Press pause on whatever you had previously thought about Datsun, and get ready to journey into the ultimate revival story, a quick glimpse of the very renowned Datsun history.
Many moons ago, before filter coffee and cellular networks; there lived a man, named Yoshisuke Aikawa with one big goal and a tireless spirit to achieve it. He also had the title of being the founder of Nissan, which is a fact that many proud owners of Nissan vehicles would know. But back to indefatigable spirits; naturally they always have dreams and this particular spirit (i.e. Yoshisuke Aikawa) had a dream like no other: mobility for all through the use of a lightweight, durable and economical vehicle that could give all Japanese people (if they choose) the upward mobility they needed to succeed and quite literally, to move forward in their lives.
What’s in a Name?
Plenty if Datsun lore is anything to go by. In 1933, Nissan Motors was born from the marriage of two Japanese automobile companies. These companies were called DAT Automobile Co. which was a name composed of the first letters of the three investors: Den, Aoyama, and Takeuchi. Gradually the company grew, until it was taken over by Nissan’s Yoshisuke Aikawa in 1933 and Jitsuyo Automobile Co, through this new partnership a new car brand was realised: Datsun, though initially it was called Datson in honour of the two-seater vehicle called the “Son of DAT”, which DAT unveiled in 1931.
There are two proposed theories as far as the name variation is concerned:
a) The “son” in Datson quickly became ‘sun’ to emphasise Japan’s imperial state – the land of the rising sun, especially as the naval emblem was an image of the sun.
b) The word ‘son’ in Japanese is a suffix that denotes the loss of money. And let’s be real, a loss of money is on no one’s To-Do list.
History can be a Strange Beast
It just so happens that the magical partnership that formed Nissan Motors shipped their Datsun offering off to most places, except in its actual homeland, Japan. The first Datsun car called Dat-Car (Dat-GO in Japanese) literally means ‘lightning-fast’. However, its production suddenly altered in the mid-80s when Nissan steadily stopped producing what was once promoted as the go-to car for the budget and fuel-conscious in the 1970s. Thirty years later, the car brand has arisen to re-assume its place amongst the fuel-efficient elite.
The Return of Classic Modernity
In 2010 it was decided that the Datsun brand would be relaunched… The Datsun brand allows for a unique and striking feature within the Nissan stable. It serves a vital role in accelerating the lives of the individuals who own them. This should come as no surprise as individuality is one of the factors incorporated in the production process of all Datsun models.
The new iteration in Datsun’s 21st range of economy class vehicles is the Datsun GO. A funky, sporty model that is marketed towards the individual who knows where they are heading and while they’re heading there, they want to do so in style.
Leave a comment if you would like to add on to that which is known as the history of Datsun.
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