The 1960
Nissan Cedric, developed out of the Austin A50, soon became available with a 10
cm longer rear compartment, to comply with broader small car standards, next to
the shorter model on which also the 1961 wagon was based. The 1963 Cedric Custom had a 6 cm longer
front compartment as well, resulting in a 269 cm wheelbase, while the off-small
car Special was extended another 14.5 cm before the cowl to give room to the
2.8 litre 6-cylinder engine. So, by
February 1963, Japanese customers had a choice of four wheelbases. A diesel would arrive in 1964 in the short
front/long rear compartment model to suit taxi use, though LPG 1.5 and 1.9
models existed already, the former with the short rear compartment.
Nissan Cedric (130 series)/ Datsun
2000/2200 Diesel/2300/2400
The
appealing Pininfarina-styled Nissan Cedric (130
series) initially was also called so in the export. By 1967 the Datsun brand came in and all
2-litre models, 4-cylinder ohv, or 6-cylinder ohv and ohc
were called Datsun 2000. For the export,
the engine was bored out beyond the small car 2.0 litre limit resulting in
Datsun 2300 and later 2400 with a larger stroke (and actually the same engine
dimensions as the famous 4-cylinder L16 engine, used in the Bluebird 510). Wagons were available with 2-litre gasoline
engines only. In the export, the 2.2
litre diesel was initially called Nissan Cedric Diesel, then Datsun Diesel and
finally Datsun 2200 Diesel. All Cedrics now had the 269 cm wheelbase, while ‘large car’
buyers could opt for the Nissan President.
In South Africa, both the Datsun 2300 (1969) and 2400 (1971) retained
the original front with the sloping bonnet.
Holland would choose to name the next generation 240C initially Datsun
2400 as well.
Nissan
Cedric/Gloria (230 series)/ Datsun 200C/220C Diesel/240C/260C
The 1971
models received a decent coke bottle shape and included a 2-door hardtop as an
answer to the Toyota Crown hardtop.
Nissan made a step further in the summer of 1972 with adding rear doors
to this hardtop design, unique among Japanese makes, and denied for the export
(until the 430 series). Domestic
hardtops had oblong headlamps. A
longer-stroked 2.6 litre engine took the model in Japan beyond the small car
standard in autumn 1971 and replaced the 2.4 in the export a year later. Datsun 200C in the export had an ohv 4 or an ohc 6-cylinder.
Gloria Super Deluxe, GL and GX models lost the hood ornament in
mid-1972.
Cedric and
Gloria offered the same engine/transmission choices (though there was no Gloria
wagon in the 230 car series, nor a diesel), and were priced equally, with 3 out
of every 4 a Cedric in 1971. Not
counting wagons, 1 out of every 6 Cedrics was a
hardtop, and 1 out of every 4 Glorias. The introduction of the 4-door hardtop in
August 1972 resulted in a doubling of hardtop sales. In 1971, Cedric/Gloria combined sold equally
to Toyota Crown, which model also was renewed by February 1971, a week before
the Nissans, compared with 60% Crowns in 1970.
In 1972, the Crown share became 40% with Cedric outselling Crown, which
didn’t offer a 4-door hardtop body style.
In the second half of the run of the cars, 1 out of every 3 Cedrics was a hardtop, and almost half of the Glorias. The Cedric
took 38% of the market segment, the Gloria 15% and the Toyota Crown 47%, while
the old-fashioned Mitsubishi Debonair took about a half percent.
In later
years, 20% of the Cedric/Glorias had a 4-cylinder
gasoline, 9% was a 2.6, 3% a diesel, and the remaining 68% were 6-cylinder
2-liters.
Nissan
Cedric/Gloria (330 series)/ Datsun 200C/220C Diesel/260C/280C
The next
generation came in late June 1975 on the same chassis, with a more pronounced
coke bottle shape, and old-fashioned at that time. All body styles were retained. A bored-out 2.8 litre engine came available
in Japan, but would replace the 2.6 in the export only two years later. The 4-cylinder 2.0 engine was restricted to
the taxi. In Taiwan it was soon replaced
by the 6-cylinder 2.4 engine. In the
early summer of 1977 the 2.2 diesel was added in Japan (still in the ‘small
car’ class), introducing the diesel in the Gloria and (commercial use)
wagon. Oblong headlamps were used in the Japanese market 2-door hardtop
(and by mid-1977 in the 4-door hardtop F-Type), as well as in the YLN-805 and
New Zealand’s Datsun Brougham sedans.
Nissan Cedric/Gloria (430 series)/ Datsun 220C Diesel/240C/280C (Diesel)
This
generation arrived early June 1979 (three months before the new Toyota Crown)
and adopted a live axle with coils at the rear (over 25 years later than the
Crown), except for the wagons. There was
still a hip up in the panelling, except for the hardtop (the 2-door was
deleted). The double headlamps were now
rectangular, except for the base model, but Europe used the single rectangular
headlamps of the hardtop that was not sold there. Upper models (Brougham in Japan) received a
hood ornament (incl. the export 280C wagon), but not in Europe. In Japan, and not available in the export,
the 6-cylinder 2.0-litre engine (soon also with turbo) remained the main
engine, while for taxis and hire use the 4-cylinder 2.0 diesel, and a Z20P
cross-flow 4-cylinder ohc LPG engine were
offered. The 2.4 gasoline engine was
again available in the export, as an alternative for the 2.8. New was a 2.8 diesel, in the ‘small car
class’ as well. Gloria diesels were
deleted by April 1981 (except for wagons and taxis). Cedric/Gloria combined outsold Crown in 1980
only just, but this changed the next year.
By 1981, Gloria hardtop sales exceeded those of the sedans.
3 January, 2019