LILA - Jitsuyo Jidosha Seizo Co. Ltd.- Osaka Japan PRE-1933 DATSUN
This is a page of information about cars made by the various companies that came together to form the Nissan Motor Company in 1933
(1921 Model)

(1923 Model)

Lila JC

Lila cars were built by the Jitsuyo Jidosha Seizo company in Osaka. The JC model was powered by an air cooled 850cc 10hp 4cyl engine.

(1924 Model)

Lila JC

This is a four door version of the car above.

(1923 Model)

Lila Truck

Lila built this little truck in 1923. It too was powered by an air cooled 850cc 10hp 4cyl engine.

(1923 Model)

Lila Roadster

This was a roadster version of the Lila JC. It used the JC's chassis and 850cc 10hp 4cyl engine. 

(1920 Model)

Gorham 3 wheeler

The Gorham was designed by an American aircraft designer living in Japan, William R. Gorham. After a lack of success trying to build aircraft in Japan he designed this three wheeler. It was built by the Jitsuyo Jidosha Seizo company. It had a 880cc 7.2hp 2cyl engine. The prototype was built in 1918, production began in 1920.

(1922 Model)

Gorham 4 wheeler

The second Gorham was a four wheeler. It was built in 1922 and 1923. It continued to use the 880cc 7.2hp 2cyl engine used in the three wheeler. It's features included a rigid front axle, tiller steering and brakes on the rear wheels only. The car's name was later changed to Lila.

(1914 Model)

DAT  41
(1916 Model)

DAT 41

DAT was formed in 1912 by Mr. Den, Aoyama and Takeuchi, who named their creation after their initials. they were built by the Kwaishinsha Motor Car Works, which changed it's name in 1925 to DAT Automobile Works Ltd. The DAT 41 had a 2300cc 20hp 4cyl engine.

(1920 Model)

DAT truck chassis

DAT's primary buisness was trucks. Pictured left is a 1920 truck chassis. In 1926 , after merging with Lila, DAT stopped car production, making only trucks until car production began again in 1931. Lila cars were still available during this period.

(1931 Model)


In 1931 the cars were sold for a short time as Datson, later that year the name was changed to Datsun. The Datson Type 10 was powered by a 495cc 10hp 4cyl engine.

(1931 Model)

The Datson Type 11 was powered by a 495cc 10hp 4cyl engine.


DAT  radiator grille emblemDAT - Durable Attractive TrustworthyDAT carsDatson logo

Some company logos and emblems from 1921 to 1931

CUTIE FACT - An American Engineer at Nissan

William Gorham was an American born engineer who moved to Japan in 1918. Prior to his move to Japan he worked in his father's engineering business in the USA where he designed aircraft engines. He moved to Japan with the hope of setting up an aircraft engineering business there, but the economy of the country was not yet advanced enough to support it.
In 1919 he went to work for Jitsuyo-Jidosha-Seizou (now Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.) where he designed the 3 wheel Gorham Sanrinsha car. In the early 1930s plans were under way for the company to shift from hand building only a tiny number of cars each year and to start mass production of the Datson 10. To learn the techniques involved in mass production Gorham temporarily returned to the United States, where he received technical training at a Ford factory.
During his stay in the United States, he negotiated to buy the production line system and machinery from Graham Paige, an American car maker that had just closed down. He then supervised the re-asembly of the production line at Nissan's factory in Yokohama, Japan. 
In 1936 Gorham left Nissan and established a precision-machine manufacturing company called Kokusan-Seiki, and assumed the office of managing director. Gorham's company merged with  Hitachi, Ltd. 
In 1941, at the outbreak of War in Pacific, Gorham renounced his US citizenship to become a naturalized Japanese citizen to avoid deportation. He changed his name to Gorham Katsundo. During the Pacific War, he was engaged in the development of jet engines for Hitachi.
In 1945 after the end of World War II Gorham returned to Nissan as a company director, and was later promoted to managing director.


The fearsome Datsun "leaping bunny".

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