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Topic starter
16/11/2024 12:48 pm
In my early twenties, I knew very little about Japanese cars. While living in Thailand from '69 to '71, I saw a slew of Japanese cars that never were allowed in the US from the little sedans, to sports cars to fancy luxury cars like the Toyota Crown. My first introduction to the brand 'Datsun' was the ubiquitous Datsun Bluebird taxi cab which I frequented until I bought an old '55 Plymouth. Towards the end of my tour, a lot of the officers were ordering the new Datsun 240Z to pick up in California when they ETS'd back to the States. Some actually had them delivered to Bangkok. If they did, the cars, the cars were branded 'Fairladys'. In that era, there were a lot of tariffs and duties on electronics, camera, watches, etc of which, fortunately in the military, we were exempt. They were traded under different names with different headquarters but the same product ... ie: What we know as 'Panasonic' was actually 'Matsushita Electric'. As to the Nissan - Datsun conundrum, it turns out that neither was the original name of the company which was originally Kwaishinsha Motor Car Works established in 1911. It turns out 'Datsun' was a "pet name" for cars that they started exporting. Itself was derived from "DAT" which was the name of the first car they produced and it was an acronym of the initials of the 3 individual investors that formed the Nissan Group. Datsun was a bastardization of the 1931 Dat Son which means "Son of the DAT".
I may be the only person here that actually cars about this bit of trivia. So I'm sorry for the boring read. Before I left. this little hot rod began to show up in town driven by sons of wealthy Thais and a couple did not survive very long when trying to speed through the chaotic an lawless traffic patterns of downtown Bangkok. It was the 1971 Nissan Skyline GT-R and you had to be wealthy to own one as there was 80% duty on all cars as well as a 30% sales tax. Us GIs made out quite well buying duty free and reselling to Thais. Anyway, here's that little beast.
16/11/2024 1:58 pm
Absolutely nothing boring in the least about your post Rich; I found it very interesting. I have a decent number of Japanese car models in 1/43, representing the late 60s thru mid 70s era and I love them.
16/11/2024 3:52 pm
Enjoyed you history lesson on the Datsun / Nissan. I married in 1978 and my wife had a 1976 b210 Honey Bee.
After 3 kids we outgrew it and traded it. It looked just like this.. It had a 4 cylinder and 4 speed manual.
This post was modified 1 year ago by David Vandermeer
David Vandermeer
Corinth, Texas
16/11/2024 4:01 pm
A great-looking replica ! The details on this Skyline model are really excellent and it certainly would be remarkable and conversation-starting on display.
One feels they could shrink down to 1/18 size and drive away. Hey, that sounds like the plot for a 1950's science-fiction movie ! 
16/11/2024 6:04 pm
@jack-dodds I'm with you Jack. In 1965 we bought a second car which was badged both Datsun and Nissan during the changeover to Nissan. We are now on to our third Nissan Murano and have had tremendous luck on these cars which are now made 17 miles from our home.
16/11/2024 10:01 pm
17/11/2024 6:41 pm
I enjoyed reading your narrative of the Datsun-Nissan name history. I owned one of each. My first new car was a 1972 Datsun 240Z. My current car is a 2024 Nissan Z.
Ed Davis
Inverness, Illinois, USA
18/11/2024 9:07 am
Correction to my above post...the year of the Datsun/Nissan was 1985 not 1965. Clumsy fingers at work.
18/11/2024 12:39 pm
Great post, Rich. Please continue with this random trivia, as I really enjoy it.
Is your Skyline by AutoArt or a later release by Kyosho? I have a similar model (the Skyline 2000 GT-R KPGC10), though mine is an early Kyosho without side windows & with dog-leg door hinges)
Enjoyed you history lesson on the Datsun / Nissan. I married in 1978 and my wife had a 1976 b210 Honey Bee.
After 3 kids we outgrew it and traded it. It looked just like this.. It had a 4 cylinder and 4 speed manual.
My dad had a white B210 Hatchback when we lived in London in the mid-70s. It was a cool little car & the beginning of our family's love for Datsun/Nissan. They had a 1983 Datsun Maxima Wagon & then 2005 Altima. I had a 2002 Pathfinder, 2003 Sentra SER Spec V & now my daughter has a 2012 Sentra SR...which after years of loving Nissan's products is a joyless, gutless heap to drive...at least its a nice Daytona Blue & it has been reliable.
Topic starter
18/11/2024 2:07 pm
@gavin Model by AUTOart.
Christopher Moroni and Tony Perrone reacted
20/11/2024 1:13 pm
Rich, if reading your interesting knowledge of the history of these cars is construed as "boring," then all I can say is please continue to "bore" us! As a result of reading your missives, I've learned a ton of stuff I never knew before.
This post was modified 1 year ago by Marty Johnson