earlydatsun.com 
The Complete Guide to Classic Datsun Cars and Trucks
1960 Nissan Junior Caball C140
.
.
 
 By the end of the 1950s Nissan's licencing agreement with Austin was coming to an end. Nissan decided to take what they had learned and set about designing their own engines based on the design principles of the Austin engines. By the time 1960 rolled around Nissan had their own large sized 4 cylinder engine ready to go, and one of the first vehicles to use this new engine was the C140 Nissan Junior Caball. 
The previous C40-C43 models used the Austin B series engine, which produced 50hp. The C140 featured a new Nissan designed engine G series engine, which was slightly smaller, at 1488cc, but produced much more power with 77hp. This same engine would also be used for the Nissan Cedric 30 sedan and the Datsun Fairlady SP310 sports car. The new engine appeared similar to the old Austin engine, but was a completely new design based on Austin's engine design principals, only improved. The G engine had 7 ports in the head instead of the 5 in the Austin engine, which combined with greatly improved manifolds and a dual throat carburettor, made the Nissan engine flow much better. The Nissan engine overcame the chronic oil leak problems associated with the Austin engine thanks to a complete redesign of the crankshaft and it's seals. 
 Apart from the engine the rest of the vehicle was pretty much the same as the previous C43 Caball. The only distinguishing feature that allowed you to tell the difference between the C43 and the C140 was that under the Caball badge on the C140 there is a badge that says 71ps. ps is the abbreviation for Pferdestärke, or horse strength in German, which was the measurement of power used in Germany, and for some reason it was used in Japan as well. The previous C43 had no badge under the Caball badge. 
 With the arrival of the C140 Nissan started to sell the Caball range to other non-Asian export markets. The Caball became a relative success in Australia and Central America, but no attempt was made to sell the vehicle in the USA. 
 The C140 went into production in April 1960, and continued in production until it was replaced by the C141 in 1962.
A sales brochure for the Nissan 580
 
1960 Nissan Junior Caball C140 Specifications 
Length - 4580mm   
Width - 1675mm   
Height - 1990mm   
Wheelbase - 2390mm   
Weight - 1505kg   
Top speed - 103kph  
Transmission - 4 speed Column change
Engine Specifications 
OHV 4 Cylinder  
Model - G   
Capacity - 1488cc   
Bore & Stroke - 80x74mm  
Power - 77bhp@5200rpm 

Final Drive - unknown
 
Model Variations
 
Nissan Junior Caball C140 
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 Caball VC140  
A van version was also available in a few different configurations. It was available as a delivery van with glass side windows, and as a panel van with painted steel panels wher the side glass would normally go, and also as a micro bus with rows of seats in the back.
Nissan Junior B140  
The C140 Junior Caball was based on the chassis and mechanicals of the B140 Junior. More information about this model can be found on the B140 page.
.
back to earlydatsun.com