Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan) is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun brands (with in-house performance tuning products labelled Nismo). The company traces its name to the Nissan zaibatsu, now called Nissan Group.

In 1928, Yoshisuke Aikawa  founded the holding company Nihon Sangyo. The name 'Nissan' originated during the 1930s as an abbreviation used on the Tokyo Stock Exchange for Nihon Sangyo. This company was Nissan "Zaibatsu" which included Tobata Casting and Hitachi. At this time Nissan controlled foundries and auto parts businesses, but Aikawa did not enter automobile manufacturing until 1933.

The zaibatsu eventually grew to include 74 firms and became the fourth-largest in Japan during World War II.

In 1931, DAT Jidosha Seizo became affiliated with Tobata Casting and was merged into Tobata Casting in 1933. As Tobata Casting was a Nissan company, this was the beginning of Nissan's automobile manufacturing.

Since 1999, Nissan has been part of the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance. In 2013, Nissan was the sixth largest automaker in the world, after Toyota, General Motors, Volkswagen Group, Hyundai Motor Group, and Ford. Taken together, the Renault–Nissan Alliance was the world's fourth largest automaker. Nissan is the leading Japanese brand in China, Russia and Mexico.

1932 datsun type 11

Masujiro Hashimoto founded the Kwaishinsha(Kaishinsha) Motor Car Works on 1 July 1911 in Azabu-Hiroo district of Tokyo. In 1914, the company produced its first car, called the DAT. The new car's model name was an acronym of the company's investors' surnames:

• Kenjiro Den (Den Kenjirō)
• Rokuro Aoyama (Aoyama Rokurō)
• Meitaro Takeuchi (Takeuchi Meitarō)

It was renamed to Kaishinsha Motorcar Co., Ltd. in 1918, and again to DAT Jidosha & Co., Ltd. (DAT Motorcar Co.) in 1925. DAT Motors built trucks in addition to the DAT and Datsun passenger cars. The vast majority of its output were trucks, due to an almost non-existent consumer market for passenger cars at the time, and disaster recovery efforts as a result of the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. Beginning in 1918, the first DAT trucks were produced for the military market. At the same time, Jitsuyo Jidosha Co., Ltd. (jitsuyo means practical use or utility) produced small trucks using parts, and materials imported from the United States.

In 1931, DAT came out with a new smaller car, called the Datsun Type 11, the first "Datson", meaning "Son of DAT". Later in 1933 after Nissan Group zaibatsu took control of DAT Motors, the last syllable of Datson was changed to "sun", because "son" also means "loss" in Japanese, hence the name "Datsun"

In 1928, Yoshisuke Aikawa founded the holding company Nihon Sangyo. The name 'Nissan' originated during the 1930s as an abbreviation used on the Tokyo Stock Exchange for Nihon Sangyo. The company took over 74 firms and became the fourth-largest in Japan during World War II. In 1933 they took over the datsun company and Nissan car production could start.

In 1966, Nissan merged with the Prince Motor Company, bringing more upmarket cars, including the Skyline and Gloria, into its selection. The Prince name was eventually abandoned, and successive Skylines and Glorias bore the Nissan name. "Prince" was used at the Japanese Nissan dealership "Nissan Prince Shop" until 1999, when "Nissan Red Stage" replaced it. Nissan Red Stage itself has been replaced as of 2007. The Skyline lives on as the G Series of Infiniti.

da

The Datsun DA was a small automobile produced by Nissan and sold under the Datsun brand as Nissan's first post-war passenger car. The DA was introduced in November 1947, a direct result of the occupying Allied command once again allowing production of passenger cars. As the tooling for the pre-war Datsun Type 17 was no longer available, the DA was based on the Datsun 1121 truck (which itself was based on the pre-war 17T truck); it used the 722 cc Type 7 side valve engine from the 17T as well as its floor-shifted 3-speed manual transmission and front clip, including a pressed steel grille and nearly no brightwork.

Datsun also offered the Deluxe Sedan (DB) with more modern ponton bodywork alongside the lower cost DA Standard Sedan. The DA had a simple pressed metal grille when first introduced; by 1949 this had been replaced by a more ornate chromed unit. The DA also received a redesigned, less boxy rear section in 1948. The DA was in production until 1950 when it was replaced by the Datsun DS Series (later also marketed as the "Thrift").

patrol

The Nissan Patrol  is a series of four-wheel drive vehicles manufactured by Nissan in Japan and sold throughout the world.

The Patrol has been available as either a short-wheelbase (SWB) three-door or a long-wheelbase (LWB) five-door chassis since 1951. The LWB version has been offered in pickup truck and cab chassis variants. Between 1988 and 1994, Ford Australia marketed the Patrol as the Ford Maverick. In some European countries, such as Spain, the Patrol was marketed by Ebro as the Ebro Patrol. In 1980 in Japan, it was rebadged and alternately sold at Nissan Prince Store locations as the Nissan Safari.

skyline

The Nissan Skyline  is a brand of automobile originally produced by the Prince Motor Company starting in 1957, and then by Nissan after the two companies merged in 1967. After the merger, the Skyline and its larger counterpart, the Nissan Gloria, were sold in Japan at dealership sales channels called Nissan Prince Shop.

Skylines are available in either coupé, or sedan body styles, plus station wagon, crossover, convertible and pickup/sedan delivery body styles. The later models are most commonly known by their trademark round brake and tail lights. While not distributed in the United States until its importation as the Infiniti G, the Skyline's prominence in video games, movies and magazines resulted in many such cars being imported there, and makes up a large amount of second-hand Japanese car imports to Europe and North America. The majority of Skyline models are rear-wheel drive, with all-wheel drive being available since the eighth-generation's debut.

The eleventh-generation Skyline (V35) was another major turning point for the nameplate, as it dropped some of the previous generation Skyline's trademark characteristics such as the straight-six engine (replaced with a V6) and turbocharging (reintroduced in the thirteenth-generation/V37 model), and eventually separated the GT-R into its own line. Nissan decided to retain the Skyline for the luxury-sport market segment, while its platform-mate, the 350Z, revived the Z line of pure sports cars.^[1] The V35 was the first Skyline made for export to North America, being sold under Nissan's luxury marque Infiniti as the G35 in 2002. The Skyline (V36/J50) is sold in Europe, North America, South Korea, Taiwan, and the Middle East as the Infiniti G37 and EX respectively.

On April 12, 2010 a Guinness Book of Records event took place with 225 Skylines taking part in a parade lap at the ISTS at Silverstone UK, which produced two world records: the most recorded Skylines at one meet at one time, and most Skylines on a track at the same time.

2014-present  v37/ infiniti q50

datsun sport

The Datsun Sports (called Datsun Fairlady in the Japanese and Australian markets), was a series of roadsters produced by Nissan in the 1960s. The series was a predecessor to the Z-car in the Fairlady line, and offered a competitor to the European MG, Triumph, Fiat and Alfa Romeo sports cars. Beginning with the 1959 S211, the line was built in two generations: the first generation was largely handbuilt in small numbers, while the second generation (310 series) was series produced. The second generation first appeared in 1961 and continued through 1970 with the SP311 and SR311 lines.

In Japan, it represented one of three core products offered by Nissan at Japanese Nissan dealerships called Nissan Shop, alongside the Datsun Truck and the Datsun 1000. The Datsun 2000 was the two-seat roadster that made their name. Paul Newman started his racing career in one. It had a potent 1,982 cc overhead cam engine with dual SU type side draft carbs and a five-speed transmission.

s211 The first Datsun Sports model was the 1959 S211. It used a 988 cc C-series straight-4 producing 36 hp. The S211 was based on the Datsun 211 sedan.

spl2012 The SPL212 was introduced in 1960. This was the first Datsun sports car imported to the US. The letter L means "left hand drive". Now with steel bodywork, it was built in slightly higher volume than the S211, with 288 produced through 1961.

sp310 The first true Datsun sports car was the 1963 SP310 "Fairlady 1500" model (right hand drive), and the SPL310 (left hand drive). In America it was known as the Datsun 1500. The SP310 was based on a modified Bluebird 310 sedan platform instead of the truck platform of earlier models. It featured a 1.5 L engine.

sp311 Many changes were made in 1965. A new 1.6 L R16-powered SP311 and SPL311 (left-hand drive) replaced it. The new model was first shown in 1964  but did not enter production until March 1965. The restyling was executed in part by Count Albrecht Goertz, who would later be involved with designing the first Fairlady Z.

sr311 The introduction of the 1967 SR311 and SRL311 saw a major update. Produced from March 1967 until April 1970, the SR311 used a 2.0 L U20 engine and offered a five-speed manual transmission, somewhat unexpected for a production car at the time.

1967-1970  sr311

bluebird

The Nissan Bluebird  is a compact car with a model name introduced in 1957. It has been Nissan's most internationally recognized sedan, in multiple body styles, and is known for its dependability and durability. The Bluebird originated from Nissan's first vehicles, dating to the early 1900s, and its traditional competitor became the Toyota Corona. The Bluebird was positioned to compete with the Corona, as the Corona was developed to continue offering a sedan used as a taxi since Toyota Crown was growing in size. Every generation of the Bluebird has been available as a taxi, duties that are shared with base level Nissan Cedrics. It is one of the longest-running nameplates from a Japanese automaker. It spawned most of Nissan's products sold internationally, and has been known by a number of different names and bodystyles, including the 160J/710/Violet/Auster/Stanza line.

Export versions were sold variously as the Datsun 510, Datsun 180B (with 160B and 200B versions) and the Datsun Bluebird. The Nissan Bluebird nameplate began appearing around 1982 as the Datsun marque was phased out in favour of Nissan.

Production of the Nissan Bluebird ended in Japan in 2001, and it was replaced by the mid-size Nissan Maxima, Nissan Teana, and Nissan Altima internationally, and the compact Nissan Bluebird Sylphy in Japan. It was a popular export to Russia, Africa and New Zealand.

cedric

The Nissan Cedric  is a large automobile produced by Nissan since 1960. It was developed to provide upscale transportation, competing with the Prince Skyline and Gloria which were later merged into the Nissan family. In later years, the Nissan Skyline was positioned as a sports sedan/coupe, whereas the Nissan Gloria was turned into a sporty version of the Cedric (with identical styling but using a different radiator grille and front & rear light clusters).

In Japan, the Cedric/Gloria series was affectionately called CedGlo, and this long-running series finally came to an end in October 2004, replaced by the Nissan Fuga. The Cedric name is still in use, on the Y31 series fleet vehicle traditionally used as a taxi, where it competes with the Toyota Comfort, and is still in production. Throughout the many versions of the Cedric, it was always considered to be the prime competitor to the Toyota Crown. The hood ornament was inspired by the diamond pattern used by Lincoln but was changed to two right angles set next to each other.

During the 1970s, it briefly saw other Japanese competitors introduce large sedans: the Mitsubishi Debonair, while the Isuzu Statesman de Ville and the Mazda Roadpacer were derived from General Motors-Australia products and were short-lived. In 1985 Honda introduced its rival to Cedric called Legend, which influence the Japanese car makers that time to update their luxury car line up.

The Cedric name was inspired by the main character, Cedric, in Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel Little Lord Fauntleroy by the Nissan CEO at the time Katsuji Kawamata.

In October 2004, the last Cedric hardtop was built, after which it was replaced by the Nissan Fuga. The Cedric nameplate remains available on the Y31-series sedans, and is currently only available for commercial users.

president

The Nissan President  is a Japanese luxury limousine that was produced by Nissan from 1965 to 2010. The car was mainly used by corporate executives and government officials. It was a luxury sedan specifically aimed to the Japanese market, where its main competitor was the Toyota Century. The President was the company's flagship limousine, and was sold at Nissan Motor Store dealerships.

The President was initially sold only in the Japanese market. In the late 1980s, exports began to a few countries including Singapore and Hong Kong, though sales were limited. When the President was introduced in 1965, it wore the "Nissan" badge unlike other Nissan products at the time which were labeled Datsun.

In August 2010, Nissan announced that it had stopped the production of both the Nissan Cima and President, which share the same chassis. The two models needed safety upgrades to comply with the latest safety regulations, but lackluster sales showed that the company would not be able to recoup costs. As there was no platform successor to Cima/President, the Nissan Fuga became the flagship for Nissan. Starting in 2012, the Cima name was revived as a stretched Fuga, resuming the market segment formerly held by the President, thereby continuing to offer an alternative to the modern Toyota Crown Majesta premium level limousine made in Japan.

Since its debut in 1965, 56,000 units of the Nissan President have been sold, 63 units were sold in fiscal 2009.

nissan prince royal series a70

The Japanese auto industry was expanding rapidly in the early 1960s, and the Imperial Household Agency sought a Japanese auto manufacturer to produce a suitable car for the Emperor of Japan. In September 1965, the Prince Motor Company announced that they would be providing two vehicles for the Emperor. The first would be ready by 1966, the other by 1967. In May 1966, Prince Motor Co. merged with Nissan Motor Co., and so Nissan was added to the name of the car. The Prince Motor Company had an established relationship with the Imperial Household Agency previously, when they presented the first Prince Gloria to Crown Prince Akihito as a one-year anniversary wedding gift, and an earlier gift to the Crown Prince called the Prince Sedan in 1954. The Prince Royal was the second Japanese built post-war vehicle to use a V8 engine; the first was the Toyota Crown Eight in 1964.

With a  massive weight of 3,200 kg, the car was fitted with a 6,437 cc  Prince series W64 V8 with overhead valves, producing 260 PS. An American built transmission was used for expediency, in that Japanese manufacturers had not yet developed a transmission capable of coping with the torque from the Prince built V8 engine.

The vehicles were retired on July 7, 2006, when the Toyota Century Royal was presented for service to replace them. Previous vehicles used to transport previous Emperors were a Rolls-Royce Phantom V used in the 1960s which replaced the Mercedes-Benz 770s that were used from the 1930s.

laurel

The Nissan Laurel is a front-engine, rear-drive two- and four-door sedan manufactured and marketed by Nissan from 1969 to 2002. Introduced in 1968 as a new model positioned above the 1968 Datsun Bluebird 510, the Laurel offered the luxury of the Nissan Cedric 130 in a smaller size. In Japan, the Laurel was marketed solely as a Nissan model, rather than a Datsun model.

The first Laurel was developed by the Nissan Tsurumi R&D Division and assembled at the Musashimurayama Plant of the former Prince Motor Company in 2-door and 4-door variants. Released as a Nissan after Prince merged with Nissan, Laurels shared many components and architectures with the Skyline range. The Laurel was not marketed new in Japan at Nissan Prince Shop locations that sold the Skyline and Gloria, former Prince products. Instead the Laurel was sold at Nissan Motor Shop as the junior model to the larger V8-powered Nissan President.

Since 1968, eight generations of Laurel have been manufactured in Japan. Nissan intermittently listed the Laurel for sale in various Asian and European markets (it was also sold in Chile, Panama and other South American markets as the Datsun Laurel or Datsun 200l included Argentina, starting in the late seventies), and then mostly discontinued the export of this model from 1989.

The Laurel was cancelled subsequent to Nissan's alliance with Renault.

s30

The Nissan S30 (sold in Japan as the Nissan Fairlady Z and in other markets as the Datsun 240Z, then later as the 260Z and 280Z) is the first generation of Z GT 3-door two-seat coupés, produced by Nissan Motors, Ltd. of Japan from 1969 to 1978. One of the most successful sports car lines ever produced, the trend-setting S30 was designed by a team led by Yoshihiko Matsuo, the head of Nissan's Sports Car Styling Studio.

Seeking to compete head-to-head with established European sports cars, Datsun priced the new 240Z within $200 of the British MGB-GT in the United States, a five-year-old design that showed its age. The 240Z's sleek styling, modern engineering, relatively low price, and impressive performance struck a major chord with the public. Positive response from both buyers and the motoring press was immediate, and dealers soon had long waiting lists for the "Z".

Fairlady z  The Fairlady Z was introduced in late 1969 as a 1970 model, with the L20 2.0-litre straight-six SOHC engine, rear-wheel drive, and a stylish coupe body. The engine, based on the Datsun 510's four-cylinder, produced 128 hp JIS and came with a four- or a five-speed manual transmission. For 1973, power of the carburetted engine dropped to 123 hp to meet stricter regulations.

240z The 1970 240Z was introduced to the American market. The early cars from 1969 to mid-1971 had some subtle differences compared to late-71 to 1973 cars. The most visible difference is; these early cars had a chrome 240Z badge on the sail pillar, and two horizontal vents in the rear hatch below the glass molding providing flow through ventilation.

260z The 260Z was sold in the United States for the 1974 model year only, but was available in other countries until 1978 (aside from Japan, where this model was never regularly available except for in Okinawa). The engine was enlarged to 2.6 L by lengthening its stroke bringing with it the new model code RS30.

280z Nissan released the Datsun 280Z model for the North American market in the 1975 model year. In a further effort to keep the S30 models sporting in the face of increasingly stringent U.S. emission and safety requirements, engine size was again increased, this time to 2.8 liters. 

s130

The Nissan S130 is a sports coupé produced by Nissan in Japan from 1978 to 1983. It was sold as the Datsun 280ZX, Nissan Fairlady Z and Nissan Fairlady 280Z, depending on the market. In Japan, it was exclusive to Nissan Bluebird Store locations. It was the second generation Z-car, replacing the Nissan S30 in late 1978. The 280ZX was the first time the "by Nissan" subscript was badged alongside the Datsun logo, along with Nissan trucks. The 280ZX was Motor Trend's import car of the year for 1979. The 280ZX was replaced by the Nissan 300ZX in 1984.

The 280ZX was a complete redesign, retaining only the L28 inline-six engine and other driveline components from the 280Z. Both two-seat and four-seat (2+2) designs were offered. Compared to the more overtly sporting earlier models, the 280ZX was a much softer, heavier car, with less focus on driving and more on driver comfort and refinement.

 The naturally aspirated 1982 Datsun 280ZX boasted a 0-100 km/h time of 9.1 seconds, 1.2 seconds slower than the Corvette of the same year. The 280ZX Turbo manual had a 0-100 km/h time of 7.4 seconds while the automatic managed to turn out 7.1 seconds. That compares to the Aston Martin Volante

300zx

The Nissan 300ZX is a sports car in the Nissan Z-car family that was produced across two similar but unique generations. As with all other versions of the Z, the 300ZX was sold within the Japanese domestic market under the name Fairlady Z.

It was sold in Japan from 1983 to 2001 and in the United States from 1984 to 1996, the 300ZX name followed the numerical convention initiated with the original Z car, the Nissan S30, which was marketed in the U.S. as the 240Z. The addition of the "X" to the car's name was a carryover from its predecessor, the 280ZX, to signify the presence of more luxury and comfort oriented features. The first generation 300ZX known as the Z31 model was produced from 1983 through 1989 and was a sales success becoming the highest volume Z-car for Nissan.

To become even more competitive in the sports car market, the second generation Z32 was driven up-market. It was redesigned to be faster and feature more advanced technology, but came with a higher price than its predecessor, with consecutive price increases each model year of availability. As such, sales dwindled each year, a trend in the higher end sports car market at the time, and Nissan placed a hiatus on selling new Nissan Z-Cars to the US after the 1996 model year, though the car would continue to be sold in the Japan domestic market until 2001 in low production numbers.

z31  Unlike its predecessors, the Z31 featured a V6 engine in the 200Z/ZS/ZG, 300ZX and 300ZR, and the only Z31 to come with an inline-six cylinder engine was the Fairlady 200ZR which was only available in Japan. The 200ZR was the last Z-car to feature a factory-installed inline six. There were five engine options in total.

z32 The Z32 was a new design, approved in final form by Nissan management on October 1, 1986 and designed by Isao Sono and Toshio Yamashita. The body was wider with a rounder profile and fewer hard edges. It had a marginally increased drag coefficient of .31 compared to the Z31's .30. Unchanged from the previous generation 300ZX was the displacement of the 3.0 L VG30 V6 engine, now with DOHC and variable valve timing (N-VCT), producing 222 bhp in naturally aspirated form. The twin turbocharged  variant was upgraded with parallel twin-turbochargers and dual intercoolers producing 300 bhp.

350z

The Nissan 350Z (known as Nissan Fairlady Z (Z33) in Japan) is a two-door, two-seater sports car that was manufactured by Nissan Motor Corporation from 2002 to 2009 and marks the fifth generation of Nissan's Z-car line. The 350Z entered production in 2002 and was sold and marketed as a 2003 model from August 2002. The first year there was only a coupe, as the roadster did not debut until the following year. Initially, the coupe came in Base, Enthusiast, Performance, Touring and Track versions, while the Roadster was limited to Enthusiast and Touring trim levels. The Track trim came with lightweight wheels and Brembo brakes, but its suspension tuning was the same as all other coupes. The Nissan 350Z was succeeded by the 370Z for the 2009 model year.

For the 2007 model year, the 350Z was again moderately revised. The VQ35DE V6 was replaced with a new VQ35HR V6. It produced 306 bhp.

370z

The Nissan 370Z (known as the Fairlady Z Z34 in Japan) is a 2-door, 2-seater sports car (S-segment in Europe) manufactured by Nissan Motor Company. It was announced on October 29, 2006, and was first shown at an event in Los Angeles ahead of the 2008 Greater LA Auto Show,^[3] before being officially unveiled at the show itself. The 370Z is the sixth generation of the Nissan Z-car line, succeeding the 350Z. The 370Z marks the last production car with a naturally aspirated and high-rev V6 coupled to a manual transmission. The 2020 model year was the final model year for the 370Z. Almost every piece and component of the 370Z has been redesigned from the previous 350Z model.

The NISMO version was introduced for the 2009 model year. The engine produces 350 hp  at 7,400 rpm and 374 N⋅m of torque at 5,200 rpm with revised ECU settings and exhaust setup. Transmission choice is limited to a 6-speed manual with Nissan's new "SynchroRev Match" function.

The Nissan 370Z has enjoyed some successes in motorsport. Notably, in drifting Chris Forsberg campaigned a twin turbo, 812 horsepower, 676 lb-ft torque VQ37DE 370Z in the 2017 Formula DRIFT season. After an engine failure in the debut round, he piloted his backup 370Z. This car was powered by a 5.6L V8 swapped from a Nissan Titan and produced over 1,000 horsepower. 

cherry

Originally, before combining with Nissan Motors, the Prince Motor Company plan of development was to mass-produce a front-engine, front-wheel drive car. Subsequent to the Prince and Nissan merger of 1966, the Cherry was released in 1970 as Nissan's first front-wheel drive car instead. In Europe, the A10-engined E10 Cherry was called Datsun 100A or Datsun 120A.

After the end of Cherry production, the Sunny was Nissan's only offering of this size in Europe

leopard

The Nissan Leopard is a line of sport/luxury cars built by Japanese carmaker Nissan. The Leopard began life in 1980 and was discontinued in 1999. The Leopard were initially based on the Japanese market Nissan Skyline and Nissan Laurel, then later based on the chassis of their Nissan Cedric and Nissan Gloria contemporaries and were rear wheel drive. Final versions were the contributing factors to Nissan's Infiniti M and J products.

The Leopard sedan was sold exclusively in Japan at Nissan Bluebird Store locations as a companion to the Fairlady Z, allowing Nissan to sell a badge engineered version of the Skyline and Laurel, while the coupe was exclusive to Nissan Motor Store locations. The Leopard was cancelled as a result of the Nissan Revival Plan, a casualty of overproduction. It was succeeded by the Nissan Fuga.

pao

The Nissan Pao is a retro-styled three-door hatchback manufactured by Nissan for model years 1989–1991, and originally marketed solely in Japan at their Nissan Cherry Stores.

First announced at the in October 1987, the Pao was available with or without a textile sun roof and was originally marketed without Nissan branding, by reservation only from January 15 through April 14, 1989. Orders were delivered on a first come, first served basis. With 51.657 applications for the vehicle, it sold out in 3 months. The UK's GTR-Registry website provided updated production figures in 2022 with per-colour code quantities, and a total production quantity of 31.352.

Because of its origins at Pike Factory, Nissan's special project group, the Pao – along with the Nissan Figaro, Be-1 and S-Cargo – are known as Nissan's "Pike cars". The promotional campaign for the car included a surreal and futuristic animated video featuring members of the Pike Factory team.

In 2011, noted design critic Phil Patton, writing for the New York Times, called the Pike cars "the height of postmodernism" and "unabashedly retro, promiscuously combining elements of the Citroën 2CV, Renault 4, Mini [and] Fiat 500".

The engine was the March/Micra's 1.0 L (987 cc), coupled with a three-speed automatic transmission or a five-speed manual transmission, the manual being the more sought after. The engine produced 52 PS.

figaro

The Nissan Figaro is a front-engine, front-wheel drive, two-door, 2+2, fixed-profile convertible manufactured by Nissan for model year 1991, and marketed in Japan at Nissan Cherry Stores.

A total of 20,073 Figaros were produced by Nissan in the convertible's single year of series production — all with right hand drive. As a fixed-profile convertible, the upper side elements of the Figaro's bodywork remain fixed, while its fabric soft top retracts in conjunction with a solid panel with a defroster-equipped glass rear window — as seen in other notable fixed-profile convertibles, including the Vespa 400 (1957), Citroën 2CV (1948–1990), the Nash Rambler Convertible "Landau" Coupe (1950), and the 1957 Fiat 500 — as well its 2007 Fiat 500 successor.

With its design variously attributed to Naoki Sakai and/or Shoji Takahashi, the design recalls that of the Gutbrod Superior, a German fixed-profile convertible marketed from 1950-1954. Because of its origins at Pike Factory, Nissan's special project group, the Figaro (along with the Nissan Pao, Be-1 and S-Cargo) are known as Nissan's "Pike cars," and represented a design strategy that adapted "design and marketing strategies from other industries like personal electronics."

Based on the Nissan March (Micra) platform, the Figaro uses a 1.0-liter (987 cc) turbocharged engine generating 75 hp and 106 N⋅m of torque through a three-speed automatic transmission, front MacPherson struts, rear four-link coil spring suspension; rack and pinion steering, front ventilated disc and rear drum brakes. The Figaro can reach a top speed of 170.59 km/h. Weight saving front fenders are thermoplastic resin.

In 1999, facing severe financial difficulties, Nissan entered an alliance with Renault of France. In June 2001, Renault executive Carlos Ghosn was named chief executive officer of Nissan. In May 2005, Ghosn was named president of Nissan's partner company Renault. He was appointed president and CEO of Renault on 6 May 2009.

Under CEO Ghosn's "Nissan Revival Plan" (NRP), the company has rebounded in what many leading economists consider to be one of the most spectacular corporate turnarounds in history, catapulting Nissan to record profits and a dramatic revitalization of both its Nissan and Infiniti model line-ups. Ghosn has been recognized in Japan for the company's turnaround in the midst of an ailing Japanese economy. Ghosn and the Nissan turnaround were featured in Japanese manga and popular culture. His achievements in revitalizing Nissan were noted by the Japanese Government, which awarded him the Japan Medal with Blue Ribbon in 2004.

On 19 November 2018, Ghosn was fired as chairman following his arrest for the alleged under-reporting of his income to Japanese financial authorities. After being released on bail he was again detained on new charges (4 April 2019). He had been due to hold a news conference, but instead, his lawyers released a video of Ghosn alleging this 2018-19 Nissan scandal is itself evidence of value destruction and Nissan corporate mismanagement.

gt-r

The Nissan GT-R is a high-performance sports car and grand tourer produced by Nissan that was unveiled in 2007. It is the successor to the Skyline GT-R, a high performance variant of the Nissan Skyline. Although the car is the sixth-generation model to bear the GT-R name, the model is no longer part of the Nissan Skyline model lineup since that name is now reserved for Nissan's luxury-sport vehicles. The GT-R shares the Nissan FM platform with the now separate Nissan Skyline luxury car and the Nissan Z-car sports car.

Between 1969 and 1974, and again between 1989 and 2002, Nissan produced a high performance version of its Skyline coupe called the Nissan Skyline GT-R. This car proved to be iconic for Nissan and achieved much fame and success on both road and track.

The GT-R is an entirely new model sharing little with the Skyline GT-R save its signature four round tail lights. Like some later generations of the Skyline GT-R, the GT-R has all-wheel drive with a twin-turbocharged 6-cylinder engine. But the four-wheel-steering HICAS system has been removed and the former straight-6 RB26DETT engine has been replaced with a new VR38DETT V6 engine. Because of the GT-R's heritage, the chassis code for the all-new version has been called CBA-R35, or R35 for short (where CBA stands for the emissions standard prefix), carrying on the naming trend from previous Skyline GT-R generations.

The GT-R has also retained its Skyline predecessor's nickname, Godzilla, originally given to it by the Australian motoring publication Wheels in its July 1989 edition.

The engines are hand built by only four specially trained mechanics called "Takumi Craftsmens" on a special line at Nissan's Yokohama plant and their names are badged on every GT-R engine. The cars are built at their Tochigi plant on a shared production line.

Nissan developed a 6-stage paint process with a double clear coat and chip-resistant paint for use in critical areas of the GT-R chassis. An optional liquid-effect finish employs a hand-polished 8-stage process with product-specific Super Silver metallic paint and three layers of clearcoat.

The Nissan GT-R is powered by the VR38DETT V6 engine, a 3,799 cc  DOHC V6 with plasma transferred wire arc sprayed cylinder bores. Two parallel Ishikawajima-Harima (IHI) turbochargers provide forced induction.

2007–2009         80 hp
2010–2011       485 hp
2012                      530 hp 
2013–2016       545 hp
2017–present  565 hp

Infiniti  is the luxury vehicle division of Japanese automaker Nissan. Infiniti officially started selling vehicles on November 8, 1989. The marketing network for Infiniti-branded vehicles included dealers in over 50 countries in the 2010s. As of 2020, there were 25 markets served by new car dealers. The main markets are North America and China (excluding Hong Kong and Macau).

In 2012, Infiniti moved its global headquarters from the Nissan corporate building in Yokohama and incorporated in Hong Kong as Infiniti Global Limited, with Carlos Ghosn intending for Infiniti to have a greater focus on the burgeoning luxury market in mainland China as it forecast the country to become the largest luxury car market. 

With its QX60 crossover (formerly known as JX35) Infiniti began to produce vehicles outside Japan. In 2014, it started producing two models in Xiangyang, China, a plant operated by Nissan's joint venture with Dongfeng Motor. At the same time, Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK expanded in Sunderland, England, to produce a new compact car named Q30 in 2015. In mid-2019, the Sunderland plant ceased assembly of Infiniti vehicles in the United Kingdom.

Most Infiniti models have direct equivalents in the Japanese domestic market Nissan lineup. The Infiniti marque was launched with two models, the Q45, and the M30 that were previously sold at Japanese Nissan Motor Store dealership networks.

In 2020, Infiniti relocated its headquarters from Hong Kong, China to Yokohama, Japan.

qx70

The Infiniti QX70, formerly called the Infiniti FX until 2013, is a mid-size luxury crossover SUV produced by the Nissan-owned Infiniti luxury vehicle brand between 2002 and 2017. The FX replaced the QX4 as Infiniti's mid-size SUV. It shares the same FM platform as the rear-wheel drive Nissan 370Z, and it "made no claims of climbing mountains." Rather, its aggressive shape promised style and quick handling. The similarly sized Nissan Murano is based on the same D platform as the front-wheel drive Nissan Altima. The FX does not have a Nissan-branded equivalent, and is not sold in Japan.

The nameplates FX35 and FX45 refer to the two available engines. The FX35 is available in two drivetrains, the RWD and the AWD, which are both fitted to a dual overhead cam 3.5-liter 24-valve V6 VQ35DE gasoline engine. The AWD FX45 incorporates a 4.5-liter 32-valve V8 DOHC VK45DE gasoline engine.

The FX introduced its second generation for the 2009 model year as the FX35 and FX50. The V6 model was still called FX35 with the VQ35HR V6, but the V8 model was renamed FX50 in recognition of its 5-liter engine, the newly developed VK50VE. The exterior retained some of the first generation's "Bionic Cheetah" look and "giant scarab" profile, while incorporating new styling cues. The interior was completely redesigned to bring the FX up to the level of luxury found inside of other Infiniti models like the G37 and EX35.

essence

The Infiniti Essence is a concept sports car designed by Infiniti to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Infiniti brand. The vehicle was unveiled at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show. The car is a hybrid electric vehicle and is among the first energy-efficient cars Infiniti has released.

The vehicle was designed by Infiniti design director Takashi Nakajima. Its external appearance is a modern interpretation of "coke bottle styling", a feature that was very popular during the 1960s and 1970s internationally. The interior design was initially conceived (Paul Ray) in the Nissan Design Europe studio based in Paddington, London. Following the interior concept being chosen it was then further developed and built in Japan.

The Essence concept is not expected to enter production, but elements from the car were planned to be incorporated into later Infiniti models.

It included a 3.7 L V6 gasoline engine with twin turbochargers rated 440 PS, an electric motor (called 3D Motor) rated 160 PS and 500 N⋅m, with a combined rating of 600 PS.

concept vision gran turismo

The Infiniti concept vision gran turismo is the 10th Vision Gran Turismo car made by Infiniti. It appears in Gran Turismo 6 (as part of Update 1.15) and Gran Turismo Sport.

The Infiniti concept vision gran turismo is a project that started as an ambitious global competition to “design a pure Infiniti GT car”, and the winning design was born from the inspiration of Infiniti Design Beijing. Part beautiful and part beast, its shape is powerful, sensual, and ambitious; a mix of track machine and the dream of our Chinese designer to create a seductive racing language for Infiniti.

The front mid-ship / trans-axle powertrain is a combination of 4.5L V8 N/A engine and 1 motor. In a low-speed area, the motor delivers overwhelming torque to the ferocious beast, and in a high-speed area, the V8 N/A engine delivers immense power with sensual exhaust note as though its top speed is unlimited. The trans-axle layout brings the finely distributed 45:55 front/rear mass balance that fills users with the joy of driving by actively drifting the rear.

Infiniti entered Formula One in 2011 as a sponsor of Red Bull Racing,  which was chosen due to by the already existing collaboration with the Renault-Nissan Alliance, with Renault Sport Racing supplying engines to Red Bull Racing. In 2011, Infiniti also signed Formula 1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel as its first global ambassador.

The establishment of Renault F1 Team in 2016 by the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance partner provided Infiniti with the opportunity to evolve its involvement in Formula One, collaborating on three main projects. Infiniti contributes engineering resources to Renault F1 Team for the co-development of the Power Unit's Energy Recovery System (ERS), including relocating several of their specialists to the Renault F1 Team's facilities in France. In addition, the Infiniti Engineering Academy provides for engineering students to collaborate with the Renault F1 Team. Infiniti and the Renault F1 team also collaborate on Project Black S, a road car that features an ERS inspired by the one used in Formula One.

red bull renault racing

renault rs19  2019

The Renault R.S.19 is a Formula One racing car designed and constructed by the Renault F1 Team to compete during the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship. The chassis was designed by Nick Chester, Chris Cooney, Martin Tolliday, Simon Virrill and Pete Machin with Marcin Budkowski overseeing the design and production of the car as executive technical director and Rémi Taffin leading the powertrain design. The car was driven by Nico Hülkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo. The car made its competitive debut at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix.