Japan Airlines Review: How is the food?
May 10, 1990 By Richard Truett from Sentinel staff.
In the wake of the popularity of the Mazda Miata, it might come as a surprise that Japanese automakers hit the first two times they tried to build a convertible roadster.
The Mazda Miata is one of the most sought after cars in the last decade, but its success is completely opposite of what happened when Honda and now Nissan Datsun built a series of small roadsters in the 1960s.
What you do not remember roadster Honda and Datsun That s because they didn t sell You could say they were the Japanese equivalent of the Edsel.
Although both first Japanese roadsters were products of the 60 sport-happy cars, they never caught on - perhaps because they came along at a time when Japanese cars weren t highly regarded cars unreliable or poorly built, and generally well received automobile journalists Their failure had much to do with the perception of Japanese automobiles.
In the 1960s Japanese cars were a joke in the United States because the products from Japan still had a reputation for being shoddy and cheap.
Example Toyota has tried and failed to market its Toyopet car brand in 1950 and folded operations in just two years less than 100 were sold.
In the mid-60s Honda has tried to break into the sports car market with a series of small sports car called the S500, S600 and S800 These cars are not officially available in the US, but have been sold in Japan and in very small numbers in Europe Although Honda has taken the world by storm with its motorcycles, sports cars weren t do so well.
Between 1963 and 1968, only 25853 Honda sports cars were sold, according to historian automotive Bill Siuru, who has written several articles on small roadsters.
There are some S600s S800S and the United States have been reduced by the return of the military.
The S800 is powered by a high-revving, double 85 horsepower engine camshaft which is connected to a four-speed gearbox The rear wheels are driven by chains the S600 has the same layout with a smaller engine both cars are roughly the same size as the old MG Midget and Austin-Healey Sprite.
Norm Reeves Honda in Cerritos, California has an S800 on the screen, but it is not for sale, said Barbara Reeves, a secretary at the dealership She said she was sold to the concession there are about six years and is used only for display purposes, although it does work and drive.
It attracts a lot of attention Many people may believe t is a Honda, she said.
In 1960 Datsun tried marketing a two-seat roadster, the SPL212, America, but it was a missed four Datsun roadsters hit before Nissan vein with a sports car, the original 240Z, introduced in 1970, but this convertible car wasn ta.
In 1961, 62 and part of 63, Datsun tried to sell the Fairlady 1200, an MGB roadster size with two small rear seats He had a 1,200cc engine of 60 horsepower and a four-speed transmission only 106 were sold, according Nissan Jim Archer.
From 1962-1966 Datsun roadsters sold 3,148 called the Fairlady 1500, which was the 1200 with a bigger engine and some cosmetic changes The car had a rear folding seat that could accommodate a person's 1,500cc four-cylinder engine produces power 85 as the Fairlady had a four-speed manual gearbox and drum brakes on all four wheels Not exactly a model of performance compared to other brands.
One wonders if the car name could alienate male buyers The next model was not called Fairlady, and sales increased.
1600 appeared in 1965 and has had numerous mechanical upgrades and style Bowman said 23.609 1600s were sold within five years, he was on the 1600 market featured an engine of 96 horses, a four-speed gearbox and disc brakes before he rode on a wheelbase 8 and 89 was 155 inches 6 inches - almost exactly the same size as British Leyland MGB, which sold over 26,000 copies in 1964 alone.
sports cars developed by MG, Triumph, Austin-Healey, Sunbeam, Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Porsche easily sell Datsun and Honda cars throughout the late '60s - though the last Japanese roadsters were the price of the same, had an excellent build quality and were almost equal in performance.
If there is a Japanese classic convertible sports car, it should be the powerful Sporting Datsun 2000 engine of 135 horsepower 2-liter, 2000 was one of the first entry-level roadster to have a good five-speed transmission and performance enough to follow and in some cases exceed that of the British, Italian and German cars.
Where was America's closest US automakers have come to produce a true sports car was rear engine Chevrolet Corvair However, suspected safety concerns raised by consumer advocate Ralph Nader killed several high sales models performance of the Corvair was produced, including the turbocharged Monza Spyder.
First Japanese Roadsters Mark Missed the first Japanese roadsters.