Nissan

Japan
1934 - 2009 | 1,143 Vehicles

Company Website

Nissan Motor Company was founded as the Kwaishinsha Motorcar Works, which produced its first car, the DAT, in 1914. DAT is an acronym for the names of the company's three principal partners. During the 1920s, the company was reorganized as the DAT Automobile Manufacturing Company, and its new car was called the 'DATSON' - son of DAT. Respelled as Datsun, the name was used on the company's cars until 1983. After a 1933 merger with car manufacturer Nihon Sangyo (popularly called 'Ni-San'), the company changed its name again to become Nissan Motor Company, and is now one of Japan's biggest and most successful car companies.

In the late 1960s, Nissan developed potent overhead cam four- and six-cylinder engines, and used them to power two extremely successful new cars: the Datsun Bluebird/510 sedan and the Fairlady/240Z sports car. These cars included features found on far more expensive competitors, such as front disc brakes and independent suspensions, and gained Nissan worldwide recognition for their low cost and high performance. In 1969, Nissan introduced the potent Skyline GT-R, an all-wheel-drive sports sedan and coupe, powered by the very successful RB-series inline six-cyclinder engine. The Skyline has continued to be refined over the years. It now shares a chassis with the new Fairlady/350Z sports car, and is marketed in North America as the Infiniti G35. More recently, the GT-R supercar, was named the 2009 Motor Trend Car of the Year. The GT-R also broke the eight-minute barrier when it registered the world's fastest lap time for a mass-produced supercar at the Nürburgring circuit.