I live in a relatively population-dense area, so take what I say next with a grain of salt. Folks in, say, Butte, Montana, are unlikely to be quite as lucky. Here’s the thing: When I Google search “Nissan dealers near me,” I immediately get a list of three stores within 12 miles of my home. (There are a total of 12 Nissan stores in Montana, by the way.) That’s probably 130 or so Rogue small crossovers just waiting for the locals to give them the once over.
1962 Datsun Patrol
There’s really nothing startling about this, as if you are reading this online, you have a pretty good sense of how handy the internet is. But car shopping wasn’t always this easy, especially if you were looking for an import-brand vehicle say, 60-odd years ago.
Datsun—the brand Japanese carmaker Nissan sold cars under until the Eighties—signed its first American car dealer in 1958. San Diego Datsun had previously sold used cars and scooters. The dealer also sold foreign cars, none of which ever accounted for meaningful volume. But, owner Ray Lemke took a chance on Datsun, and was well rewarded for his courage. Though Datsun sold just 83 cars in the U.S. in 1958, Lemke’s store would soon become the first brand franchise to retail 100 cars in a single month.
But that was California. Datsun dealers would soon pop up all over the Golden State, but distribution would prove to problematic in the vast area between California the few large eastern cities that would become home to early Datsun stores. We see in one ad below that the first Datsun store in St. Louis didn’t arrive until 1966.
The paucity of Datsun stores made for awkward advertising, at least for a while. Which brings us to the advertisement featured here. This ad for the 1962 Datsun Patrol—a vehicle as legendary for its off-road ability internationally as the Jeep CJ-Series was in the U.S.—features something rarely seen in car ads: a mail-in coupon.
Yup. This ad, which appeared in a national publication, included a cut-out form which potential Patrol buyers were expected to cut out, fill out, and place in a stamped and addressed envelope–and then wait. Also, the folks at Datsun asked shoppers to provide a little cheap demographic research in the form of an “occupation” line. We suspect Datsun was just curious as to what percent of Patrol buyers were NOT farmers, ranch owners, or land-management types. Keep in mind, this was way before the SUV craze, and most Americans would never have considered purchasing a truck in 1962.
The problem Datsun had was that in 1962, most Americans were hours—if not days—from the nearest Datsun dealer. So, listing local retailers in the ad was not really an options. We suspect that, once shoppers had secured a good-looking color brochure, the dream of Patrol ownership would burn a little more brightly, and that shoppers would take more seriously the option of having their trucks delivered directly to their homes or local rail yards.
Note that the handy 1-800 phone number would not arrive on the scene until 1967, and that regular use of the toll-free long-distance service was still years away. Datsun’s marketing challenges were not unique to the brand. Honda, Mazda, Subaru, and even Toyota endured similar roadblocks, all of which they eventually overcame—largely by expanding their respective dealer networks.
As we roll into 2025, it is difficult to imaging anyone considering a major purchase waiting days, if not weeks, for information about their would-be acquisition. But in this case, the Patrol had little direct competition, and was seriously cool and functional enough to wait for. That said, it seems clear many Patrols—and other Datsuns—were sold on reputation alone, and without test drives. Plus, shipping to remote locations would have added to the total cost of the purchase, as would the price of a stamp. How much was a postage stamp in 1962? Google it.
Cheap Wheels: 1974-78 Datsun B-210 Hatchback
Listen to the Car Stuff Podcast
Classic Datsun Pictures
Click below for enlarged images
