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Nissan’s Auto Museum: the Ginza Gallery

It is widely known that Nissan is in the auto industry a long time and through the years, Nissan has introduced some of the most memorable auto models. These vehicles are now being showcased at the company’s auto museum in Tokyo.

The Ginza Gallery as it is called is located right in the middle of Tokyo’s shopping and business district. It combines the heritage of Nissan and the new auto models in its showroom. Unlike many auto museums, the Ginza Gallery is open to the public and is conveniently located in front of Nissan’s headquarters in the said city.

One of the vehicles on the gallery is the Nissan X-Trail - the compact crossover SUV that Nissan sells in the United States auto market. Its presence at the museum is proof that the gallery not only displays classic cars but also the new vehicles that Nissan produces. The X-Trail’s direct competitors are the Toyota RAV4 and the Honda CR-V. The X-Trail is assembled at Nissan’s facility in the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, and Taiwan.

A classic Nissan car displayed at the museum is the Fairlady. The roadster is considered as one of the best looking convertibles of its time. The Fairlady is the direct ancestor of the Z car which Nissan is known for. It was first produced by the car manufacturer in 1959 and was discontinued in 1970. Throughout its stint in the market, Nissan produced 40,000 units of the roadster. The Fairlady badge though is not used in other markets. Instead, it was marketed under the Datsun Sports name. The popularity of the Fairlady is due to the fact that they are a cheaper alternative to European sports cars.

Another classic Nissan car at the Ginza gallery is the 2000 GTX. The Skyline 2000 GTX benefited from the success of the Fairlady in the sense that the capability of the company to produce high performance vehicles is already made known to the car buying public. The 2000 GTX is rated to have a top speed of 120 miles per hour. The reputation and the power of the 2000 GTX made it a big success since like the Fairlady, it is competitively priced. In fact, the 2000 GTX is used by celebrity racing enthusiasts.

Another classic model showcased at Nissan’s auto museum is the Nissan Silvia introduced in 1964. The sport coupe debuted at the Tokyo Motor Show that year and is known to be hand-built and based on the Fairlady. The fact that every Nissan Silvia was hand-built made the coupe an expensive one. From 1964 to 1968 when production was discontinued, there were 554 units of this car that was produced. Most of these cars were sold in Japan while 49 units where exported to Australia and ten more were sent to other parts of the world.

While production for the vehicle was discontinued in 1968, the Silvia will return once again to Nissan’s lineup in 1974 and was once again discontinued in 2002. In its first stint in the market, the Silvia did not attract much attention from car buyers, but in its revival in the 1970s, its popularity took off giving Nissan’s S chassis its place in the annals of the auto industry.

Another classic car displayed at the museum is the Datsun Cherry. The car family is the first Nissan vehicle to use a front-wheel drive configuration. The subcompact car is later named as the Nissan Pulsar although in some markets, it is still called the Cherry. Like its contemporaries in Datsun’s lineup, it is also engineered to be a fast car. In fact, a coupe version of the Cherry made appearances in the Japanese race circuit in the early 1970s.

Another classic model in display at the museum is the Nissan Laurel which was introduced by the company in 1968. It was intended to fill the gap between the Bluebird and the Nissan Cedric during that time. The Laurel is only marketed in select Asian and European car markets. Through its stint in Nissan’s lineup, the Laurel underwent ten generation of redesigns. Unlike the Cherry, the Laurel used the rear-wheel drive configuration.

The last vehicle on display at the museum is the Nissan Cedric. The Cedric was first introduced in 1960 and remains in Nissan’s lineup to this day making it one of Nissan’s longest running models. The Cedric is a large luxury car and is easily recognizable as a Nissan car. Its present model uses the same design concepts used by other Nissan cars from the nose, fender, Nissan door handles, and rear bumper.

About the Author

Ryan Thomas is a native of Denver, Colorado. He grew up in a family of car aficionados. He now resides in Detroit where he owns a service shop and works part time as a consultant for a local automotive magazine.

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