|
By
DAVID PIKE
Not long after releasing the Datsun 240Z sports car, the Japanese Datsun
company was busy designing a supermini; the 100A Cherry. This car was
announced about the same time as Fiat released its 127 and as it turned
out the specifications were very similar.
History shows that Fiat is generally given credit
for starting the supermini trend, the Datsun Cherry provided
strong evidence of the correctness of the theme. In fact, the
Nissan design team got the design right first time.
Their designer's brief specified space and
performance parameters from which the Nissan design team soon
realised that by following the lead set by the Morris Mini in
using a transverse engine and front-wheel drive, could not only be
met but also would produce a car that was lighter and smaller, and
therefore cheaper and more economical.
In their home country the Cherry was not a
spectacular sales success, but elsewhere and, especially in
Europe, it was another matter.
The Cherry was powered by a well-tried engine with
pushrod-operated overhead valves developing 44 kW. The
transmission was arranged in a similar way to the Morris Mini,
with the four-speed manual gearbox in the engine sump, the
differential immediately behind and equal-length drive shafts.
When designing the suspension the Nissan engineers hedged their
bets somewhat by using MacPherson struts at the front in the same
way as Fiat but employed trailing arms at the rear as used in the
Mini.
Rack and pinion steering was adopted, unusual for
Japanese cars at that time. The two door saloon body on the Cherry
was exactly the same length as the Fiat 127 at 2.34 metres and
just 50 mm narrower. It weighed in at 68 kg less than the Fiat and
only 23 kg more than the Mini. Another compromise was the wheel
size selection. The 12-inch Cherry wheels were smaller than the
Fiat's, but bigger than those on the Mini. As radial-ply tyres
hadn't reached Japan at this stage cross-ply tyres were standard.
Cherry had a maximum speed of 140km/h.
As is common in the automotive industry, the
Datsun Cherry was steadily developed and, in the process, became
bigger and heavier as well as more technically advanced. In the
process an overhead camshaft engine was eventually adopted and the
original flawed transmission-in-the-sump arrangement was replaced
by the one pioneered by Fiat.
|
