The early Datsun Roadsters were imported to compete with the many thousands of British sports cars that had flooded the U.S. market. The British car invasion of the 1950’s was also the main reason behind the development of the Chevy Corvette and Ford Thunderbird.
1966 Datsun 1600
Nissan / Datsun
Datsun was owned by Nissan since 1934. The automaker that Nissan took over was named DAT Motor Car Company whose roots went all the way back to 1914 when they were selling full size automobiles.Later they produced a small car named Datson before becoming Datsun after Nissan took control.
The first imported Datsuns arrived in the U.S. in 1958. The first sports car produced by Datsun was the 1959 S211. This model delivered only 40 HP and was a very limited production vehicle. Only twenty were built. The following year, Datsun came out with the S212 that produced 50 horsepower. The next year in 1961 horsepower was turned up to 60 using dual carburetors. One similarity of the earliest roadsters were their lower windscreen that gave them a much sleeker and sportier look.
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