Nissan has restored a Datsun Baby miniature car, one of 100 specially-built small children’s cars that were donated by Nissan in 1964-1965 to the Kodomo no Kuni (Children’s Land) park, located near Tokyo.
The restored Datsun Baby will be displayed together with a special photo exhibit at Nissan’s global headquarters in Yokohama in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 1965 opening of the popular park for children. The miniature car is the last one made (no. 100) and has been carefully preserved inside the park grounds. The small vehicle will be on display for one month beginning on March 28.
Designed and developed specifically for Kodomo no Kuni, the Datsun Baby was used to educate children about real-life traffic conditions and safe motoring. Based on the Cony Guppy, a 200cc two-passenger utility truck from Aichi Machine Industry Co, the vehicle was specially redesigned by Nissan. The idea behind it was for children to be able to sample a full-scale, fully-structured vehicle unlike any other of that time.
The Datsun Baby had all the features of a real-life car, starting with the design which incorporated design cues from the sports cars of the era. It was equipped with a racecar-like 4-wheel independent suspension system with a double wishbone setup up front, an automatic transmission with a torque converter, headlamps that complied with the real traffic regulations of that time and a spring-actuated self-turning feature on the steering wheel. Top speed was limited at 30 km/h (18.6 mph).
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