My dad bought a new 280Z in 1977. That car was so cool. He let me drive it to Senior prom in 1980. And he still hasn't forgiven me for that night :(
Posted on 10/03/2012 8:59:24 AM PDT by Red Badger
TOKYO — Among enthusiasts of a certain age, there was a notable flicker of excitement back in March when Nissan announced that the Datsun brand was making a welcome and long overdue comeback.
Starting in the late 1960s, Datsun hit a strong chord in the U.S. market with cool, well-conceived, good-value entries such as the Datsun 510 sedan and sexy 240Z coupe, effectively the Japanese BMWs of their day.
But Nissan has very different plans in mind in reviving Datsun for the modern era. The target is high-growth emerging markets such as Russia, Indonesia and India. A new family of low-cost, locally developed and manufactured products are on the way to fill that role and to sit beneath the Nissan brand.
"The vehicles will occupy different segments and markets for Nissan," a senior Nissan source told Edmunds on Tuesday. "(They will be) bringing a different set of attributes at different price points."
In Russia alone, it's estimated Datsun could contribute up to a third of Nissan's total sales.
Two cars will launch in 2014 and while a base sticker of $3,000 has been widely quoted, don't read too much into that, said the Nissan source, inferring that that was a general aim rather than a definitive, cast-in-stone sticker.
Still, that likely won't stop some in the U.S. to ponder wistfully that Datsun could one day make a return.
Datsun is still a credible brand, one that Nissan effectively threw away when it made its curious decision to kill Datsun in the U.S. in the early '80s and badge all cars thereafter as Nissans — until Infiniti came along.
Edmunds says: It'll be a Datsun, but not as we know it.
Bought a 240Z when they first came to the US. A goodly chunk of my annual salary at the time, especially since they were selling above sticker, but I said, “what the heck!”
(The Fairlady Z came out a year earlier in Japan and had the 2-liter straight six. My US model, a year later, had the 2.4 liter engine.)
Even visiting LA during that first year, it was an attention getter (read: chick magnet).
I spotted occasionally the even more exotic right-hand drive model, most likely brought back from Asia by a US serviceman. The Asian models had factory standard external mirrors far forward on the front fenders.
Learned to actually seriously drive in that car, at some cost to its sheet metal.
yes, Heck I remember the Dodge Super Bees!...........
I still have fond memories of my 260Z. One of the very best cars I have owned. It finally broke the differential after 3 years of hauling my race car and trailer.
My friend's Ford Courier pickup was made by Toyo Kogyo (Mazda).
There used to be a Fairlady Z around here. Some Air Force guy brought it over from Japan...........
Poor Frank. You’re batting a thousand. In the wrong direction.
The Ford Courier was a Mazda product.
I had one of those too — only it suffered every kind of abuse, and just kept on running. For all I know, it’s still running.
The Ford courier was a Mazda.........Want to try for three?.......
I had a ‘72 240Z. Took all the air pollution junk off the engine, put on a set of Cyclone headers, kicked the ignition timing up a couple of degrees. Got 30 mpg at 70 mph...and that was in 1973. Wish I still had it today.
My dad bought a new 280Z in 1977. That car was so cool. He let me drive it to Senior prom in 1980. And he still hasn't forgiven me for that night :(
Before you get to Chrysler, that was a Mitsubishi........
I had the same as my first NEW car. It was a great car. It only lasted 15 years before the floor on the passenger side started to rust out and the rubber hoses in the gas tank system started to deteriorate. It was time to sell it but I wish now I had kept it.
The earlier Datsuns were some of the most ugly, junky, funny looking cars ever seen on American highways.
I read that in the ‘60s they hired some high priced GM designers to design their next line of cars to make them more in tune with American taste. That was the beginning of the turnaround that led to their success.
Datsun was a name used to market cars in the USA. The company behind Datsun was Nissan but they wouldn’t put the Nissan name on the car line until they were a commercial success - couldn’t lose face you know.
Once the car line was successful they transitioned to the Nisson name.
Ok, I quit...I’ll be 67 this month, I guess I’m losing it.
Thats it, you did it this time, almost made me wet my pants laughing.
Do you remember the TV commercial, back when most of the small imports were 2 doors?
Four big lumberjacks were felling a huge redwood. The camera keeps cutting back & forth between the lumberjacks and a Datsun 510 parked nearby while the announcer describes the virtues of the 510.
The tree starts to fall, the four lumberjacks dash over to the parked 4 door Datsun, hop in and drive away, just as the tree hits the parking spot.
Text flashed on the screen:
“Datsun - 4 doors, no waiting!”
:)
An old dumb joke is that a Nissan employee was told that they needed a name for their new American line, and they needed it tomorrow...and he replied “Dat soon?”
When it had 96K miles I ran my first & only autocross. The timer asked, "What do you have in that thing?"
"Stock 1600 engine with 96K, why?"
"You are in 3rd place, ahead of the Corvette!"
With 110K on the 510, I traded it for a '66 Alfa Giulia Sprint GT.
You both beat me by mile, Oh well! ;^)
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