Driving Sports

Yutaka Katayama is the man who took Nissan/Datsun from a xenophobic second-tier Japanese domestic automaker to an international powerhouse - and he did it by proving the value of the product in motor sports, then selling great cars at affordable prices without a lot of useless drama. He's renowned for his affection for people and his enduring passion for cars.

This week, Auto Extremist has a comment about Yutaka Katayama's interview in Automotive News, and we agree that Katayama-san is still on the ball at age 100. To us, the Datsun brand was all about racing and affordable sports cars. The Nissan brand - not so much. Bring back Datsun and give us a modern-day 510 and 240Z!

Here's just some of what the Extremist had to say:

If it wasn't for Mr. K, Nissan would be nowhere in this country. He was responsible for the 510 and the original 240Z, the two best cars the Japanese manufacturer has ever sold over here. Mr. K knocked the current 370Z in the interview, saying, "First, it's very heavy, and it's also very expensive. I'd like to have a sports car like the Miata. The Miata is taking the place of the 240Z." ... Oh, and one more thing? Mr. K wants the Datsun name put back on the cars sold here in the U.S. A concept we agree with wholeheartedly. It's got more punch, and "We are Driven" was one of the most effective automotive taglines ever.

We couldn't have said it better ourselves...