THE success of Japanese automakers in the United States, though typically remembered as a story of smooth, steady sales increases, was in fact a road full of bumpy stretches. For Nissan, which can point to a half-century of experience in this country, the time has been more akin to the description of combat flying offered by the World War II ace Col. Gregory Boyington: hours and hours of boredom sprinkled with a few seconds of sheer terror.

In the case of Nissan, which sold its cars and trucks under the Datsun name during the company’s first decades in the United States, that meant a model range with plenty of dull-but-practical vehicles, punctuated by some truly brilliant ones.

The flow of car imports from Japan after World War II began as a trickle in 1957, when Toyota established its American sales arm in California. Datsun followed the next year, starting with the Datsun 1000, a bug-eyed, slab-sided little sedan of just 37 horsepower.

In the December 1958 issue of Road & Track, reviewers described the performance as melancholy. It had a top speed of just 66 miles an hour; with patience and a tail wind, zero-to-60 could be achieved in 46 seconds.