Start with what the Datsun Type 16 is: a Phaeton body / Phaeton / Roadster (car) / Roadster / Coupe / Sedan (automobile) / Sedan with 722 cc Type 7 I4, built from 1937 to 1938, when streamlining and independent suspension were arriving together. What it meant takes a little longer.
Where it came from
The Datsun Type 16 was a small car produced by Datsun in Japan in 1937 and 1938. It had a 16 PS (12 kW) side valve engine and was offered in several body styles.
Under the skin
The engine is 722 cc Type 7 I4. On the scales it comes to 610 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 Type 16 has a clear place: it replaced the Datsun Type 15; it handed the line to the Datsun Type 17; the factory was Yokohama, Japan. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Volkswagen Beetle, the Lincoln Continental, the Chevrolet Suburban. 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 Type 16 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.