In 1969 Datsun introduces the "Z" as a 1970 model. By offering European performance, plus creature comforts like roll-up windows and a heater - all at an affordable price - the 240Z becomes the best-selling sports car in the world. The Corvette took nearly twenty-five years to sell 500,000 units; the Z does it in fewer than ten.
             How did this company pull off such an automotive victory? Well, we must first look at the history of Datsun/Nissan in order to understand the over-all concepts behind the "Z" Car.
             In 1912 a young man by the name of Masujiro Hashimoto founded the Kwaishinsha Motor Car Company, and produced an crappy little box called the DAT. Each letter of DAT was the first initial of a man's family name, "D" was for Kenjoro Den, "A" was for Rokuro Aoyama, and the "T" was for Meitaro Takeuchi. These three men financed Hashimoto when he started his automobile manufacturing company, and the DAT name was given to the cars produced to honor the financial providers.
             In 1930 a reorganization took place and the directors decided a new name was needed for their cars; the name "Datson" was chosen, being "the son of DAT". The spelling of the name was later changed to Datsun.
             Once again the Datsun Company was bought out. Funding for the new firm came from a holding company named Nihon Sagyo. That holding company was already known to the financial community as "Ni-San", its stock exchange listing letters. In May of 1934 the name of the now independent auto company, was changed to NISSAN Motor Company Limited.
             Throughout the mergers and acquisitions the name of the car remained Datsun. One of the major benefits that the merger with Nihon Sagyo yielded was the fact that they brought with them needed cash flow, derived from contracts with Ford and Chevrolet for the production of spare parts.
             In 1957 a young marketing manager by the name of Yutaka Katayama convinced NISSAN Corporate Management that a racing or compe...