Father of Z

Yutaka Katayama, a former president of Nissan Motor Co.'s U.S. unit who designed the Z sports automotive into a powerful world complete in the 1970s, has died, his son said saturday. He was 105.
Known as the "father of the Z," Katayama won international respect for the Datsun Z as an inexpensive sports automotive at a time once Japan-made product were substitutable with slipshod quality.

Katayama, who retired from Nissan in 1977, died Thursday of failure at a tokyo hospital, his son Mitsuo same.
Carlos Ghosn, who has led a turnaround at the japanese manufacturer under an alliance with Renault sa of France, resurrected Katayama's legendary standing at Nissan by transportation back the Z, that had been out of print in 1996.
Inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in each the U.S. and Japan, Katayama is revered by Z fan clubs round the world, that nicknamed him "Mr. K."
"A automotive could be a horse. i need to drive a thoroughbred that is in tune with my heartbeat, however not one thing that is too dressed up for somebody like me," Katayama told The Associated Press during a 2002 interview concerning the Z's comeback.
In commercialism the Datsun complete within the U.S., Katayama stressed maintenance services, and courted dealers and workers alike. His spirited temperament, uncommon for a Japanese person of his generation, helped.
He made one in every of the primary color films of a Datsun, innovating visual storytelling for selling, one thing taken for granted in the automobile business nowadays. READ MORE