The

Nissan , trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun bra ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. ...

Royal is a large Japanese

limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment. A very long wheelbase luxury sedan (with more than four doors) driven by a pr ...

made for the Imperial Household of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

History

The Japanese auto industry was expanding rapidly in the early 1960s, and the

Imperial Household Agency The (IHA) is an agency of the government of Japan in charge of state matters concerning the Imperial Family, and also the keeping of the Privy Seal and State Seal of Japan. From around the 8th century AD, up until the Second World War, it ...

sought a Japanese auto manufacturer to produce a suitable car for the

Emperor of Japan The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the ...

. In September 1965, the

Prince Motor Company The Prince Motor Company ( Japanese: ) was an automobile marque from Japan which eventually merged into Nissan in 1966. It began as the Tachikawa Aircraft Company, a manufacturer of various airplanes for the Japanese Army in World War II, e.g. ...

announced that they would be providing two vehicles for the Emperor. The first would be ready by 1966, the other by 1967. In May 1966, Prince Motor Co. merged with

Motor Co., and so Nissan was added to the name of the car. The Prince Motor Company had an established relationship with the Imperial Household Agency previously, when they presented the first

Prince Gloria Gloria may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music * Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise * Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise ** Gloria (Handel) ** Gloria (Jenkins ...

Crown Prince Akihito is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 7 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. He presided over the Heisei era, ''Heisei'' being an expression of achieving peace worldwide. Bor ...

as a first-anniversary wedding gift, and an earlier gift to the Crown Prince called the

Prince Sedan The Prince Sedan was a Japanese compact executive car made from 1952 until 1957 by the Tama Motor Company (renamed the Prince Motor Company in November 1952), which was one of the successors of the Tachikawa Aircraft Company. It was replaced by ...

in 1954. The Prince Royal was the second Japanese built post-war vehicle to use a V8 engine; the first was the

Toyota Crown Eight The is an automobile which has been produced by Toyota in Japan since 1955. It is primarily a line of mid-size luxury cars that is marketed as an upmarket offering in the Toyota lineup. Introduced in 1955 as the Toyopet Crown, it has serve ...

in 1964. Because of the massive weight at , a 6,437 cc (391 ci) Prince series W64 V8 with

overhead valve An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located be ...

s, producing was used along with custom 8.90-15 Bridgestone tyres. Front independent double wishbone coil suspension, with leaf springs in the rear. Drum brakes were used with power assist. A three-speed GM

Super Turbine 400 Turbo-Hydramatic or Turbo Hydra-Matic is the registered tradename for a family of automatic transmissions developed and produced by General Motors. These transmissions mate a three-element turbine torque converter to a Simpson planetary geartra ...

(THM400) automatic transmission is used, with the gear selector installed on the steering column.Motor Magazine International An American built transmission was used for expediency, in that Japanese manufacturers had not yet developed a transmission capable of coping with the torque from the Prince built V8 engine. When the Emperor is riding inside, the Imperial Standard is displayed on the top of the grille. An additional

roundel A roundel is a circular disc used as a symbol. The term is used in heraldry, but also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of dif ...

, known as the

Imperial Seal of Japan The Imperial Seal of Japan or National Seal of Japan, also called the , or , is one of the national seals and a crest (''mon'') used by the Emperor of Japan and members of the Imperial Family. It is a contrast to the Paulownia Seal used by the ...

is also displayed at both the front and rear of the car in place of a license plate, and on the exterior of both rear passenger doors, displaying a 16 petal

chrysanthemum Chrysanthemums (), sometimes called mums or chrysanths, are flowering plants of the genus ''Chrysanthemum'' in the family Asteraceae. They are native to East Asia and northeastern Europe. Most species originate from East Asia and the cent ...

, in golden colour, in reference to the

Chrysanthemum Throne The is the throne of the Emperor of Japan. The term also can refer to very specific seating, such as the throne in the Shishin-den at Kyoto Imperial Palace. Various other thrones or seats that are used by the Emperor during official functions ...

of Japan. The vehicle has coach doors for the center-rear that open with a wider angle. Interior features a total of eight passenger seats. There are three rows of seats. The two center rear seats are folding type for security personnel. In between the center seats is a beverage bar. The rear seats were covered in supple 100% wool upholstery, while the driver has leather seats. The windows have curtains and double pane glass, allowing the passenger compartment to be pressurized for additional security protection. A telephone is used to communicate to the driver. When the Prince Royal was in service, additional government transportation used the Nissan President for various transportation needs. The vehicles were retired on July 7, 2006, when the

Toyota Century Royal The is a limousine produced mainly for the Japanese market, serving as Toyota's flagship car within Japan; globally the unrelated Lexus LS series is Toyota's flagship luxury model. Production of the Century began in 1967, and the model received ...

was presented for service to replace them. Previous vehicles used to transport previous Emperors were a

Rolls-Royce Phantom V The Rolls-Royce Phantom V is a large four-door limousine produced by Rolls-Royce Limited from 1959 to 1968. Based on the Silver Cloud II, it shares a V8 engine and General Motors Hydra-Matic automatic gearbox with that model. Rolls-Royce ...

used in the 1960s which replaced the

Mercedes-Benz 770 The Mercedes-Benz 770, also known as the ''Großer Mercedes'' (German for "Big Mercedes"), was a large luxury car built by Mercedes-Benz from 1930 until 1944. It is probably best known from its use by high-ranking Nazi German politicians and other ...

s that were used from the 1930s. File:NISSAN PRINCE ROYAL1 Nov 2009.jpg File:NISSAN PRINCE ROYAL2 Nov 2009.jpg File:Nissan Prince Royal (Side).jpg File:Nissan Prince Royal (Rear).jpg

References

{{nissan Prince Royal

Royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ...

Luxury vehicles Limousines Cars introduced in 1966

History

See also

References