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I reside in a densely populated locality, so consider my following statement with caution. Individuals in, for instance, Butte, Montana, may not have the same fortune. Here’s the catch: When I search on Google for “Nissan dealers near me,” I promptly receive a listing of three outlets within a 12-mile radius from my residence. (By the way, there are a total of 12 Nissan establishments in Montana.) That likely amounts to around 130 Rogue compact crossovers awaiting inspection by the locals.
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1962 Datsun Patrol
There’s nothing particularly surprising about this, as if you are perusing this online, you possess a fairly decent understanding of the internet’s usefulness. However, vehicle shopping wasn’t always this effortless, particularly if you sought an imported vehicle sixty-odd years ago.
Datsun—the name under which Japanese automaker Nissan marketed cars until the Eighties—inked its inaugural American car dealership in 1958. San Diego Datsun had before dealt in used automobiles and scooters. The establishment also retailed foreign vehicles, none of which ever attained significant sales numbers. Yet, proprietor Ray Lemke took a gamble on Datsun, and his courage paid off handsomely. Despite Datsun selling merely 83 units in the U.S. in 1958, Lemke’s showroom promptly became the premiere brand franchise to peddle 100 cars in a sole month.
However, that was California. Datsun merchants would subsequently spring up across the entire Golden State, yet their distribution would pose challenges in the vast expanse between California and the limited large eastern metropolises that would host early Datsun outlets. We perceive in one ad below that St. Louis welcomed its inaugural Datsun showroom only in 1966.
The scarcity of Datsun showrooms led to clumsy promotional efforts, at least for a time. This leads us to the showcased advertisement. This promotional piece for the 1962 Datsun Patrol—a vehicle renowned globally for its off-road prowess comparable to the Jeep CJ-Series in the U.S.—presents something seldom witnessed in automobile ads: a mail-in rebate.
Exactly. This advertisement, featured in a national periodical, comprised a detachable form that aspiring Patrol purchasers were instructed to remove, complete, and deposit in a stamped and addressed envelope—and then await. Moreover, the Datsun team requested customers to furnish inexpensive demographic insights via an “occupation” section. We presume Datsun was merely curious about the proportion of Patrol buyers who weren’t farmers, landowners, or land custodians. Bear in mind, this was well before the SUV fad, and in 1962, most Americans wouldn’t have contemplated buying a pickup truck.
The hurdle Datsun encountered was that in 1962, most Americans were hours—if not days—away from the nearest Datsun dealer. Hence, listing local vendors in the ad wasn’t a viable choice. We presume that, once consumers had obtained an appealing color brochure, the aspiration of owning a Patrol would kindle a tad brighter, urging shoppers to entertain more seriously the notion of having their trucks transported directly to their residences or local rail stations.
Take note that the convenient 1-800 telephone number wouldn’t emerge until 1967, and the routine use of toll-free long-distance service was still years away. Datsun’s promotional hurdles weren’t unique to the brand. Honda, Mazda, Subaru, and even Toyota confronted analogous impediments, all of which they ultimately vanquished—mainly by expanding their respective dealer networks.
As we surge into 2025, it’s challenging to envision anyone contemplating a sizable purchase waiting days, if not weeks, for details about their prospective buy. Nevertheless, in this instance, the Patrol faced minimal direct competition and was exceptionally trendy and practical enough to warrant a wait. That being said, it’s evident that numerous Patrols—and other Datsuns—were sold solely based on reputation, without test drives. Additionally, shipping to remote sites would have bolstered the total acquisition expense, as would the price of a stamp. How much did a postage stamp cost in 1962? Look it up.
Cost-Effective Options: 1974-78 Datsun B-210 Hatchback
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Iconic Datsun Images
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The 1983 Datsuns
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