Nissan Cedric
JDM · Nissan
Nissan Cedric: The Crown Rival That Became a VIP Car and a Taxi
The Nissan Cedric is a large sedan Nissan introduced in 1960 and long positioned as the main rival to the Toyota Crown. The private-market hardtop ended in 2004, but the Y31 sedan carried the Cedric name in taxi and fleet use until 2014.
The first Cedric, the 30 series, arrived in March 1960 and was the first car labeled as a Nissan. It brought Nissan's first monocoque body and a wraparound windshield. Nissan CEO Katsuji Kawamata named it after Cedric, the main character in Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel Little Lord Fauntleroy. A Cedric Custom served as a torch carrier for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. After Prince joined the Nissan family, the Gloria became a near-twin with its own grille and lights, and in Japan the pair was nicknamed CedGlo.
The Cedric picked up several Japanese firsts along the way. The turbocharged 2.0-liter L20ET, a first for the Japanese market, appeared in the Cedric and Gloria in December 1979, and the LD28 2.8-liter six-cylinder diesel, another first, followed. The Y30 of 1983 introduced the VG series V6. The Y33 of 1995 switched to the lighter aluminum VQ series and added ATTESA E-TS all-wheel drive. The last generation, the Y34, arrived on June 28, 1999, with direct injection on all its V6 engines and a CVT on some trims, a rare pairing with rear-wheel drive.
Along with the Gloria, Toyota Celsior, and Toyota Aristo, the Cedric is one of the luxury sedans that make up most VIP style builds, the Japanese trend of lowering big sedans and fitting them with more aggressive wheels, suspension, and body kits. It was also a common taxi in Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, and a police car in Japanese crime dramas such as Seibu Keisatsu. The last Cedric hardtop was built in October 2004, when the Nissan Fuga replaced it. The Y31 fleet sedan kept going until 2014.
