Yutaka Katayama, Mr. K, if you will, and often hailed as the “Father of the Z Car,” was born Yutaka Asoh on September 15, 1909, in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. He was born into a relatively wealthy family that allowed him to travel often. However, despite being richy-rich, the kid had to work. By age 20, he had became a ship’s clerk, a job he’d hold prior to entering college. On one such voyage in the late 1920s took him to right here where this crew happens to be, the Pacific Northwest. After carrying a cargo of silk to Vancouver, his ship ferried a handful of passengers to Seattle. By several accounts, it was here in the great PNW that Katayama truly experienced the pleasure, power and awe of the automobile for the first time.
He returned to Japan with a new fascination and entered Keio University. Upon graduating in 1935, he landed a job with Nissan, which was only organized the year before. To put it briefly, a Japanese company called DAT started building cars in 1914, but by the early 1930s it had been acquired by a holding company called Nihon Sangyo which was abbreviated as Nissan on the stock market. After the founder acquired what had become of DAT, he reorganized it in 1934 as Nissan Motor Co. Confused yet? Great. Back to our hero.
Starting at Nissan
So Mr. K starts working at Nissan in 1935, the same year they started building cars. His initial role was in the Administration Department, where he handled publicity and advertising. If you recall, he was born Yutaka Asoh. Well, in 1937, he married and takes his wife’s last name since her family had no sons and someone you have to ensure the name lives on, so now he’s Yutaka Katayama and the stage is set.
In another “act of defiance” he refused multiple orders during WWII which he says would have surely sent him to his death. Alas, he survived and continued to lead Nissan’s advertising efforts. Couldn’t find the year on this, but he is cited as one of the first to make a color film of a Datsun on Japanese roads and later filmed motor sport races. Speed was very important to Yutaka, as by the end of the 1950s he’d become the Nissan racing manager. In 1958, his efforts saw two Datsun 210s win their class in the grueling Mobilgas Around Australia Trial, a 10,000-mile rally across Australian Outback. On the heels of that victory, Nissan would begin global exports.
First Tokyo Auto Show
So Mr. K rises through the ranks, wins races, helps organize the first Tokyo Auto Show in 1954 and then gets sent to the US in 1960 dubbed the president of Nissan Motor Company U.S.A. to begin building a dealer network in the states using the Datsun trade name. How? Apparently by talking many used car dealers into selling the unknown automaker’s products. It worked.
By 1967 the Datsun 510 began to hit the shorts of the United States and the brand grabbed a piece, albeit small, of auto sales from domestic brands. Speed came back into play about then when Mr. K dreamed up a parts bin special. In 1970 the Fairlady Z hit the market, but Yutaka couldn’t see the name appealing to American buyers. He rechristened in the states as the 240Z. The 510 based car became Nissan’s first official sports car.
Retirement
He would oversee Nissan/Datsun in the US until 1977 when he retired. However, he continued to give his two cents about the auto industry for years and years, especially in relation to Nissan. On his 100th birthday he called out Nissan, saying the Miata was taking the place of the 240Z, as the 370Z was too heavy and pricey. “The fun of driving cars is the same as riding a horse. We need a car that is like riding on horseback.”
Yutaka Katayama lived another five years, passing away at 105 in Tokyo, but not before earning spots in all of the Halls of Fames, including those in Japan and Detroit.
