Start with what the Datsun DB Series is: a 2-door sedan with 722 , built from 1948 to 1954, in a decade split by war, when civilian production stopped and restarted. What it meant takes a little longer.
Where it came from
The Datsun DB series was introduced in 1948 as a more modern, ponton-bodied complement to the Datsun DA. It was based on pre-war Datsun designs, themselves closely based on the Austin Seven. A lower-cost range with the same underpinnings, called the DS series, took over from the DA and was sold in parallel. The cars shared their chassis with the contemporary small Datsun trucks, which sold in considerably larger numbers.
Under the skin
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 2005 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
In the Datsun line-up the Datsun DB Series has a clear place: it replaced the Datsun DB; it handed the line to the Datsun 110. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Citroën 2CV, the Porsche 356, the Chevrolet Bel Air. Nearby in the Datsun catalogue sit the 280Zx and the 310.
Owning one today
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Datsun DB Series has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.