Nissan · 1955–2007

Nissan Bluebird

The Nissan Bluebird (Japanese: 日産・ブルーバード, Hepburn: Nissan Burūbādo) is a compact car produced between 1955 and 2007 with a model name introduced in 1957. It was Nissan's most internationally recognized sedan, known for its dependability and durability in multiple body styles. 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 the 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.

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Export and foreign-built model names

Export versions were originally sold as "Datsun" followed by the engine displacement in cubic centimetres, (Datsun 1000, Datsun 1300 and so on) but were also variously sold as the Datsun 510, Datsun 180B (also in 160B and 200B versions depending on engine fitment) and the Datsun Bluebird. The Nissan Bluebird nameplate began appearing in export markets around 1982 as the Datsun marque was phased out in favour of Nissan. From 1981 to 1985, Australia followed the Japanese convention by calling its car the Bluebird, and had a unique, facelifted rear-wheel-drive version for 1984 and 1985. That car was replaced in 1986 by the Nissan Pintara. It would be replaced by the successive Bluebird, also called Pintara, until 1992; then the range was brought in line with the Japanese model, for the U13 series from 1993 to 1997. In an unusual twist, brought about under the short lived Button Plan, the Pintara was also rebadged for Ford Australia as the Ford Corsair – reviving a Ford UK nameplate last used in the 1960s. In the United States, the Bluebird was initially sold as a Datsun, named by engine size, until the introduction of the 510 which was sold by the internal model code. By the 1980s, the Bluebird was sold as the Nissan Stanza in the US. In 1992, the next generation Bluebird became the Nissan Altima. This was the last car from the Bluebird line to be sold in North America; in 1998, the Altima was completely redesigned, becoming a separate model, unique to the North American market. A six-cylinder version called the Maxima (originally the Datsun 810) was released in the 1980s and became a separate model. The Bluebird sold in Europe between 1986 and 1990 was in fact a rebadged Nissan Auster — this was replaced by the Primera in Nissan's European line-up in 1990.

Historic vehicles

The DAT corporation had been producing cars since 1914, but through the 1920s, much of their profitability depended on government subsidies of their large trucks. A 1930 ministerial ordinance by the Japanese government declared that drivers' licenses would not be required for cars with engines up to 500 cc displacement, and that the purchase of these vehicles would be taxed at a lower rate. DAT began to produce a small car for this market. The new car was called "Datson"(i.e. "Son of DAT") and later "Datsun" to distinguish it from the full-sized trucks and cars the company had produced in the past. Datsun Type 10–17. ==== Type 10 ==== In 1929, DAT built a small-car prototype called the DAT 91. They ended up marketing this model as the DATSON Type 10 ("son of DAT"), since it was a shrunken version of the earlier 31. "DAT" was now a backronym for Durable, Attractive, and Trustworthy. The car fit into a new category of small cars, limited to half a litre's displacement. The production version was powered by DAT's own four-cylinder, side-valve engine of 495 cc. It (and the inauspicious "DATSON" name, with "son" being close to 損, the Japanese word for "loss") was replaced by the Datsun Type 11 in 1932. Types 11–14. The 1932 Datsun Type 11 was a small car with a 495 cc, 10 HP side valve engine and a three speed transmission. It was offered in several body styles; DAT/Nissan sold 150 of the Type 11 in 1932. The Type 11 was only produced during the year 1932, as changes in the law allowed Nissan to sell a new model with a larger engine in 1933. The Datsun Type 11 had the same engine displacement and external dimensions as an Austin Seven, and information about the British car was widely available within Japan. In October and November 1929, the chief engineer of Austin presente

110 series

In 1955 Nissan revamped its passenger car products, began with the Datsun Sedan 110 series. It was introduced to Japan within a month of the introduction of the Toyota Crown RS series, and was smaller than the Prince Sedan introduced earlier in 1952 and the Subaru 1500 introduced in 1955. Sedans built in Japan during the 1950s were mostly intended to serve as taxis, and introduced mass production techniques, as opposed to earlier vehicles made using a slower hand-made process. The design, by Nissan's head of design Shozo Sato, won the Mainichi Shimbun's 1956 prize for Industrial Design. This sedan was designed to be compliant with the Japanese Government's dimension regulations passed in 1950. The engine displacement was kept below the 1000 cc designation to reduce the annual road tax obligation, but more importantly, the engine displaced less than 910 cc as this was the upper limit for small taxis. Nissan did have an engineering relationship with the Austin Motor Company. The Datsun 110 series used the Nissan D10 type engine based on an original (albeit Austin 7 inspired) design from before World War II. The engine is a water-cooled inline-four cylinder with two crankshaft bearings, side intake and exhaust valves, a displacement of 860 cc and with 25 PS (18 kW) at 4000 rpm. Aside from not using the name, the A110 is the direct forerunner of the modern Bluebird line. Incremental changes were denoted by 112 and 113 codes – the 111 designation was skipped. The last model, introduced in June 1956, received an all-new, developed in-house gearbox. The earlier 110 and 112 had been using the four-speed, floor-mounted transmission from the Austin A40 Somerset (then built under license by Nissan), but the new 113 received a column-shifted four-speed unit which narrowly allowed s

210/211 series

Although Nissan's own materials indicate that the Bluebird name emerged in 1959, some records show that the name first adorned a 988 cc (60.3 cu in), 34 PS (25 kW) four-door sedan in 1957, which was part of the company's 110/210 series. Its engine was based on an Austin design, as Nissan had been building the Austin A50 Cambridge under licence in the 1950s. The 210 was known for doubling Nissan's production at the time and was the first Nissan to be exported to the United States. In some markets, this model was exported as the Datsun 1000. It was the first passenger car to be built in Taiwan, by the fledgling Yue Loong works, as the 1960 YLN 701 Bluebird. The 210 established an early reputation for reliability, with two of them winning the 1000 cc class in the 1958 Australia Mobilgas Rally, competing against the first generation Toyota Crown. The 210 had succeeded the similar 110 series, which had been on sale since two years earlier. The Datsun 114 was introduced in October 1957 as a low cost option to the 210, mainly intended for taxi use. The 114 used the 210's body except for the grille and exterior trim, combined with the old 25 PS "D10" engine to stay beneath the 910 cc limit imposed by the government on small taxis. Nissan did consider manufacturing a 908 cc version of the new C engine but in the end chose to keep the old sidevalve unit in production instead. The 114 was succeeded by the Datsun 115, a corresponding lower specification version of the updated 211, which was similar to the 114/210 with the exception of a bigger rear window and slightly redesigned front turn signals. Thanks to some improvements, the 115's engine now produced 27 PS (20 kW) and it was called the "B-1" engine to reflect its new overhead valve architecture. Small engine displacements al

310/311/312 series

The Datsun Bluebird which debuted in August 1959 was an all-new car, and was available in Japan at the dealership sales channel Nissan Store. The 310 family was built from 1960 to 1963. There were three models built: 310 (1960), 311 (October 1960), and 312 (August 1961 – 1963). In Taiwan it also replaced the 701 and was known as Yue Loong Bluebird 704. The Datsun 312 was also assembled in Korea. The 310 series was also built in South Africa at a factory in Rosslyn Pretoria in CKD form during 1962 and 1963. The model was also sold in New Zealand and was one of the first Japanese models available there, beginning in May 1962. In October 1959, two months after introduction, a five-seater model was introduced - Japan's first post-war, five-seater automobile. In July 1960, a five-door station wagon was added (WP310), the first station wagon to enter series production in Japan. The P310 was powered by the overhead valve 1.2-litre Nissan E engine. A smaller-engine version (simply called "310") was powered by the 1.0 L Nissan C engine. The P311 and P312 (powered by the 55 hp 1.2 L Nissan E-1 engine) also had smaller-engined versions ("311" and "312") that were powered by the 45 hp 1.0 L Nissan C-1 engine. The 310 family were all equipped with a 3-speed manual transmission (fully synchronized for the 311 and 312). The station wagon was also available for the 311 and 312, although a three-speed automatic was added to the lineup in April 1962, near the end of the 310's run. The 312 was also available in a deluxe version (DP312). A trim model called the "Fancy Deluxe" (model code DP311-L) was marketed for the female driver; it featured a pale yellow exterior, pale yellow/grey interior, high heel shoe holder under the dash, a vanity mirror on the back of the driver's side sun visor,

410/411 series

In September 1963, Nissan brought the Bluebird up-to-date with boxier styling (by Pininfarina), resembling European designs, particularly the Lancia Fulvia. The 410 was built from 1964 to 1967. The lineup included five models: the 1200 Standard, 1200 Deluxe, Fancy Deluxe, and 1200 Wagon, equipped with the 1.2 L E-type engine, and a lower model equipped with the 1.0 L C-type engine. This generation Bluebird was introduced in time for the 1964 Summer Olympics as Nissan wanted to offer an all new, modern appearance in time for the games. The 410 Bluebird was Nissan's first car of a full unibody design. Two basic models were built: 410 (1963–1966) with a combination rear lamp set consisting of round and rectangular lenses, and 411 (1966–1967), which featured the same combination rear lamp set as the earlier 410 through 1966, changing to higher mounted rectangular tail light sets for 1967. On both, the rear direction indicators were red or amber, according to market – New Zealand, which allows either, took the 410 with both and the 411 with red only. This Bluebird was one of the first Japanese car lines assembled in New Zealand, initially imported under a tariff/duty arrangement allowing 300 cars a year (the so-called '300 Club') with CKD kits built up by Motor Holdings at Mount Wellington in Auckland. The 410 series sedan and station wagon plus a light delivery van was assembled in South Africa at a factory in Rosslyn Pretoria. These cars were all in CKD format. The 410 Bluebird was the first Nissan to be produced outside Japan, as part of the brand's global expansion. Approximately 10,510 units were produced as CKD kits built at CIVAC plant in Cuernavaca, Mexico. A sporting model, the Bluebird SS, was launched in Japan in March 1964, with a tuned 1.2 L engine. The SS was o

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Specifications

name: Nissan Bluebird
Manufacturer: Nissan
Production: 1955–2001 (until 2007 in China)
Class: Compact car
Body style: 4-door sedan, 4-door hardtop sedan, 2-door coupé, 5-door station wagon
Layout: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive (1955–1983), Front-engine, front-wheel-drive (1983–2007), Front-engine, four-wheel-drive (1991–2001)
Successor: Nissan Sylphy

Specification summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Check the linked sources for citations.

More photos

Sources

Wikidata — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7040918CC0 1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-01
Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_BluebirdCC BY-SA 4.0 · Text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1376281378 · retrieved 2026-10-01
Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1998_Nissan_Bluebird_01.jpgPublic domain · Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Ilya p assumed (based on copyright claims). · retrieved 2026-10-01
Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.