Early Japanese Motor Vehicles

ARLY APANESE OTOR EHICLES

1907 Takuri Left: The first domestic made petrolpowered Japanese car was the Yoshida Takuri. The car was built in 1907 by Automobile Shokai, owned by Shinataro Yoshida. Shinataro Yoshida was at that time also president of the Sorinshokai bicycle factory in Tokyo, and travelled often to the US for importing bicycle parts.

Right: After the modest success of the Takuri, another pioneer, Masujiro Hashimoto, founded in 1911 in Tokyo an automobile factory called Kwaishinsha Co., that we know today as the Nissan Motor Company. Hashimoto completed after three struggling years in 1914 his first car, called the DAT car. The name DAT car was derived from the last names of the major investors of Hashimoto: Den, Aoyama and Takeuchi.

1914 DAT car

The company became initially known as Datsun, which became later Nissan. Until the 30s Datsun was not able to produce cars in large numbers. Because of this, most cars in Japan were imported. Only the richest were able to afford their own car.

Right: A new company, Hakuyosha Ironworks, tried to fill the gap in 1924 with the introduction of the Otomo, with the first full scale production of cars in Japan. Hakuyosha produced 230 Otomos between 1924 and 1927. Hakuyosha Ironworks never established itself as a lasting car producer in Japan.

The Otomo - 1924

Right: The Mitsubishi Model A is the only car built by the Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Company, a member of the Mitsubishi corporate group which would eventually evolve into Mitsubishi Motors, and the first series production automobile manufactured in Japan. It was the brainchild of Koyata Iwasaki, Mitsubishi's fourth president and the nephew of founder Yataro Iwasaki, who foresaw the vast potential of motorized vehicles and the role they would play in the economic development of Japan.

1917 Mitsubishi Model A Envisioned as a luxury vehicle for high echelon government officials and top executives, the Model A had to be reliable, comfortable, and a showcase of Japanese craftsmanship. Based on the Fiat Tipo 3, it was a four-door seven-seat sedan using a town car body style powered by a front-mounted 26 kW (35 hp) 2.8-litre straight-4 engine driving the rear wheels, and was capable of speeds up to 60 miles per hour (97 km/h). 22 were built at the company's Kobe shipyard, including prototypes, between 1917 and 1921. Because it was expensive to produce (it was built entirely by hand, with the interior rear compartment furnished with lacquered white cypress) it could not compete with cheaper American and European competition, and Mitsubishi halted production after four years. Concentrating instead on its successful Fuso commercial vehicles, the Model A would be the company's last passenger car until the Mitsubishi 500 of 1960.

1937 Mitsubishi PX33

Left: The Mitsubishi PX33 is a prototype passenger car built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the company which would eventually sire Mitsubishi Motors. Commissioned for military use by the Japanese government in 1934, it was the first Japanese-built sedan to have full-time fourwheel drive. Four working prototypes were built, and a version was in development using Mitsubishi's 6.7 litre, 70 PS (51kW; 69 hp) powerplant, Japan's first direct injection diesel engine. However, the entire PX33 project was cancelled in 1937 after the government decided to prioritize Mitsubishi's manufacturing capabilities on commercial development of trucks and buses. In 1937, another Japanese company Tokyu Kurogane Kogyo began production of a smaller four-wheel drive car called the Kurogane Type 95.