Model Cars - Datsun

Datsun was a Japanese automobile brand that became synonymous with affordable and reliable cars. Originally founded in the early 20th century, Datsun gained widespread recognition in the 1950s and 1960s for producing cars that combined quality, innovation, and affordability, making them popular in international markets, particularly in the United States.

Datsun was originally the brand name for a series of cars produced by Nissan Motor Co., which was founded as Tōyō Motor Co. in 1933. The name Datsun is derived from "Dat" (which was a nickname for one of the company’s founders, Den, whose first name was Kenjiro Den) and "Sun" (symbolizing the Japanese flag). The company was officially established under the Nissan name in the late 1930s, and the Datsun badge was used for a range of cars sold by the company.

In 1981, Nissan Motor Co. made the decision to phase out the Datsun brand in favor of the Nissan name. The change from Datsun to Nissan was officially completed by 1984, and vehicles that were previously branded as Datsun were now sold under the Nissan name, such as the Nissan Sentra (formerly Datsun 210) and Nissan Maxima (formerly Datsun 810). However, the revival of the Datsun brand met with limited success. Some of the newer models faced criticism for their quality issues and a lack of strong market demand in some regions, and the brand was eventually discontinued again in 2020.

Datsun helped pave the way for the rise of Japanese automakers in the global market, particularly in North America. The brand helped shift perceptions of Japanese cars from being seen as cheap and unreliable to being viewed as high-quality, fuel-efficient, and value-driven alternatives to American and European cars.