Throughout the 1960s, Japanese carmakers were teetering on the brink of a sports car breakthrough. Toyota’s 2000 GT was a beauty, but with only 337 made, it was an exclusive curio. Honda was giving it a try too, with the dainty S600 and S800. As for Datsun, the MGB-lookalike Fairladies were relatively popular in Japan … [Read more…]
The similarity between the Datsun Fairlady and the MGB is quite astonishing. The Datsun actually appeared first, at the 1961 Tokyo Motor Show, followed a year later by the MGB. Hardly a great car in its early 1500cc guise, the Fairlady improved dramatically over the years, a foretaste of the Japanese car industry’s culture of … [Read more…]
It had various different designations, ranging from Fairlady Z to the S30 Nissan/Datsun, but most people seem happy to agree on Datsun 240Z. This was the first of the company’s Z-series sports cars, designed by Yoshihiko Matsuo. The rear-wheel drive, fixed-head coupe had clean and simple fastback lines with a sloping rear hatch. The six-cylinder … [Read more…]