The Datsun 17T was introduced in April 1938.
It replaced the Datsun 15T, no Datsun 16T model was produced.
As Japan marched towards war the Japanese
military shifted production away from passenger cars and towards trucks
and commercial vehicles. The Datsun 17 sedan, that the 17T truck was based
on, only stayed in production for a year or so after the introduction of
the 17 range, but the 17T truck continued on until January 1944.
The Datsun 17T was little more than
a face-lifted version of the previous Datsun 15T, though not all the changes
were improvements. As the state of war escalated many raw materials were
becoming hard to find, including chrome. The 17T was much more austaire
than the previous model, with less chrome and a more spartan interior.
The most obvious change in the appearence of the 17T was to it's radiator
grille. The grille surround, which on the 15T was painted the same colour
as the body of the car, was largely unchanged, but on the Datsun 17T there
is now a wide vertical bar that travels from the top of the grille opening
to the bottom. This vertical bar is painted the same colour as the body.
The 15T had a vertical bar in the same location, but it was much narrower.
Much of the rest of the car remained
the same as the Datsun 15T. The 17T continued to use the same bonnet vent
arrangement as the Datsun 15T, and under the bonnet it continued to use
the same 722cc 4 cylinder 16hp Datsun Type 7 engine.
The design of the 17T was resurected
after the end of the war. The chassis and engine of the 17T was used as
the basis of the Datsun 1121 truck and the 2124 truck. In 1949 the 17T
went back into production, with a different grille, as the Datsun 3135
truck, and then in 1950 an almost identical version of the 17T, including
the grille, went into production as the Datsun 4146 truck. |
1938 Datsun
17T
Specifications
Length - 3187mm
Width - 1190mm
Height - unknown
Wheelbase - 2005mm
Weight - unknown
Top speed - 80kph
Transmission - Floor
change 3 speed |
Engine Specifications
Model - Type 7
Side Valve 4 Cylinder
Capacity - 722cc
Bore & Stroke 55x76mm
Power - 16hp@3600rpm
Torque- unknown
Compression - unknown
Carburettor - unknown
Final drive - unknown |
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