Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

$3,000 Sticker Price on New Datsuns Not Cast in Stone
www.insideline.com ^ | Oct 3, 2012 | By Peter Nunn, Correspondent

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.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Japan
KEYWORDS: automakers; car; datsunauto; nissan; sourcetitlenoturl
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-57 last
To: Red Badger
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

Datsun's marketing was always at odds with the product. I had one of their earlier attempt at performance

They took their fairly pedestrian Bluebird and gave it twin carburettors, higher compression ratio, hotter cam, closed up gearbox ratios, lower diff ratio, finned brake drums, finned aluminium sump.
And to indicate all that - two small SS badges on the rear pillars. What about proper sports instrumentation that the driver could look at?

NO just the standard instruments from the muggle version

only 100MPH? Yeah they claimed a 93mph top speed, but I once ran it out full scale (and it was later calibrated to be reading 2-3mph under true at that speed)

41 posted on 10/03/2012 10:42:31 AM PDT by Oztrich Boy (Monarchy is the one system of government where power is exercised for the good of all - Aristotle)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: stboz

I had a ‘72 240Z. Took all the air pollution junk off the engine


What, your PCV valve? Unless you were in Cali, I think that was about it - maybe some “suggested” ignition timing - although I could be wrong.

Not to put you down, but it just shows where we have come since then.


42 posted on 10/03/2012 10:44:33 AM PDT by freedomlover
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: Wurlitzer

Towing a race car with a 260Z!

LOL! Must have been a sight!


43 posted on 10/03/2012 10:50:03 AM PDT by freedomlover
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: razorback-bert

I had a 260z in the mid 1980’s with (aftermarket)triple Weber carbs.
the original Hitachi carbs were junk.

it was fun,but not real reliable.


44 posted on 10/03/2012 10:53:48 AM PDT by TurboZamboni (Looting the future to bribe the present)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: BwanaNdege

510 sedans were pretty good handlers. Well balanced and responsive. But they would roll if you weren’t careful.

We took a 210 out to Road Atlanta out in the day, tipped it over square on its top, rolled it back over, and kept going. Top looked like a moonscape after that. LOL

Nice car pics.

BTW I sold my 510 and got a 73 BMW 2002. Now that was a fun car. I can still smell the leather.


45 posted on 10/03/2012 10:57:48 AM PDT by freedomlover
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: freedomlover
What, your PCV valve?

The engine was saddled with exhaust port air injection and a throttle-lag controller.

46 posted on 10/03/2012 11:25:22 AM PDT by stboz
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: freedomlover

lOL, the trailer and race car were about twice the length of the 260Z. It was a giant tail on a little dog.


47 posted on 10/03/2012 11:26:38 AM PDT by Wurlitzer (Nothing says "ignorance" like Islam!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: stboz

“The engine was saddled with exhaust port air injection and a throttle-lag controller.”


Didn’t know that. Makes sense to pull. IIRC my dad had a BMW of about ‘75 that he disabled the air injection by simply taking off a dedicated belt. Come inspection time, he would put it on for the drive up.

Was yours a Cali model?


48 posted on 10/03/2012 11:33:49 AM PDT by freedomlover
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger
In the fall of 1969 I served aboard USS Constellation with RVAH-7,part of the much-missed Vigilante community,when we were in port at Sasebo,Japan.

The Amazin' Mets were in the World Series and I found that the best way to hear the games was at 2AM on Armed Forces Radio happily ensconced at a small Japanese bed and breakfast with a refrigerator full of Kirin beer and other assorted amenities...it was wonderful.

The Mama-san decided I should sleep in after all that whoopin' and hollerin'all night,some of it actually about the ball game...but I digress.

I was supposed to be back aboard by 0800 for Quarters so Mama-san called me a cab and I knew it was gonna be close.

The cab was a Datsun Bluebird and the driver spoke no English so when I got in I mustered up my best pidgen Japanese and said,"Consterration Hayako!"

He took off downhill as fast as that little Datsun could go. Now the B&B was up in the hills and the pier was at the bottom...about half-way down the driver looked over his shoulder at me and said,quite coherently "No blakes!"

I have to admit I was a little concerned,especially when we ran through the gate at the pier while the driver was downshifting and exercising the parking brake for all it was worth.

The pier was a little shorter than the Connie,but we stopped just before we were gonna go for a dip in Sasebo Harbor...so I made it for Quarters after all.

The Mets won BTW>

49 posted on 10/03/2012 11:34:45 AM PDT by oldsalt (There's no such thing as a free lunch.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Wurlitzer

I’m sure you had electric brakes for the trailer, being safe and all ;)


50 posted on 10/03/2012 11:37:09 AM PDT by freedomlover
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]

To: freedomlover
Bought and operated in Florida.

Yeah, I took the whole air injection mess off and plugged the injection ports.

In my dreams, I wanted to put on 3 40 DCOE Webers and a hot cam and go hunting for Porches. 8-)

51 posted on 10/03/2012 11:39:48 AM PDT by stboz
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 48 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Ah so, Dat-Sun! The original “made from recycled beer cans” car from Japan. The rust is just a feature.


52 posted on 10/03/2012 11:39:48 AM PDT by doorgunner69
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TurboZamboni
I had a 260z in the mid 1980’s with (aftermarket)triple Weber carbs. the original Hitachi carbs were junk.

The problem with my Hitachi/SUs was that the holes in the side of the body that took the butterfly valve shaft wore oblong after 80K miles or so, and after that you couldn't set the mixture stably, or precisely synchronize the carbs.

The Weber aftermarket fit was, as I recall, pretty popular.

Other mods to the early 240s were

1. A bigger rear anti-roll bar
2. Adjustable plates for the top of the McPherson struts
3. Remounting the differential slightly rearward (production change to later units)
4. Factory available 5-speed with better, Porsche-style, synchronizers
5. Wider wheels--you had to get the right offset to keep things from rubbing, though
6. Headers
7. Air conditioning. For the 240Z, this was strictly aftermarket dealer-installed. Mine was the first one done in town, and they made kind of a mess of it.
8. Cosmetics--Mag wheels, front chin spoiler, headlight "sugar scoop" covers, driving lights, etc.

I did only a handful of these things to mine.

53 posted on 10/03/2012 11:56:48 AM PDT by Erasmus (Zwischen des Teufels und des tiefen, blauen Meers)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: Erasmus

my fave option was the small block 350


54 posted on 10/03/2012 12:31:30 PM PDT by TurboZamboni (Looting the future to bribe the present)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: freedomlover

The pictures were from the ‘net. Both were the same colors as my cars.

The Alfa must have been seriously autocrossed by a previous owner. The wheels & tires had been switched from 165-15 to 185-14. He had added a rear anti-roll bar and a larger front anti-roll bar, plus Koni shocks. The front disks had been swapped from 10.5” to 11.75”. My 3/4 ton GMC P/U had 11.5”. Finally, he had added 4-Point harness, unusual in a street car in 1973.

The seats were terrible, but that Alfa stopped like it had snagged an arrestor cable.


55 posted on 10/03/2012 2:50:24 PM PDT by BwanaNdege (Man has often lost his way, but modern man has lost his address - Gilbert K. Chesterton)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: Gil4

The next time we went to a Datsun dealer, all the cars hid in fear.

____________________________________

POST OF THE DAY!!

Thanks. It has been another tough day and I needed the laugh. Badly.


56 posted on 10/03/2012 2:57:33 PM PDT by Chickensoup (STOP The Great O-ppression)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Your first guess might have been closer. There wasn’t a lot of metal to them - not like my parents’ Olds station wagons that kids could climb on without denting. That doesn’t work on today’s family cars. (See my Chrysler Town and Country and Pontiac Grand Prix for proof.)


57 posted on 10/04/2012 6:25:55 AM PDT by Gil4 (Progressives - Trying to repeal the Law of Supply and Demand since 1848)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-57 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson