Datsun 17T Truck

1938 17T Model

The Datsun 17T was introduced in April 1938. It replaced the Datsun 15T, no Datsun 16T model was produced.  

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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.

Model Variations

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Datsun 17T Truck

 The truck version.  

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Datsun 17 Sedan

The 17T truck was based on the 17 sedan.

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Datsun 17 Van

The 17 Van was based on the 17 Sedan.

1938 Datsun 17T Specifications

Length - 3187mm
Width - 1190mm
Height - 1550mm
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 55x79mm
Power - 16hp@3600rpm
Torque- unknown
Compression - unknown
Carburettor - unknown 
Final drive - unknown

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