100 years of D.A.T.

[merlin]

 

We made it almost to the end of the year, but I couldn't let it pass without acknowledging the 100th Anniversary of the beginnings of our Datsuns... next time you crack a beer, say a toast to Hashimoto-san and thank him for your Datsun!

 

 

the earliest Dat LOGO circa 1914-16

 

 

1916 DAT 41

 

 

this is Datto, the Mascot of Datsun... When spelled in Japanese... Datsun ls the two Characters Datto Sun(san?) .. Datto means "fast hare (rabbit)" in Japanese

 

 

 

 

DAT Cars logo from the 20's

 

 

 

the first Datsun Logos

 

 

 

there is also a Datson logo that was only around for about 9 months...

 

from WIkipedia...

 

Masujiro Hashimoto: Founder of Kaishinsha/DAT Japanese Automobile Hall of Fame , Inducted 2002

 

Born in 1874, Hashimoto went to the States after graduating from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, and worked at a steam locomotive factory. However, whilst in the US he met Henry Leland. Inspired by Leland's work, Hashimoto established the Kaishinsha Automobile Factory, which duly provided the building block for the Datsun brand. Hashimoto died in 1944.

 

 

Before the Datsun brand name came into being, an automobile named the DAT car was built in 1914, by the Kaishinsha Motorcar Works (快進自動車工場, Kaishin Jidōsha Kōjō^?), in the Azabu-Hiroo District in Tokyo. The new car's name was an acronym of the company's financers...

 

• Kenjiro Den (田 健次郎, Den Kenjirō^?)
• Rokuro Aoyama (青山 禄朗, Aoyama Rokurō^?)
• Meitaro Takeuchi (竹内 明太郎, Takeuchi Meitarō^?).

Conflicting information: What's in a Name? The Change From Datsun to Nissan By Daniel Banks "This despite Business Week’s error that Den, Aoyama, and Takeuchi founded Nissan. They did not, of course. Kenjiro Den, Rokuro Aoyama, and Meitaro Takeuchi were 3 financial backers and friends for one of the originators of the Japanese automobile industry, Masujiro Hashimoto, who founded Kaishinsha Jidosha Koto, or “Kaishinsha Motor Car Works” in 1911." Dan is right - Merlin

 

The firm was renamed Kaishinsha Motorcar Co. in 1918, seven years after their establishment and again, in 1925, to DAT Motorcar Co. DAT Motors constructed trucks in addition to the DAT passenger cars. In fact, their output focused on trucks since there was almost no consumer market for passenger cars at the time. Beginning in 1918, the first DAT trucks were assembled for the military market. The low demand from the military market during the 1920s forced DAT to consider merging with other automotive industries. In 1926 the Tokyo-based DAT Motors merged with the Osaka-based Jitsuyo Jidosha Co., Ltd. (実用自動車製造株式会社, Jitsuyō Jidōsha Seizō Kabushiki-Gaisha^?) also known as Jitsuyo Motors (established 1919, as a Kubota subsidiary) to become DAT Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (ダット自動車製造株式会社, Datto Jidōsha Seizō Kabushiki-Gaisha^?) in Osaka until 1932. (Jitsuyo Jidosha began producing a three-wheeled vehicle with an enclosed cab called the Gorham in 1920, and the following year produced a four-wheeled version. From 1923 to 1925, the company produced light cars and trucks under the name of Lila.^[2])

 

The DAT corporation had been selling full size cars to Japanese consumers under the DAT name since 1914 (Madely, pg. 19), but in 1930 the Japanese government created a ministerial ordinance that allowed cars with engines up to 500 cc to be driven without a license. (TOGO, pg. 11). DAT Automobile Manufacturing began development of a line of 495 cc cars to sell in this new market segment, calling the new small cars "Datson" - meaning "Son of DAT". The name was changed to "Datsun" two years later in 1933.(Madely, pg. 20)

 

 

[KC Phirus]

Maybe nissan will release that datsun concept as a 100th anniversary car.

 

Oh yeah. I'm going to find a rabbit ornament like that. I've been wanted to put a hood ornament on a 620 since like.. forever.

[ggzilla]

Thanks Merlin, I almost forgot 1911.

 

datto (脱兎) means fast or "dashing or bounding away; with lightning speed". The rabbit part is a play on words (rabbit is 兎). An aspiration for a DAT.

 

DATSUN Type 14 hood mascot created by body designer Ryuichi Tomiya:

 

The original Datsun Type 10 prototype had a leaping hound mascot

 

DAT 1 luxury car, long, long before the Datson Light Car

[KC Phirus]

"The hood ornament is nickel-plated brass and measures 12 centimeters long. Today, a prime example will fetch nearly $1500 on Yahoo Japan Auctions."

Dammit

I'll cast one myself if I have to.

There WILL be a hare on my hood.

[merlin]

"The hood ornament is nickel-plated brass and measures 12 centimeters long. Today, a prime example will fetch nearly $1500 on Yahoo Japan Auctions."

Dammit

I'll cast one myself if I have to.

There WILL be a hare on my hood.

 

 

 

funny , I've thought the same thing... our local high school has a mini foundry ,they sometimes make custom key chains and small emblems for kicks... I'd love to try and make a lost wax casting of "Datto"

[ggzilla]

But to make a casting, you need an original ... maybe carve one out of wood first ...

[ggzilla]

This is what the first Datson used, a greyhound is faster than a hare isn't it?

 

 

[.sunlover]

close enough? http://www.ebay.com/itm/DOG-old-RADIATOR-Hood-ORNAMENT-Automobile-MASCOT-small-c-1930-40-CAR-Greyhound-/140661671419?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20c016c5fb#ht_7381wt_1061

 

 

 

I read the design was purchased from lincoln usa, and not put into the production version btw. If you're wondering where...

 

http://www.earlydatsun.com/datsun10.html

 

the ones I think are correct go for up to $300

[ggzilla]

Close enough, although not the same as the one in the photo the Datsun Type 10. Proably a different year.

 

 

It doesn't say they licensed it from Lincoln:

sported a leaping greyhound radiator emblem that was purchased from Lincoln in the USA

 

The japanese book 50 Years of Datsun says they "bought" it at a Lincoln store, for the 91 prototype, but not used on the production units (Type 10).

[KC Phirus]

But to make a casting, you need an original ... maybe carve one out of wood first ...

 

hat was the plan man