If you only have one day for Nissan history in Japan, spend it in Zama. Inside the company's plant there, south-west of Tokyo, Nissan keeps its heritage collection: row after row of cars, from the 1930s to the 2010s, most of them still running. We walked the whole hall, and the full 38-minute tour is in the video above.
What it is
The Nissan Heritage Collection lives inside Nissan's Zama facility in Kanagawa. Around 300 cars are on display, out of a collection that runs past 400 when you count the cars in storage and under repair, and a large share of them are kept drivable. Tours are free, but you must apply online in advance; the number of visitors per day is limited, and tours run in Japanese.
Sources: Wikipedia: Nissan Heritage Collection, Jalopnik and Nissan Heritage Collection (official).
The road cars
The tour starts at the very beginning: pre-war Datsuns, an early Datsun truck, and the small saloons that put Japan on wheels. Then comes the Prince section. Prince Motor Company merged into Nissan in 1966, and with it came the Skyline. Walk on and the decades fly past: Bluebirds, Laurels, Cedrics, the Kenmeri Skyline, a run of Fairlady Zs, Silvias, and a line of Skyline GT-Rs from the R32 to the R34.
The race cars
The far side of the hall is where people stop talking. Rally Bluebirds and Zs, Shell-liveried Skyline racers, the famous blue Calsonic Skyline GT-R #12 from Group A, Nissan's Group C prototypes in their blue, white and red, and GT-R race cars from Super GT and GT3. The collection also holds the Prince R380 and the R390 GT1 Le Mans car.
Tips if you go
- Book early: tours are by online application, with limited places.
- Allow about 80 minutes for the tour itself.
- Bring a wide lens: the cars are parked close together.
Why it matters
Most brands keep their history in a brochure. Nissan keeps it in a working building, and lets the public walk through it for free. If you're a Skyline person, start with our Nissan Skylines in Tokyo, then meet a rare tuner R32 abroad in A Tommy Kaira R32 Under the Cherry Blossoms. And to see Nissan's history come alive on track once a year, read about our trip to NISMO Festival 2023 at Fuji Speedway.
Video: One Breath Pictures.
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