japanese all-terrain vehicles came later.
Zaporozhets in Japanese
The population of Japan was not wealthy after the war and Japanese companies marketed cheap (even in operation) small cars with two-cylinder air-cooled engines of 0.36 liters. Mazda and Subaru started with such models.
Conceptually, rear-engined Japanese cars were close to the Volkswagen Beetle and many similar European minicars, including our Zaporozhets and motorized carriages.
Launched in 1960, the Mitsubishi 500 was slightly larger and more powerful than its competitors. A two-cylinder air vent with a working volume of 0.5 liters developed 25 horsepower. This car is especially interesting because “from the face” it was very reminiscent of our Zaporozhets ZAZ-965.
ticket to the world
The first Japanese cars were exported to Asia and Australia in the early 1960s. In 1964, cars began to be imported into Europe. But neither there, nor even more so in the United States, were the “Japanese” taken seriously until the late 1960s.
And the Japanese increased production (fortunately, both the local and Asian markets grew), in an Asian relaxed but stubbornly improved technology. What this has led to, we see today at car dealerships and on the roads.
- The aluminum threshold platforms from the Turkish company Can Otomotiv will help to spare the thresholds and give the car an individuality.
- “Driving” can also be read on Viber.
Photo: from the archive “Behind the wheel”
The current power of the auto industry of the Land of the Rising Sun began by copying foreign designs. And usually very stupid.
