earlydatsun.com 
The Complete Guide to Classic Datsun Cars and Trucks
1956 Nissan Junior B40 Truck
.
.
 
 In December 1953 the Nissan Motor Co. signed a "technological co-operation agreement" with the Austin Motor Co. Ltd. of Great Britain. The result of this agreement gave Nissan the rights to build and market the Austin A40, and later the Austin A50, in Japan. It also let them use the Austin engines and chassis technology as a basis for future Nissan vehicles. By 1956 Nissan were building Austin sedans under licence in Japan, but the first vehicle Nissan designed and built themselves using an Austin engine was the B40 Nissan Junior. 
Junior is a truly odd name for this vehicle, especially when you consider that the Junior is quite a large vehicle, and at over 6 foot tall it towers over the smaller pickups in the range. Like several other Nissan vehicles from this era, it's styling was a mix of British and American influences. The Junior was almost a cross between an Austin A40 and a 1950s Ford F100. 
 The grille on the B40 was a pressed steel design that was painted white. It had three rows of horizontal slots, with the top slots being narrow, the middle ones slightly wider, and the bottom slots being wider again. Under this top section there was a wider section with a series of 14 small vertical slots. This lower section incorporated the front indicators. 
 In late 1957 the B42 was introduced, which was a minor face lift of the B40. The B42 had a slightly different grille. On the B42 the big horizontal slots are all the same size, and in the lower section it still has 14 vertical slots, but it no longer incorporates the indicators, instead only the top section of the grille goes over the indicators. 
 The Junior had a seperate ladder chassis and had leaf springs front and back. It sat on large 16 inch split rim wheels and was rated to carry a 1750kg payload. 
 The B40 Junior was powered by the 1500cc version of the Austin B series OHV 4 cylinder engine, which produced 50hp. 
 The Nissan Junior B42 was in production until late 1959, when it was replaced by the Nissan Junior B140.
A sales brochure for the Nissan 580
The first Nissan Junior rolls off the production line in 1956
1956 Nissan Junior B40 Specifications 
Length - 4290mm   
Width - 1675mm   
Height - 1820mm   
Wheelbase - 2500mm   
Weight - 1475kg   
Top speed - 90kph 
Transmission - 4 speed Column change
Engine Specifications 
Model - 1H type 
OHV 4 Cylinder  
Capacity - 1489cc   
Bore & Stroke - 73x89mm  
Power - 50hp@4400rpm 
Torque - 10.2kg/m@2100rpm 
Compression - 7.2 : 1 
Carburettors - Stromberg 30VIG-10 

Final Drive - unknown
 
Model Variations
 
Nissan Junior B40 
The truck version was available with either a "styleside" cargo area as pictured here, or with a steel cargo area with fold down sides.
Nissan Junior VB40  
A rather odd, chunky looking delivery van version was also introduced at the same time as the truck.
Nissan Junior B42  
In late 1957 the B42 was introduced with a slightly different grille. On the B42 the big horizontal slots are all the same size, and in the lower section it still has 14 vertical slots, but it no longer incorporates the indicators, instead only the top section of the grille goes over the indicators. The Junior name is pressed into the top of the grille, on the B40 there was nothing written on the grille.
Nissan Junior Caball C40  
In addition to the conventional Junior truck there was also a cab-forward version based on the chassis and mechanicals of the B40 called the Junior Caball C40. More information can be found on the C40 page.
.
back to earlydatsun.com