How much do you know about Datsun coming to America and the story of the 240Z

[26th-Z]

Well!

I can't thank you enough for throwing that Hemmings article into the fray, Zztom! Seriously! That was great. Here are a couple more logos they didn't print. Despite a couple of spelling errors, the article confirms a few things I have long suspected. Did anyone ever really believe that Nissan used the Datsun name "in case they failed" story? The Katayama revival of the Goertz scheme is an interesting spin. Don't you think, Alan? And, did you get the line about the corporate rivalry? I don't think I have ever heard it put that way.

[HS30-H]

I can't thank you enough for throwing that Hemmings article into the fray, Zztom! Seriously! That was great.

Yes, thanks zztom. Very interesting to read this kind of article.

Did anyone ever really believe that Nissan used the Datsun name "in case they failed" story?

Are you kidding? That story is never going to go away now! It might as well be etched into a tablet made of industrial diamond and mounted on the side of Mount Rushmore.

The Katayama revival of the Goertz scheme is an interesting spin. Don't you think, Alan? And, did you get the line about the corporate rivalry? I don't think I have ever heard it put that way.

Well, that's one of the first English-language instances where I have seen the Nissan ( = military truck ) Datsun ( = civilian passenger car ) distinction mindset pointed out, and hats off to that. I wish we could hear more of that period - but notice how the article fast-forwards straight to Katayama and conveniently misses out a few decades? Poor Kawazoe doesn't even get a namecheck.

I'm afraid that the story of Katayama 'reviving' the Goertz thing is a story being told from a particular viewpoint, and it is hard to be polite about it. Whatever Katayama's ideas and dreams were, Matsuo and his team were already working on a general brief to design a sports car. Katayama comes into that story somewhat later than he'd have you think - which is just his personal perspective backed up by sycophantic journalism.

Do people honestly believe that Nissan was not going to produce a successor to the SP/SR Fairladies, or to make and sell the kind of personal 'GT' type of car that was being drawn up by so many rival manufacturers during that period? Do people honestly believe that Nissan was sitting like a dormant pot plant waiting for Katayama to pour water on them?

It seems to me that they do.

[hls30.com]

...

Do people honestly believe that Nissan was not going to produce a successor to the SP/SR Fairladies, or to make and sell the kind of personal 'GT' type of car that was being drawn up by so many rival manufacturers during that period? Do people honestly believe that Nissan was sitting like a dormant pot plant waiting for Katayama to pour water on them?

.

Alan, The potted plants were the big three over here who were absolutely sure that the Japanese infidels(into the USA automobile market) could be crushed at any time with a single stroke.

I hope the stories from those actually working at Nissan and Datsun at the time are gotten soon, like Fred, these people are getting older...Poetic license aside, there will still be varied accounts of the facts, but the results are what they are. What a great pull for the Datsun Heritage Museum!

Will

[26th-Z]

I was hoping you would weigh in, Alan. I was glad to see the conflict between Katayama and Kawamata mentioned however the cited examples require deeper explanation. Of course the bias toward Mr. K, but for good reason from an American journalist. Non-the-less, I would hope the diamond plating erodes a bit. Just remember this, my friends; no one is going to retrospect history which put themselves in anything but the glorious light.

[peterc]

, no-one is trying to "expunge" or denigrate the Nissan name (at least I'm not). However, the car that I fell asleep lusting over as a teen was a DATSUN 240Z. Whenever possible, after school I'd go to the local DATSUN dealer and literally drool over the objects of my affection.

BTW, the other "object of my affection" that I drooled over in those days was a girl named Betty. The fact that her "official" name was Elizabeth doesn't change the fact that to me she was and always will be Betty.

Cheers

p

[HS30-H]

Of course the bias toward Mr. K, but for good reason from an American journalist.

Oh yes, I quite understand that. It is quite natural. I just wish for a little less cult-of-personality and a little more comprehension that one man is not the beginning and the end of the story.....

Just remember this, my friends; no one is going to retrospect history which put themselves in anything but the glorious light.

Quite so. Well put.

There are of course quite a few figures - very important in the story of 'our' cars - whom have never had the chance to put forward their sides of the story in the English language, and therefore have not even been given the opportunity to bask in a little limelight. Some figures cast such an unfeasibly large shadow that others are damned to reside in the darkness.......

When I see Yutaka Katayama saying - on film! - "..I designed it..." it makes me very, very sad.

, no-one is trying to "expunge" or denigrate the Nissan name (at least I'm not). However, the car that I fell asleep lusting over as a teen was a DATSUN 240Z. Whenever possible, after school I'd go to the local DATSUN dealer and literally drool over the objects of my affection.

I quite understand your viewpoint. But you cannot deny that there was a whole generation of people who grew up believing - mistakenly - that the company that was the designer and manufacturer of these cars was called 'DATSUN', when it was actually called Nissan. That, is what I am talking about.

Still see it all the time - even on here. "Datsun did" such and such, "Datsun made" this and that, "Datsun designed" what not. People seem to regard Nissan and Datsun as two completely different entities, with one being cruel enough to try and extinguish all traces of the other.

That's why I don't find it so easy to get my head around a project that might use the 'Datsun' moniker and 'Heritage' in its name, but not 'Nissan'........

Alan T.

[zztom]

Thanks guys. I'm just happy to help.