20-02-2022, 12:01 PM
(This post was last modified: 20-02-2022, 12:06 PM by Mike Costigan.)
No Nick, the first Datsun in 1929 was a 500cc air-cooled twin:
Datsun.jpg (Size: 40.73 KB / Downloads: 308)
The confusion seems to have started in the mid-1930s when Austin was selling short-chassis Ruby-style cars in Japan to meet the kei-car requirements, and the then-current Datsun looked remarkably similar. That was because the Japanese importer of Austin chassis was also a coachbuilder that built the bodies for both cars - not surprisingly they were almost identical!
Austin acquired an example of the Datsun which for many years survived at the Beaulieu Museum (I think it may now be at Gaydon) and the story was that the acquisition was because of concern over patent infringement - it seems more likely that the concern was over the rumour that the car was to be sold for well under £100, but it turned out to be much the same price as the Seven anyway.
I think the story of Datsun representatives coming to Longbridge probably dates from the late 1940s when Austin helped Datsun to set up their post-war assembly lines to build the A40 Somerset and later versions:
Datsun 2.jpg (Size: 25.36 KB / Downloads: 303)
Datsun.jpg (Size: 40.73 KB / Downloads: 308)
The confusion seems to have started in the mid-1930s when Austin was selling short-chassis Ruby-style cars in Japan to meet the kei-car requirements, and the then-current Datsun looked remarkably similar. That was because the Japanese importer of Austin chassis was also a coachbuilder that built the bodies for both cars - not surprisingly they were almost identical!
Austin acquired an example of the Datsun which for many years survived at the Beaulieu Museum (I think it may now be at Gaydon) and the story was that the acquisition was because of concern over patent infringement - it seems more likely that the concern was over the rumour that the car was to be sold for well under £100, but it turned out to be much the same price as the Seven anyway.
I think the story of Datsun representatives coming to Longbridge probably dates from the late 1940s when Austin helped Datsun to set up their post-war assembly lines to build the A40 Somerset and later versions:
Datsun 2.jpg (Size: 25.36 KB / Downloads: 303)