1946 to 1952: The founder and the early days
Noburu Nishikawa was born in Osaka in 1913. The eldest son of steel magnate Otane Nishikawa, he became an engineer in order to follow his father’s footsteps. As he had studied in Europe during his late teens, he saw with worry the alliance between his home nation and the Nazi Germany. Nevertheless, always a patriot, he served as an officer during the war, and continued providing materials to the army when he took control of the family company after his father died during the bombing of Osaka in March 1945.
However, by that point WW2 was nearing its end, therefore his image was not terribly damaged in the eyes of the GHQ. Due to his collaboration in the rebuilding of Japan in the aftermaths of the war, Nishikawa Steel Industries was amongst the manufacturers allowed to produce trucks and wagons destined to transport goods.
As the company had no previous experience in the manufacture of automotive transports, the GHQ allowed the newly founded Nishikawa Motors to license and develop the Willys-Overland L134 engine run by the Willys Jeep, as well lend as a few units to work on. Nishikawa worked with his team of engineers and mechanics worked on the engine; by the mid 1946 they had a working prototype ready to produce. Always a melomaniac, Nishikawa decided to name their new creation “Vivaldi”, starting one of the company’s oldest traditions.
Vivaldi I3 Engine
Known by the internal code V12A1, the Vivaldi straight 3 was a reworked version of the L134 block. In order to make it both smaller and more fitting to the kind of city and highway usage it was intended to, a cylinder was dropped and the bore was reduced, reaching a total displacement of 1198 cc. Further modifications included a pushrod overhead valve configuration (instead of the original flathead of the L134) and a higher compression ratio. It produced 40 horsepower and 59 lb/ft of torque.
1946-1952 Nishikawa 1200
Nishikawa Motors first introduced the Nishikawa 1200 as a cargo wagon in 1946. Equipped with the V12A1 engine, it was rear wheel drive and it had a 3-gear manual gearbox. The early success of the model allowed the company to launch a Pickup variant the next year.
As restrictions by the GHQ regarding passenger cars were lifted, a sedan version was designed and launched in 1949. The car, released as a city and commuter vehicle, cemented Nishikawa Motor Industry’s position in the newly born Japanese car market, and giving the company a foothold on which to stand for the coming years.
