This month will be dedicated to the ‘50s. A decade of tremendous change and progress, of course, especially in Japan. In fact, one might say that, while the first foundations of the country’s now formidable automotive sector were laid back in the ‘30s, the ground floor was only constructed in the mid-‘50s. And Nissan were a key part of both.
Back in the ‘30s, the little Datsun sedan and roadster showed that Japan was capable of fostering a home-grown automotive sector, even if it was somewhat derivative (i.e. cribbed from the Austin Seven) and only produced in small quantities, i.e. hundreds of chassis. Nissan also produced a larger 6-cyl. car, an ex-Graham model, as we saw recently.
Car production slowed from a minuscule trickle to zero in 1943-1946: everything was rationed and subject to extremely stringent state government and/or US Military control. Top of the list were trucks, buses and railcars. Personal civilian transport was limited to two wheels, essentially.
Nissan always kept a car model or two in production from 1947 onward, but in such tiny numbers as to be nearly irrelevant. Said cars included this 1953 DB-5, for instance – and all were basically a pre-war chassis, in this case fitted with a Crossley-like body clearly and amateurishly designed in the late ‘40s. Production was minuscule: in 1951, Japanese car production totalled about 3600 units, ten times less than the number of trucks and buses built that year.
But the game was about to change: the country became awash with American money as the US had used Japan as their main supply line for the Korean War. The Japanese government now felt it was time to ease the brakes on domestic supply and let the likes of Toyota, Nissan and others such as Isuzu, Mitsubishi, Prince and Hino get in on the action. Laws controlling automobile production were relaxed and low-interest State loans were made available from 1952 to help all carmakers develop and by the middle of the decade, the fruits of this labour were unveiled. Among those was the new Datsun 110, seen here at the 1955 Tokyo Motor Show.
With the 110, Nissan were really entering the modern era. The chassis was the first entirely new design the firm had done since the war (for passenger cars), and they took the opportunity to design a spanking new body to go with it, as well as an entire range that included a wagon, a (very rare) convertible and the related 120 pickup series.
Of course, compared to the 1955 cars made in Europe or America, it was pretty dated. The engine was a very modest 860cc side-valve 4-cyl. making 25hp – basically an evolution of the Austin Seven engine that had powered all small Datsuns since 1930. The front axle was the opposite of independent (dependent?) and the four-speed gearbox was on the floor. Not very “with it.”
But the rest of the car, i.e. the body, was definitely a big step forward. It did not look like a carousel version of a real car. The proportions were a tad on the British side, in the tall and narrow range, but then Nissan were assembling Austin A40s at the time.
There were a few crude details, like the door hinges, that did seem a bit curious for a new design, but this was not meant to be a luxury car, either. If you wanted one of those, Toyota’s brand-new Crown was now on offer. Those blinker pods just look hilarious – but weird though they may be, that was a lot more effective than the semaphores some Europeans (Peugeot, VW) still used.
Where the new Datsun design was a bit disappointing, in my opinion, is the rear end. There are just no redeeming features here. Graceless, blocky, uninspired. But the other three sides of the car were pretty damn good.
The 110 came out in January 1955 and it only lived until December, when the 112 took over. The differences were chiefly aesthetic, with the 112 featuring a busier grille, soon dubbed “harmonica”. Our feature car is the 113, which arrived in September 1956 with yet more changes.
One rather big change was the migration of the gear lever to the steering column. Another was the unification of body manufacturing: up to that point, the Datsun Sedan (as it was officially known) was bodied either by Nissan’s own Yoshiwara plant, which supplied the northern half of Japan, or by Mitsubishi’s Nagoya factory, and the bodies were not strictly identical. With the 113, body supply became unified and a new Datsun bought in Osaka looked exactly like one bought in Nagano.
In 1956, Japanese car exports were still effectively nil. This would change in the next couple of years, but at this juncture, you could still find badging on the cars written in Japanese katakana.
In October 1957, Nissan unveiled the 210 Sedan – the same body and chassis, but now featuring a new 34hp 1-litre OHV engine, based on the Austin B-Series. This was soon named Bluebird and exported far and wide, including across the Pacific Ocean. The side-valve model carried on as the 114-115 with cosmetic changes until both the 210 and the 110 were superseded by the 310 Bluebird in late 1959.
It might not look like it, but this was one of the most important cars in Nissan’s history. The 110/210 was rugged enough to withstand the punishing Japanese road network – as well as that of several export countries where it fared well (such as Australia). In this early side-valve form though, it was chiefly made to kickstart domestic demand. It succeeded in this endeavour and, in doing so, sold far better than its main rivals, the Toyota Corona and the Hino-Renault 4CV. For the longest time, Nissan has been Japan’s number two. Back when the 110/210 Sedan was in production, they were number one. Times sure have changed.
Related posts:
1958 Datsun 1000 (210) – Sublime Sexagenarian, by T87
Curbside Classic: 1959 Datsun 1000 (211) Pick-up – The First Step In The Long March, by T87
At first glance it looks like a normal sized car with giant wheels, although they’re probably 13″ IRL, which would make the car VERY tiny.
Looks like a very sturdy car, albeit small and narrow.
“Nissan has been Japan’s number two” – It would be interesting to see a study of how the major Japanese automakers have fared over the years, in terms of market share.
Four on the floor not very with it? I would say three on the tree not very with it then or in the late 60’s onward. Is there even a single car, made in the whole wide world, that has a manual column shift today. Probably not since anything on the floor is getting harder and harder to find.
It was more of a Japanese perspective regarding floor mounted shifters as being a hallmark of utilitarian / commercial market vehicles; a good example of this was Toyota being very hesitant with wether or not they would debut the Corolla with floor mounted shifting despite marketing pushing for it on the basis of it being seen as a ‘youthful’ selling point. They did concede and it was a big turning point regarding said perception in the marketplace.