one of my favorite books.
one of my favorite books.
Sad to hear. The car community has lost a great man.
one of the articles posted some of his comments......too heavy? too expensive?
Outspoken in later years
Katayama continued speaking his mind beyond age 100. After Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn resuscitated the Z in the 2000s with the 350Z and the 370Z to global acclaim, Katayama dismissed the 370Z as a “so-so” car.
In 2009, he told Automotive News that the 370 was too heavy and too expensive, compared with the nimble and affordable concept behind the 240Z.
Katayama also made no secret of his disapproval Nissan’s 1983 move to do away with the Datsun name in favor of “Nissan” as a brand name.
Nissan is now working to reintroduce the Datsun brand name in selected emerging world markets.
In reply to Datsun1500: Great story! I was never fortunate enough to even contact Mr. K's staff, but I sure admired their work! My '71 Z and several PL-510s were always my favorite cars that I've ever owned.
And I always wished Datsun had done more with the 810s. I never saw a BMW with a 6, other than a M6 which is a totally different animal, that I liked as well.
I really thought he was going to live forever.
Datsun310Guy wrote:
I've never seen that book before. I'd love to find a copy but I'm sure it's out of print.
Dang, A Legend the Datsun and Z community will never forget.
With the forth coming Z35, it would be cool if they issued a "K" spec option, which would unfortunately have to be yellow.
A true giant of the sports car world. RIP.
My Dad was a Chrysler engineer so I grew up a rabid Mopar fan. When I first saw the early Z cars it just about blew my mind. Light, nimble, a straight six.........what?!! It was just the sexiest and coolest car I had ever seen and single handedly started me on the path to sports cars and imports which I have maintained all these years. And although I have never owned a Z car I still consider the early ones to be one of the best, if not the best, looking Japanese sports car ever designed, along with the ND RX7. The later Zs just didn't do it for me. RIP Mr. K. Your place in automotive history is secure.
In reply to Woody:
Amazon's got them. Just bought a hardback for $10. Looks like limited supply, so move fast.
I had 6 of those books that I bought in Nashville at the Lane Museum and I couldn't sell them on eBay a few years ago for $5. I gave most away to Datsun guys.
In reply to iadr: Sorry! The Maximas, that I ever drove were never the car the 810 was. For one thing, I never saw a Maxima that was RWD. I'm not saying it didn't happen, but they never were on offer in my area as far as I can tell.
The 810 was a sweet sohc 6 cylinder motor that made all the right sounds, could be bought with a 5 speed stick, and was only a RWD ride. I still think an overhead cam 6 with RWD & stick shift is the perfect application for a wonderful ride. If the Maxima was ever in that configuration, it apparently was very short term. And to my knowledge, it didn't appear in our part of Greater Appalachia.
First gen Maximas in the early 80s were rear drive.
Woody wrote:Datsun310Guy wrote:I've never seen that book before. I'd love to find a copy but I'm sure it's out of print.
There are several copies on Amazon. IIRC the cheapest one currently is on there for $8.95 + shipping, 'cos I just bought the one that was for sale for $8.94 
.
Dang, wish I still had one of my four z's and that '70 510 of mine. I bought em dirt cheap, made em pretty, and sold them. Now they are worth more in crap condition than what I sold them for fixed up. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Mr k was awesome. He would still drive his yellow z around California. He even got pulled over I it once. The cop realized who he was, and he told the officer in broken English "you know, I like to take a nice drive here once in awhile" the cop let him off.
I had the pleasure of visiting the Datsun Museum in Murrieta, CA, back in 2008. There was a couple that ran it (I forget their names, he was an early Datsun dealer and has since passed away), along with another lady who was actually Mr. K's secretary for years when he came to the US. Great people, lots of great stories. The famous yellow Z is actually an automatic and was the secretary's car! Mr. K is an automotive legend and will leave quite a legacy. One day I will own another Z (hopefully nicer than my last 2)...
I've never heard anyone have a bad story about him. Truly a giant of the industry. RIP, Mr. K.
...Wow, he was still alive?
I had a bunch of respect for him in how he could "feel" the US auto culture while still finding a Niche for Datsun. His commentary on the 350Z solidifies that to another order of magnitude.
I had several Datsun 1200s and was shocked to learn that they weighed 1600 lbs. That was light then - incredibly so now in comparison to everything else.
We owe a lot to that man.
I have great respect for him and his creations even if they did sound the death knell for the Briish sports car industry. The Z hit the market just about the time the Brits discovered that emission controls and crash standards were mandatory and their financials wouldn't allow for properly designing new engines, the TR7 was proof of that, the 'O' engine was intended for the MGB but never made it there.
Trivia: the SOHC engine used in his brainchildren (the 510/Z/etc) was basically a Mercedes design that had been licensed to Prince, Datsun acquired the engine rights when they bought Prince at the 'suggestion' of the Japanese government.
Curmudgeon wrote: Trivia: the SOHC engine used in his brainchildren (the 510/Z/etc) was basically a Mercedes design that had been licensed to Prince, Datsun acquired the engine rights when they bought Prince at the 'suggestion' of the Japanese government.
It's a bit more complicated than that. the L6 and L4 are based on the merc engines the same way that the camaro is based on the mustang.
Great man, great story, a non-conforming dreamer who really changed the industry. And how many of us will put in 105 years here?
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