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 wagon (for commercial use).
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.
10 October, 2019