The Datsun Type 15 is a Phaeton / Roadster / Coupe / Sedan / Van from Datsun, built from 1936, when streamlining and independent suspension were arriving together. Under the bonnet: 722 cc Type 7 I4.
The background
The Datsun Type 15 was a small car produced in Japan from 1936 to 1937. Derived from the Datsun Type 14, it succeeded the earlier vehicle in production in 1936. It was larger than its predecessor but had less chrome detail due to shortages caused by the conflict in Manchuria. It had a 16 PS (12 kW) side valve engine and was offered in several body styles. The front recalled American designs of the time, but on a smaller scale.
The engineering
Power comes from 722 cc Type 7 I4. It shifts 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.
Where it sits
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Datsun Type 14; its successor was the Datsun Type 16; assembly was at Yokohama, Japan. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Chevrolet Suburban, the Bugatti Type 57, the Volkswagen Beetle — show what else the money bought that year. Its Datsun stablemates include the 280Zx and the 310.
What it costs now
There is no federal ownership record for the Datsun Type 15 — 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.