Katsu Curry | Yutaka
Today, there are quite a few American buyers who have never bought a car national brand, which are as close to Toyota or Honda as the previous generation was Ford or Chevrolet It has not always; Toyota began importing cars in America in 1957, Nissan in 1958, but in the early years, Japanese cars were rarer in most US regions that Rolls-Royce and Ferraris When the tide turning Many point finger 1970 and following the 1973 OPEC oil embargo, but a turning point came with the beginning of 1968 the Datsun 510 is the story of the Datsun 510 and 1968 to 1972 of the most responsible man its creation Yutaka Katayama.
In 1960, a young officer appointed Nissan Yutaka Katayama came to California to establish a marketing operations report nascent American society Katayama was a rich child in the province of Saitama in Japan who missed military service in war because of poor vision Unlike many auto executives from each side of the Pacific, he was also a passionate automotive Katayama founded the first sports car club in postwar Japan, and before joining Nissan in the 1950s, he had planned to start his own car company, he still dreamed of creating his own little sports car.
Katayama was not very happy at Nissan where he was until recently director of the Nissan advertising was an extremely conservative society, even by Japanese standards, led at that time by cronyism more than any love of cars became Katayama frustrated by the stodgy management of the company, who regarded him as something of a rebel, he managed to oppose several members of the company management union, be a variety of powerful enemies; union loyalists tended to be favored positions if they were qualified or not for them Although Katayama was an enthusiastic and inventive promoter, it would be fair to say that his talents are not widely appreciated by the home office.
Two years earlier, the largest Katayama promotion success almost destroyed his career in 1958, he persuaded the leadership of Nissan to let him in two factory teams in the trial Rally Australia Mobilgas Katayama had thought the grueling, 10,000-mile 16000 km rally would be a good showcase for small Datsun 210 sedan, which was underpowered, but robust and reliable management Nissan Nissan had been extremely hostile to the idea, fearing international humiliation if Nissan teams was lost by considerable intimidating as Katayama its cars and drivers of all union loyalists without competitive experience.
Despite these obstacles, and the enormous challenge of the rally itself, Katayama managed to forge its reluctant pilots a cohesive team and lead them to victory one of the two Datsun cars won its category, while the another reached a credible fourth spot Nissan rally won many favorable international publicity and briefly Katayama a national hero in Japan.
As a general who won a popular victory, but politically inopportune Katayama returned to a cold reception from the direction of Nissan had he been better connected politically, the company would have promoted or him rewarded with an attractive new assignment, but he is in limbo has not been fired, but since he ad been gone for some time, his previous role had been reassigned.
The company ultimately decided to exile Katayama in the US, where Nissan was beginning a very temporary export operation His first task was to study the US market, which at that time was new to Nissan in every sense of this term; the company had sold less than 100 cars in the United States in 1958, their first year in the States, and two years later, they still had yet to sell their 2000th car it was not a task that most better connected Nissan executives wanted, so it was a perfect way to spend Katayama, keep it out of sight and mind on a low-priority task that seemed likely to fail anyway.
The first Nissan car for sale in the United States was the PL210, a version LHD 210 by American standards, it was mechanically strong and fuel efficient, but also noisy, clumsy and slow excruciatingly its 988 cc 60 cu the engine only had 37 horsepower 28 kW vowing to always be challenged by steep hills His brakes weren t much either, though American cars of the time certainly had nothing to boast of in this department while the PL210 was poorly adapted for American roads and driving habits, so even some American dealers of Nissan disdained it.
The following Datsun 310, launched in 1959 and known in Japan as Datsun Bluebird, was a little better, but still not a compelling proposition for US buyers when it arrived, US buyers seeking a small efficient car practice and had many alternatives, including the new Ford Falcon and Plymouth Valiant Chevrolet Corvair These compact six-cylinder weren t Thrifty as the Datsun or small European comrades, but they had the advantage of familiar nameplates and dealer network much larger We do not know why Nissan didn t create a LHD version of its greater berline Cédric, which would have been a compact standards by the United States but had a bigger 1488 cc 91 cu in engine better performance.
In the early sixties Datsun Bluebird 310 153 9 inches 3910 mm long by 89 a 2,280mm wheelbase 8 inches Its engine was 1189 cc up to 73 cu in 48 and a huge raw power 36 kilowatts better than its predecessor 210, but for American roads underpowered 311 evolution benefited from a low speed synchronized with the engine useful indecisive picture Datsun Bluebird 310 001 2006 天然 ガ ス Tennen-gas; resized and used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3 0 Unported.
Given the conservatism and fears of humiliation Nissan, it is quite possible that the company would have retired in quiet disgrace America in the mid-sixties had it not been for Katayama and his colleague Soichi Kawazoe, an engineer who had already been sent to the US to help the east coast Datsun dealers establish their service departments and two Kawazoe Katayama saw a great opportunity in the US market and argued that Nissan should give more attention .
In September 1960, Nissan established its own US distribution subsidiary, Nissan Motor Corporation USA NMC-USA, headquartered in California and New Jersey Katayama was appointed vice president of the western region led the Kawazoe is over the next few years, they built Datsun's US dealer network and pushed for better adapted to American roads Katayama products and tastes, in particular, made a point of befriending with engineers development of the company, some especially young engineers shared his enthusiasm for sports cars.
Unlike many of his contemporaries Japanese peers, who found abroad US and intimidating, Katayama loved America and Americans, with whom he soon himself the favor, it soon became affectionately known as the name of Mr. K, even the traffic police who issued numerous speeding tickets the home office didn t necessarily appreciate this talent for Japanese executives who considered gaijin rough, it is no doubt a under slightly distasteful, but it was nevertheless valuable in 1965, Katayama was made the president of NMC-USA, which had been led by a Japanese executive.
US sales Datsun have improved at a healthy pace, but this is due largely to the success of compact pickups Datsun, which were modest but economic and little rugged workhorses with few direct rivals Passenger cars were more difficult sell, having been designed to the dictates of the Japanese market, which at the time had narrow roads, the speed limit of 40 mph 65 km h or less, high fuel prices and vehicle taxes that kept cars and small engines since export activity was so small, Nissan was very reluctant to invest development resources in specific engines or export products or even to meet well-known and obvious mechanical defects winter hard from Katayama and Kawazoe had laid the foundation for a strong American organization, but they still possessed not a credible product sale.
In the early sixties, few Americans waited many small, cheap, imported sedans beyond the low price and good fuel economy; cars like the Mini Cooper or Lotus Cortina hadn t impressed origin in the US Thus, the arrival in 1966 of the BMW compact 1600-2 was something of a shock The 1600-2 or 1602 was shorter , cheaper version of BMW's new 1963 vintage average class size sedan's smaller car featured a 1573 cc 97 cu in SOHC four-cylinder engine; a gearbox with four all-synchronized speeds; front brake disk; and independent suspension with MacPherson struts at the front and semi-trailing arm on the back.
This material was quite advanced for the time and it paid dividends in performance compared to modern muscle cars, performance 1602 0-60 mph 0-97 km h in 12 seconds 11, a top speed of about 100 161 km h mph was unexceptional, but it rivals many American sedans contemporary V8 engine while returning up to 28 mpg on August 4 the 100 km Better yet, with a base price starting at 2477 POE New York, 1602 t was not much more expensive than a Ford Mustang six-cylinder that was slower and clumsier thirsty BMW was small but spacious, peppy, yet economical, and built with typical German thoroughness.
The 1602 immediately won rave reviews from car magazines like Car and Driver who anointed better driving compact sedan in the world penetration 1602 market was ultimately limited by a relatively small dealer network and a series of currency revaluations that pushed its price to negotiate the kingdom, but it has raised the bar for what could be an affordable compact sedan.
The BMW 1602 2009 f Bmw1602 picture without color; released into the public domain by the photographer, resized by Aaron Severson.
The BMW 1602 has won many fans among fans, including Yutaka Katayama Katayama Not only as the BMW was certainly kind of car he saw as an achievable goal Before, Japanese automakers have generally modeled their efforts on UK small sedans in the previous decade, Katayama has lobbied to make their new compact Bavarian target.
In the early sixties, Katayama might as well have asked the home office to build his own aircraft carriers; the answer would probably have been the same, however, the Japanese market is evolving rapidly when Katayama went to Australia, the Japanese auto industry was still mainly focused on compact trucks for commercial users, since few consumers had money for a car by the mid-sixties, the domestic passenger car market began to take off and was in separate segment size of price ranges.
In mid-1965, Nissan began work on the successor to the 410 411 Bluebird, who had replaced the first 310,311 in 1964. Currently, Nissan is preparing to launch a smaller car, the first Nissan Sunny, who released the Bluebird to move upscale as the middle class of society with Cedric addition would also grow, albeit limited by the limitations of small domestic car tax class movement would allow the next generation 510 Bluebird to be increasingly sophisticated with bigger and more motor power.
The 510 was a departure from the 410 in a number of points 510 was larger by 5 inches 125 mm longer and 2 8 inches 70 mm wider on one 40mm longer wheelbase 5 inches and now have disc brakes before as BMW, 510 also had a fully independent suspension with MacPherson struts at the front and tail semi-arms in the back contrast to 410, which had been designed by Pininfarina, the 510 was designed in-house by Teruo Uchino, which produced a net shape and good taste that would not have looked out of place among subcompact cars a decade later.
The engine of the 510 was the subject of a fierce battle between Katayama and home office Bluebird The next generation was to use the new OHC L-series of four, but Japanese cars would be launched as the 1296 cc 79 cu in L13 version, which was the same size much more powerful than the outgoing 410 411 J pushrod engine series Katayama acknowledged that the lack of sufficient power was the Achilles heel of Datsuns rech_lpn and insisted that Car exports needed a standard engine of at least 1600 cc 97 cu in.
The overall similarity of the Datsun 510 to the BMW 1600 is pronounced, it is a bit shorter but similar proportions and packaging This is a domestic model Datsun 510 Bluebird SSS, never sold in the U S; the main surge suppressor are intercepted by mirrors on the front wings of shared SSS models L16 of the standard 510 Bluebird engine, but had carbohydrates twin SU and a hotter cam, giving 100 PS 74 kilowatts JIS picture Datsun Bluebird Coupe 510 001 2006 天然 ガ ス Tennen-gas; resized and used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3 0 Unported.
Initially, pleas Katayama went nowhere There were plans for a slightly larger L14 engine of 1428 cc displacement 87 cu in, but as far as the home office was concerned, it would be enough; Japan, more than 1 5 liter engines were taxed at a higher rate, however, Katayama has found an ally in the new direction Seiichi Matsumura, who joined Nissan's powerful Ministry of Trade and Industry MITI in Japan in spring 1966 Matsumura agreed to the current argument Katayama on the board of Nissan under its own name Matsumura although it has not escaped anyone that the idea had come from the board Kayatama finally, if at reluctantly agreed to allow the larger engine, initially offered only for export markets.
Rear view of a Datsun 510 Bluebird This is a Japanese on 510 1400 Bluebird market with the 1428 cc 87 cu in engine Photo Datsun Bluebird 510 002 2008 天然 ガ ス Tennen-gas; resized and used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3 0 Unported license.
Such as L13 and L14, the larger engine, known as the L16, was a four cylinder in-line with a block of iron, aluminum head and a single overhead cam chain-driven He shared the same bore that small engines, but has a longer stroke, bringing total displacement of 1595 cc 97 cu in great not only offered shifting more power than the L13, but also significantly more torque American cars by 96 power gross 72 kW to 100 lb-ft 136 Nm, which gave the performance the 510 not far from the BMW that was his inspiration.
The 510 is on sale in Japan in August 1967 and arrived on the export market a few months later Japanese cars were still called Bluebird, a name Katayama hated, but export models were simply called Datsun Datsun 1300 or 1600 only the latter was offered in the United States while the smaller twin-engine model was also available in Europe and Australia ironically, the larger engine was later added as an option for 510 Japanese in fall 1968 the purchasing power growing fast Japanese consumers meant that there was finally a market for it.
The Datsun 510 was available in two or four-door sedan, a two-door coupe or wagon that four handy doors This model in 1971.
Katayama was ecstatic about the Datsun 510, which represents almost all of it to beat the past seven years, it was almost as economical than its predecessor and still very well built, but it was also pleasantly stylish, fun to drive and surprisingly Its fast performance 0-60 mph 0-97 km h in around 13 seconds and a top speed of nearly 100 mph 155,160 km h was a match for most compact six American contemporary cylinders and more than enough to the US 510 the road stopped and handled well, too, although it lacked the polish Autobahn directed his BMW grandmother.
Even the most attractive product may fall on his face if the price is wrong, but the Datsun 510 has benefited from the favorable exchange rate and a reduction in Japanese labor costs, which held the price list US only 1.996 POE This was more than a Volkswagen Beetle, but still cheaper than most compact in the US, which are not as agile or both together.
Buyers soon noticed the U S Datsun sales rose by 33 000 in 1967, many of which were trucks over 58,000 in 1968; nearly two thirds of people were 510S sales for 1969 exceeded 90,000, making Nissan a major player in the U import market of 510 also gained new respect Datsun the US press, which had already seen Japanese cars with varying degrees of bemused contempt.
The Datsun 510 wagon is 3 inches 72 mm longer than the two-door sedan and uses a rear suspension drive axle rather than the semi-arm rear independent rear suspension sedan The reason to return to the disposal of the solid axle was to avoid radical changes of camber when the car was heavily loaded.
Even the advertising campaign of US 510 was novel whose centerpiece was a famous and, in society, television spot somewhat controversial known as the Baroque ad, which has no voice or dialogue at all, just a striking blend of Vivaldi and images of the car is running hard on winding roads of California, closing with the Datsun logo of the company print ads in the United States today highlighted the Datsun sophisticated technology and beautiful ways the road, and its low price and high fuel economy It was a sign of renewed confidence in a product on which the company no longer needs to feel too humble.
In 1967, Mr. K, remembering perhaps his success in Australia, opened the first Nissan racing department Although there weren t official factory teams as such, Datsun has published a series of publications educating owners on how to upgrade their cars with spare parts, including a new range of Nissan Brock Racing Enterprises competition equipment and Bob Sharp Racing became suppliers to various race teams Datsun, with support heavy plant.
Although initial efforts competition focused on a small sports roadster Datsun the company known as the Fairlady in Japan and sold in very small especially for export, the Datsun 510 had a more sophisticated chassis and the obvious potential, he interest quickly attracted racing drivers like star NASCAR Bobby Allison champion Trans-Am John Morton, Porsche driver Peter Gregg, Bob Sharp and Jack Scoville NMC-USA also scored a minor marketing coup when Bob Bondurant bought a number of 510s to use in its newly formed racing school Actor Paul Newman, an enthusiastic racer in his own right, a campaign 510 after driving a school in Bondurant.
The 510 quickly amassed an impressive competition record US Brock Racing took 510 Trans Am 2 Title 5 SCCA Class in 1971 and 1972 and 510s Datsun took the production sedan championship SCCA B in 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974 .
In 1972, however, the Datsun competition began to catch up TO 1972 track test Showroom Stock directed by Car and Driver pitted 510 against rivals like the smaller Toyota Corolla and the new Chevrolet Vega Datsun showed his age, with a handling relatively sloppy with a penchant for sudden transitions in extremis of the so-so outright grip, and poor power the 510 was still a good car, but it was past its peak.
A Datsun 1972 510 with a left dices 1967 Ford Cortina GT at the 2006 Watkins Glen SVRA Photo 72 Datsun 510 and 67 Ford Cortina GT 2006 Nathan Bittinger; used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2 0 generic.
Still, the 510 had its goal by the time production ended in November 1972 Datsun had sold more than 1 5 million of them, about 400,000 of those in the U S.
In 1975, Katayama became president of NMC-USA, cede the presidency to Hiroshi Majima, who had previously directed for export back to Japan Nissan operations Katayama returned to Japan two years later in an uncomfortable echo of his return from Australia nearly 20 years ago, he received a cold welcome and little reward his success was if something eroded its already fragile political position and was shuffled to a minor subsidiary company to serve his career in the dark.
Nissan, meanwhile, rose to bigger but not necessarily better cars products company The end of the seventy years were often very conservative and style and orientation suggested that the needs of the domestic market had taken again the first priority Nissan maintained its position No. 2 at home, but the company has gradually lost the company to Toyota and Honda earth.
The original 510, meanwhile, has found his second wind in the middle of seventy years as the three Five Chevrolets before it or the Honda Civic 25 years later, it became a popular base for 510s Datsun hot rodding were cheap, robust and almost infinite editable not only are there a lot of competition and semi-competition equipment already, subsequently, more powerful iterations of the standard engine can be swapped in easily of course, for some who's never enough, so over the years, there have been 510s with turbo, six-cylinder engines, V8s, and even Mazda rotary engines Today it is rare to find a survivor in the examples 510 state origin and even looking actions are likely to have more foam than when they left the factory.
The original Datsun 510 are not well known today, perhaps because it was overshadowed by side and the greatest triumph of Katayama, the Datsun 240Z sports car the 510 is routinely, if unfairly omitted surveys of the most important cars of the last century, however, the importance of 510, at least as regards the position of Japanese cars in the US is hard to overstate, and defined the basic formula that would bring automakers Japanese to the forefront years later relatively compact cars that were well-built, reliable, economical and attractive at competitive prices if not necessarily rock-bottom the 510 was far from perfect, but it was a base solid on which to build, the major Japanese automakers Nissan not only proceeded to make more diligent.
As for Yutaka Katayama, Nissan finally restored him during the first part of Carlos Ghosn regime when Katayama lookalike has been featured in a number of TV SPOTS Nissan Katayama was inducted into the Automotive fame in 1998 and the release of Nissan and now describe historical materials with a certain reverence He was present at the launch of the new Nissan Z in 2003 and in January 2005 issued an open letter on the 35th anniversary of the original Z it celebrated its 100th anniversary Sept. 5, 2009, he died four and a half later, at the remarkable age of 105.
Over the years, automotive experts have proclaimed many cars the car of the future, however, they have often been wrong Datsun 510, was the real thing none of its characteristics was technically innovative and was not stylistically revolutionary but in concept and execution, it was really the shape of things to come.
Our account Yutaka Katayama career comes mainly from David Halberstam, The Reckoning New York, William Morrow and Company, 1986 with additional details Daniel Banks, Let Meet Mr K Z Car Club Association, d accessed June 5, 2009; Michael A Cusumano, the Japanese auto industry management technology at Toyota Nissan Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1985; Auto Industry Guide Japan 1967 Tokyo Motor Industrial Federation Edition Japan, Inc. 1967; Yutaka Katayama and Yoshihiko Matsuo, Fairlady Z Story, Datsun Z SP SR Miki Tokyo Press, 1999; Nissan Motor Corporation, Yutaka Katayama Legend 02 Determined visionary d com HERITAGE IN LEGENDS LEGEND_02 accessed November 17, 2014; and Nissan legend Yutaka Katayama, aka Mr K, dies at 105 Press Release, February 21, 2015, accessed August 8, 2015; John B Rae, Nissan Datsun A History of Nissan Motor Corporation in U S A 1960 1980 New York, McGraw Hill, 1982; Brian Long, Datsun Fairlady Roadster to 280ZX The Z-car history Dorchester, England Veloce Publishing, 2006; and Akira Yokoyama manga comic book entitled account Datsun Fairlady Z Project X Project X Challengers 240Z Gardena, CA Digital Manga Publishing, 2006 The story of the Bluebird and 510 comes mainly from these sources and Alan Bent, EarlyDatsun nd com last accessed 14 November 25, 2014; Carl Beck, design and development of online, OHC six-cylinder engines which powered Our Z Cars 1970, but 1983 Internet Car Club Z, November 14, 2008, com History LSeries last accessed November 16, 2014; The Datsun Merlin Blackwell History pages accessed December 25, 2007; Nissan Motor Corporation, a remarkable sporting family sedan DATSUN 1600 Norwegian brochure No PB6061-901130, c 1969; Datsun 1400 1600, 510 461 Norwegian brochure 6-72 5000, June 1972; Nissan Bluebird and Heritage Collection, d com IN accessed November 14, 2014; Nissan Motor Company USA, Datsun The World Best 2000 U S car brochure 1969 We also consulted Frank Marcus, 1968-1973 Datsun 510, Motor Trend June 1, 2006, classic com Test C12_0606_1973_datsun_510 accessed December 25, 2007; Showroom Sedans The nine cars on the track, Car and Driver Vol 17, No 11 May 1972 pp 38-45, 82, 94; Ray Thursby, Rising Star, Special Interest Autos 195 June 2003, p 48 53; BMW and 1600, Car and Driver February 1967, reissued in Car and Driver BMW 1957-1977 ed RM Clarke Cobham, England Brooklands Books Ltd ca 1986 Some details came from Mike Covello, Standard Catalog imported cars from 1946 to 2002 Second Edition Iola, WI Krause Publications, 2001.
equivalencies historical exchange rates were estimated from the data of Lawrence H Officer exchange rate between the dollar United States and forty-one in 2009 Currencies, MeasuringWorth, used by permission Please note that all exchange rate of equivalences mentioned in the text are approximate and provided for illustration and for general information; it is a car history, not a treatise on currency trading or the value of money, and nothing in this section should be considered financial advice of any kind.
I never had the opportunity to meet Katayama-san, but it looks like it was a good boy One day I like to redo this article to make it less -centric U S; I started with the article 240Z, but I keep getting distracted.
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The strange odyssey Yutaka Katayama The Datsun 510 and the rise of Japanese cars in America, Yutaka, Katayama Datsun increase.