First Japaneses car to be sold new in Ireland

johnos1984

Does anyone know what the first Japanese car to be sold new in Ireland was.

I thought it was a Daihatsu which was imported in 1967/8 and came with reclining seats and a radio.

Could I be confused with Datsun or does anyone else have a suggestion.

Someone else claims it was Toyota which arrived in 1973 according to him.

Out of interest I'd just like to know now

Blue850

Daihatsu were the first Japanese car sold in the UK with the Compagno in 1965
The first cars mentined in Irish magazines are the Toyota Corolla or Datsun 1200 in 1973, both cars are listed in the January 73 price guide but with N. Ireland prices with none availabe yet for Republic of Ireland.
May 1973 covers the launch of the Datsun 1200 4 door, with the 100A (Cherry) expected in June and theres a photo of Alec Poole winning his class in the Easter 1973 Circuit of Ireland in a standard Datsun 1200 reg 4124 ZI He repeated the result in a Datsun 100A in the Donegal Rally in June.

johnos1984

It must of been the Sunday Times I read it in so

Thanks for all that though

carchaeologist

Can't beat the Riceburners....

Ballykine43

I'd be surprised if some Jap machines were not on sale south of the border before 1973. We were not too keen on them initially but my memory is that they went big time with you folk.

We got the Corona in 1965,as a fairly big and expensive car. Corolla came a few years later.

Datsun, which later became Nissan, arrived about 1967 with the 1000, which looked like a miniature Mk2 Cortina. They flew out of the sales rooms. And yes, they had everything..reclining seats, radio, heater as standard, carpets, screen washers...

About 1967 Honda also sold a tiny saloon, which went nowhere and a fabulous little sports car with a 800cc engine that redlined about 8,000 RPM and went on to 11,000.
Colt, as the only Mitsubishi model, arrived in the nid 70s and Mazda a few years later.

Daihatsu (then in Toyota ownership) was relaunched in the mid to late 70s. The originals may have been in the UK in small numbers but I never saw one.

carchaeologist

Has anyone a price list/comparison for mid '70s Toyota/Datsun/Ford?

Run_to_da_hills

My aunt up North bought a Datsun 1200 in 1975, It was a flyer of a car at the time compared to what was about at the time. It also came with a heap of accessories that were considered extras on other cars. It didn't take too long before the floor pan rotted out of it.

carchaeologist

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

It didn't take too long before the floor pan rotted out of it.

The main issue with all jap motors of the era. But then again, compared to england, there was very little thought given to looking after cars in this country.

In the pre NCT days there were some spectacular wrecks driving around.:D

Ballykine43

Jap cars quickly, and unfairly,got a reputation for being rust buckets. Virtually nothing in the way of underbody protection. Just like most of the European and GB stuff. Underbody protection was aftermarket. Ziebart was probably the best known of the franchises.
Winter salt didn't help much in the North, but there was precious little of it on Southern roads.

carchaeologist

Ballykine43 wrote: »

Jap cars quickly, and unfairly,got a reputation for being rust buckets.

Fiats were just as bad, and Fords not far behind them. Funny how nowadays virtually no cars gets scrapped because of rust issues. Imagine seeing a 1996 Mondeo with rotten sills, just doesnt happen! Wheras in 1996 a 1981 Cortina would have most likely have been hanging!

johnos1984

carchaeologist wrote: »

Fiats were just as bad, and Fords not far behind them. Funny how nowadays virtually no cars gets scrapped because of rust issues. Imagine seeing a 1996 Mondeo with rotten sills, just doesnt happen! Wheras in 1996 a 1981 Cortina would have most likely have been hanging!

I saw a 2005 transit this evening with the muddiest arches and sills I've seen in a long time. They were holed they were that bad.

There used to be a yellow 2002 Ka parked in UCD which had extremely bad rust, so much so I doubt it will pass its next nct

carchaeologist

johnos1984 wrote: »

I saw a 2005 transit this evening with the muddiest arches and sills I've seen in a long time. They were holed they were that bad.

Now i think of it, if you go out on the Marina in Dingle, theres a blue 2001 Transit always parked there that has a lot less sills now than when it was new. Salty sea air isnt good for it.

johnos1984

carchaeologist wrote: »

Now i think of it, if you go out on the Marina in Dingle, theres a blue 2001 Transit always parked there that has a lot less sills now than when it was new. Salty sea air isnt good for it.

I know Transits are generally poor underneath but this one had visible mud everywhere.

Although to be fair Fords seem to have the biggest issues but it is generally on models which have been imported from Britain

carchaeologist

johnos1984 wrote: »

Although to be fair Fords seem to have the biggest issues.....

....usually in the suspension dept, wearing tyres in odd ways in my experience in many differnt models. But im going off topic..:o

Max_Damage

johnos1984 wrote: »

I know Transits are generally poor underneath but this one had visible mud everywhere.

Although to be fair Fords seem to have the biggest issues but it is generally on models which have been imported from Britain

There is a '99 Transit up the road from me, and the sills and arches are fairly well gone with rust.

The rear arches and sills on my '95 Escort are starting to get a bit 'bubbly' too.

stapes

wonder was the ke10 corolla ever sold in ireland new????

kev1.3s

http://s582.photobucket.com/albums/ss263/KEV1-3S/abandoned%20classics/?action=view&current=Ke10andacclaim.jpg


Never officially imported afaik, this one was brought in at a later date.

carchaeologist

Yep, that's an 80s Dublin registration. Rare car!

Kevin_Herron

There used to be a little Honda S800 around, late sixties but reg 9747 ZD.

G Luxel

i remember seeing a Honda N360, looked like a Fiat Bambino 126, on irish plates.

alejandro1977

johnos1984 wrote: »

Does anyone know what the first Japanese car to be sold new in Ireland was.

I thought it was a Daihatsu which was imported in 1967/8 and came with reclining seats and a radio.

Could I be confused with Datsun or does anyone else have a suggestion.

Someone else claims it was Toyota which arrived in 1973 according to him.

Out of interest I'd just like to know now

Hornibrooks in Lismore (Toyota Main Dealers) had/have an old Corolla on display that was their first car sold

Hornibrooks of Lismore have over 50 years and three generations experience of the motor trade and have been the main Toyota Dealers for Waterford county since 1973

http://www.lismore-ireland.com/motoring.shtml

It used to feature in their logo - but I can't find a photo


I think it looked a bitlike this

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/573714/1973-toyota-corolla

G Luxel

The current logo on their dealer sticker is a 92 Camry....their previous logo was similiar in outline to a KE-20 coupe...