Start with what the Datsun DA is: a 2-door sedan with 722 , built from 1947 to 1950, in a decade split by war, when civilian production stopped and restarted. What it meant takes a little longer.
The background
The Datsun DA was a small automobile produced by Nissan and sold under the Datsun brand as Nissan's first post-war passenger car. The DA was introduced in November 1947, a direct result of the occupying Allied command once again allowing production of passenger cars. As the tooling for the pre-war Datsun Type 17 was no longer available, the DA was based on the Datsun 1121 truck (which itself was based on the pre-war 17T truck); it used the 722 cc Type 7 side valve engine from the 17T as well as its floor-shifted 3-speed manual transmission and front clip, including a pressed steel grille and nearly no brightwork.
Datsun also offered the Deluxe Sedan (DB) with more modern ponton bodywork alongside the lower cost DA Standard Sedan. The DA had a simple pressed metal grille when first introduced; by 1949 this had been replaced by a more ornate chromed unit. The DA also received a redesigned, less boxy rear section in 1948. The DA was in production until 1950 when it was replaced by the Datsun DS Series (later also marketed as the "Thrift").
The engineering
The engine is 722 . On the scales it comes to 520 kg. Drive goes through a 3-speed manual. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 2006 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Where it sits
In the Datsun line-up the Datsun DA has a clear place: it replaced the Datsun Type 17; it handed the line to the Datsun DS series; the factory was Yokohama, Japan. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Porsche 356, the Citroën 2CV, the Chevrolet Bel Air. Its Datsun stablemates include the 280Zx and the 310.
Owning one today
There is no federal ownership record for the Datsun DA — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.