In the years before the Datsun
name arrived, the company building these cars was called DAT. The company
was named DAT to honour the original investors in the company. DAT was
the initials of the surnames of the three investors, Den, Aoyama and Takeuchi.
DAT also happened to be the Japanese word for hare, or fast rabbit. 
In 1935 Nissan decided to make the most of the rabbit accociation,
and to incorporate a rabbit into the design of the new Datsun 14. Ryuichi
Tomiya designed a beautiful leaping rabbit radiator mascot for the Datsun
14, which was along the same lines as the Lincoln Greyhound mascot and
the later Jaguar leaping cat. Sadly this beautiful and distinctive feature
was only used on the Datsun 14.
The body of the Datsun 14 was pretty much the same as that
of the previous Datsun 13, with the only notable difference being the addition
of the leaping bunny rabbit emblem. Mechanically she was different though.
The old DAT engine of the Datsun 13 was replaced with the new Datsun Type
7 engine, which was a side valve 4 cylinder engine with a displacement
of 722cc. The new engine was actually slightly smaller than the old DAT
engine, but at 15hp it was more powerful.
Behind the scenes lots of interesting things were happening
at Nissan. The company was now being run by it's
new President Auykama. Auykama was friends with a gentleman by the name
of William Gorham, who was an American engineer who had moved to Japan
in the 1920s. Gorham was a car enthusiast, and he even managed to start
a business in Japan building his own cars, named the Gorham. Auykama was
well aware that Nissan still had a lot to learn with regards to car manufacturing,
and Gorham offered to return to the United States to try to recruit some
more American engineers to work at Nissan and teach the Japanese more about
mass production of cars.
 While
Gorham was in the United States he visited a recently closed factory of
the American car manufacturer Graham Paige. Graham Paige had a fairly modern
factory and equipment, which was now sitting idle. Gorham contacted Auykama
back in Japan and suggested that Nissan should purchase the production
line equipment from the Graham Paige factory. Auykama agreed to the plan
and a deal was done that netted Nissan all the equipment, and the rights
to build the big Graham Paige Crusader.
Nissan built a new factory in Yokahama in
1934, and all the old Graham Paige equipment was installed in the new factory.
This huge investment gave Nissan the largest and most modern factory in
Japan, and the basis on which to expand and grow. The new factory came
online in 1935, in time for the start of production of the Datsun 14. This
marked the first time that the bodies and chassis were all built in the
same factory, rather than having them built by subcontractors.
The Datsun 14 marked the zenith of
pre-war Datsuns. The 14 was a beautiful and well built little car, made
using good quality materials, and built with some of the best equipment
available. The cars that followed were still good cars, but didn't match
the 14 for quality. By the end of 1935 Japan was at war with China, and
many materials were becoming harder to source. Later models had noticably
less chrome and much sparcer interiors.
The Datsun 14 was in production from
April 1935 until April 1936, a total of 3800 were built, of which 53 were
exported. |
An early 1936 Japanese language sales brochure for the Datsun
14 model range.
|
The first Datsun 14 rolls off the production line of the
new Nissan Yokahama factory in 1935.
|
1935
Datsun 14
Specifications
Length - 2800mm
Width - 1200mm
Height - 1600mm
Wheelbase - 1980mm
Weight - unknown
Top speed - 80kph
Transmission - Floor change
3 speed |
Engine
Specifications
Model - Type 7
Side Valve 4 Cylinder
Capacity - 722cc
Bore & Stroke 55x76mm
Power - 15hp@3600rpm
Torque- unknown
Compression - unknown
Carburettor - unknown
Final drive - unknown |
|
