Nissan · Bluebird

Nissan Bluebird 1st generation

Years: 1959–1963
Drivetrain: FR

Story

The first mass-production Datsun passenger car to use independent front suspension, greatly improving ride and handling over earlier Datsuns. It also offered the "Fancy Deluxe", Japan's first car aimed at women.

Stories

A style without pretension, striking a balance

The styling of the first-generation Bluebird was by Shozo Sato, then an in-house designer at Nissan. The design lagged slightly behind global trends, but its well-balanced overall form was highly functional, and the market reacted well. Both the Datsun 110/210 series that Sato designed and the first-generation Bluebird were characterized by being simple and functional, without pretension.

Shozo Sato

Chassis

Front

Double wishbone

Rear

Rigid axle

Curb weight: 900kg

Production plants

Oppama Plant
Yokosuka, Kanagawa

US import eligibility

Earliest cars: Eligible since August 198425 years after sales began in August 1959
Last cars: Eligible since 198825 years after sales ended in 1963 (month not recorded)

Eligibility depends on each car's month of manufacture on its build plate, not on the sale dates shown here (NHTSA).

Japanese cars by US import year →

Engineers

Shozo Sato

Hometown: Tokyo

Industrial designer who was the first head of Nissan's styling section. He designed the Datsun 110/210 series and its successor, the 1st-generation Bluebird (310 series).