Japanese Car Spotters Guide - 1966

The first Nissan Sunny, exported as the Datsun 1000, was launched in September 1966, with two body styles, a two-door sedan (B10) and a van/station wagon (VB10). These were available in both a "Standard" and "Deluxe" version, featuring drum brakes, conventional leaf springs at the rear and wishbone type independent front end. The front end used a single transverse leaf spring. The car featured a 4-cylinder in-line engine – the A10 – with a total displacement of 988 cc and a 4-speed gearbox.

The 1966 P411 was pretty much identical to the previous P410, although it now boasted an all new larger engine. The new "J13" engine was a 1299cc 67hp OHV 4 cylinder unit, it being a development of the previous E-1 series engine. The 1966 Bluebird was available as a 2 door sedan, 4 door sedan (P411) and 5 door wagon (WP411).

The Colt 1100 boasted a huge glassed area, most particularly the windscreen, which curved in at the top, making the roof look like a second-thought projection of the body. The design was class leading, and thankfully the engineers equipped the Colt with high quality two-speed wipers, so that even in the wet, visibility was never a problem. From the driver's seat you looked across the bonnet to angular mudguards, allowing you to correlate with external objects for greater accuracy of driving. Once you got behind the wheel, it was clearly evident that this was a drivers car, even before you put the key in the ignition.

At a time when anything Japanese also meant the epitomy of austere, the Corona was a stand out. Inside there was a wood grain finish on the fascia, thick quality carpet, full-flow ventilation, two-way stretch vinyl seat coverings and arm-rests on all doors. The transmission choice consisted of either the standard 4 on-the-floor or automatic. The Mark II, released in 1964, featured several mechanical improvements which included raising the compression ratio, and modifications to the intake and exhaust manifolds to allow for better breathing. On the outside, the wedge styling was to polarise many opinions - but at least it was different and made the Corona stand out in the crowd - at a time when Japanese cars were typically very conservative.