Before we called it Nissan... Datsun was the fun loving ❤️ name of this wonderful car company.
Few recognized it at the time, but a revolution was brewing in the American car market: The Japanese automakers were preparing to carve out a big chunk of it for themselves. See revolution begin in this 1967 Datsun commercial.
The Nissan Motor Co. arrived in the United States in 1958 to very little fanfare, selling cars and small pickups under the Datsun name from a tiny office in Southern California.
Comically underpowered and unsuitable for American highways, the products were ridiculed by the American automotive press and for the most part, rejected by car buyers.
But the Datsun North American team, led by Yataka Katayama—today, a revered figure among car enthusiasts, who know him as Mister K—dug in and went to work, improving the vehicles step by painful step, year by year.
Soon the company’s small, efficient pickups were a hit among California farmers and tradesmen, and the two-place 1500 roadster became a cult favorite among the sports car crowd.
Then the company’s modest passenger cars began to sell. Datsun sold nearly 30,000 units in 1966, a ten-fold increase in four years.
This original 1967 Datsun commercial features the the model 411, aka the Bluebird, a tidy compact sedan that was much improved over previous Datsun models.
Now the company was truly competitive in the U.S. import market. “Drive a Datsun. Then decide!” the carmaker boasted. And just around the corner were two brand-new Datsun models, the 510 sedan and the 240Z, and they were transcendent.
The 510 was described as a BMW for the masses, the 240Z as an E-Type for the masses, and they both sold in mass quantities. See the opening shots of the revolution in the video below...
Call "Uncle" Bill OGorman to check out today's Nissan... dial 607-543-1215 today.
