Canadian Predicts U.S. Tax Will End Soon

[ggzilla]

From the Winnipeg Tribune, September 24, 1971 page 23

 

Mr. Miki noted how early this year two top American automobile executives (Henry Ford II and

James Roche of General Motors) visited Japan. "Both of them voiced their belief in free trade"

 

I think this was the beginning of Detroit's "buy japanese" phase. Ford and GM bought 100s of thousands of Mazda and Isuzu pickups, and sold them under their own brand names. Chrysler went for both cars and trucks from Japan and sold them as Dodge and Plymouth models

 

Mr. Miki is referring to President Nixon's 1971 economic shock to reduce inflation

 

Datsun price went up a little for 1972, but jumped up considerably for 1973 and even more for 1974

And still Datsun was the best-selling import at the time

 

in designing and redesigning the Datsun, Nissan has worked very hard to introduce new thinking,

and to make available mechanical features usually found in automobiles in a much more

expensive price range.

 

 

 

 

[datzenmike]

My guess is that the Japanese automakers got the Big Three to agree to buy and import a re-badged North American version. Probably this was away around an import tax or a lessening of it as you are bringing Big Three vehicles in. Win win 

[ggzilla]

that's an interesting idea. Chevy Luv sales started 1972, Ford Courier 1972. So probably deals were inked before the August 1971 tariffs. Maybe the visit of Henry Ford mentioned in the article was to finalize the arrangements

 

Mr. Miki in the interview talks about the win-win prospects of free trade. Ford and Chevy bringing in imports had to circumvent the US Chicken Tax, but it didn't really slow them down. Nor did it slow down Datsun. As Mr. Miki said, Datsun's continuous re-design led to a worthy competitor. And here we are 50+ years later still driving them

[ggzilla]

... and 50+ years later Datsun cars are still on the road, while the Detroit sub-compact competition is history -- when's the last time you saw a Pinto or Vega on the road? Continual re-design made Nissan great. Chasing profits has led them to contiued market-share loss

[datzenmike]

The only Vegas that survived were SBC swapped. The last I saw was about 35 years ago in BC where the rain washes the salt off. It was a 350.

[banzai510(hainz)]

be honest I didnt think the Pinto motor was bad.

this should look familiar Pinto Rocker arms

Edited March 20, 2025 by banzai510(hainz)

[RLJ]

Off the tax topic.
Saw this Vega at a toy raising for Christmas car show. Pretty awesome, 9 second in the 1/4 mile. 

[RLJ]

[datzenmike]

2 hours ago, banzai510(hainz) said:

be honest I didnt think the Pinto motor was bad.

this should look familiar Pinto Rocker arms

 

I had one I drove one summer in mid '70s. Felt like a much larger car but sluggish and no fun to drive. My 521 was faster by far.

[EDM620]

My ex brother-in-law had a Vega and twice it spit out the rear axle shaft before he got rid of it.

[Duncan]

I put a 283 with a powerglide into my Vega Panel.  A friend of mine had an early Impala that was rear ended, and I got the drivetrain for pennies.  It was a very easy swap.

 

It was fast for a Vega, but I left the stock rear end in it, and it had major wheel hop under hard acceleration.  I was 18 years old when I did this :)