Nissan resurrects the Datsun brand

CNN ^ | March 21, 2012 | Kevin Voigt

[derfel]

Nissan Motor Company announced the return of the Datsun brand after 30 years, with plans to introduce a low-cost car in several emerging markets in 2014.

In a nod to the growing importance of developing markets, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn made the announcement Tuesday in Indonesia, one of three markets the new car line will debut.

[JohnnyP]

Welcome to Obamaville.

[central_va]

I love small rear wheel drive cars. If Nissan built the 510 again, with updated electronics and engine it would sell like hot cakes.

[Fred Hayek]

The 510 was a favorite of rally drivers in the late 70’s/early 80’s. It was considered a near copy of the BMW 2002.

[MachIV]

2005 was the beginning of a new generation of Frontiers. 2004 was the last of the prior generation. Your’s may very well be good. I just know my 2004 gets the worst fuel mileage of any small truck like that I’ve ever seen. The most I ever got light footing it on the interstate was 19mpg and it usually only gets around 18 at best and usually 17 or even 16 around town. With that kind of mileage, I should have just got a full size. It is 4x4 with 5 speed manual, but still, that’s terrible mileage. I had a 4x4 Ford Ranger 20 years ago that was the same format pickup and I got 23mpg on the interstate with it and never below 19 in town. The real problem with the 2004 Frontiers is they were geared way too low. At 65 to 70mph on the interstate, the V6 motor is turning right at 3,000rpms. If it was a 4 cyl, it would be ok, but that is rediculous for a V6. What’s even worse, if a vehicle is geared lower, you would think it would have better “get up and go”. Not so with mine. It is very underpowered for what it is. I had to spend $234 to fix a tailgate latch, some hoses went out in January that cost $468 to fix, and since December, the top end of the motor, somewhere in the valve train, is making a knocking noise when the motor is pulling, usually when I’m accelerating to shift gears to get to highway speed(It’s not spark knock). I’ve mostly owned Hondas and Fords for 29 years or so I’ve been driving and I’ve never had these problems before. My next vehicle is probably going to be some kind of crossover SUV, Subaru Forester, Hundiya Tucson, Ford Escape, etc.

[combat_boots]

Datsun’s are coming back?

Dat sun do rise in the East!

[MarkL]

My stepmother had a Datsun B210 that she loved, drove it until the wheels nearly fell off of it, then gave it to her son.

My first time in a car over 100mph was in a Datsun 240Z.

Mark

[stboz]

I had a ‘72 Z. What a car. Put Cyclone headers, konis, spoilers, three 40 DCOE Webers....poor man’s Ferrari.

[Colinsky]

It cost them over $200 million to switch their name from Datsun to Nissan. I could never figure out why. Neither word has any connotation in English: equally null, not positive, not negative, just random pairings of syllables, as far as Americans are concerned. Maybe the words have meanings to the Japanese.

[Inyokern]

If I remember correctly, the 240Z used to sell for about $3,500 in around 1972.

[kalee]

We had a 240Z in our early married years. My dh loved that car.

[GATOR NAVY]

Just a little over $19,000 today by the inflation calculator.

[gunnyg]

I remember the Datsun pickups. They were pretty good trucks. I currently own a 2004 Nissan Frontier and unfortunately it is a POS.
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Think they were advertised as the “’Lil Hustler” or sumpthin’ similar—one of the first of the great smaller PUs—now gone from obamaland!

[roadcat]

It cost them over $200 million to switch their name from Datsun to Nissan. I could never figure out why.

The story I heard, which I could never verify, is that the Datsun name was tied to military production during the war years (as was Mitsubishi and other manufacturers). Somebody decided that was hurting sales. However, by the mid-1980s I don't think anyone in the U.S.A. remembered or cared about the name. After all, Mitsubishi kept their name despite producing the Zero fighter-planes. The Datsun name didn't bother my dad when he bought a Datsun 510 in the 60's, despite having fought in WWII and being part of occupation forces in Tokyo. The war was long over.

[dfwgator]

The story I heard, which I could never verify, is that the Datsun name was tied to military production during the war years (as was Mitsubishi and other manufacturers). Somebody decided that was hurting sales. However, by the mid-1980s I don't think anyone in the U.S.A. remembered or cared about the name.

The fact that "Volkswagen" means "People's Car" in German, and that name was given by Adolf Hitler, didn't seem to hurt their sales.

[jjotto]

The DAT car, and the smaller DATson predate World War II (and the parent Nissan Corp.) by several decades and were not tied to military production.

[roadcat]

And it was the best long distance driving car I've ever owned - still miss it sometimes.

Nice ride! If you get nostalgic, there are annual Datsun car shows in California every year, where examples of the '67 sedans pop up. Every July at Mt. Shasta in Northern California, and a couple shows in Southern California - Long Beach area and San Diego area, unsure of the dates. At Doheny State Beach show near San Diego, I've seen lots of these Datsun cars and trucks. Some early 1960s examples had a slot in the front bumper, where you inserted a crank to crankstart the car if your battery went dead.

[eyedigress]

I had a datsun pickup that broke on me on the old Maricopa Rd. 30 miles from nowhere. The water pump pulley snapped. I got out and rerouted the belts to the crankshaft and alternator and magic convection got me home to Chandler. Made it home without a water pump in 110 heat. Good little truck.

[roadcat]

Sure they were. The Dot, later changed to Dat, was started in 1923. But during the war years, all the car makers were producing military vehicles, particularly Datsun. They were rolling out jeeps, trucks, artillery trailers, you name it. The allies bombed the crap out of the Japanese car company factories. And after the war, the U.S. helped them get back in production again in order to rebuild Japan (to help us fight the communists in Asia). Mitsubishi was more tied into aircraft and ship building, but Datsun made land vehicles.

[jjotto]

I think the DATs go back to the teens.

[doorgunner69]

No real idea about the name change. My perception at the time, unlike all those here with fond Datsun memories, was the name Datsun was tied to the old “made from beer cans” meme about Japanese products being inferior.

Datsun later shot themselves in the foot with execrable commercials. Awesome! GMAFB