Kato 90's Nissan Set

[peteski]

Do they have steering wheels ?  What side are they on ?

Looking at the large image it appears that headrests are visible inside the cars (especially in the top white cars).  That would imply that they have an interior.

[wazzou]

Wasn't the US equivalent of the Toyota Crown, the Cressida?

[cfritschle]

Wasn't the US equivalent of the Toyota Crown, the Cressida?

Bryan,

The Lexus LS 400 is based on the Crown's platform, and those two cars are very similar.  However, I always thought the Cressida was slightly smaller than the Crown, but maybe they also "shared" a platform.

Peter,

This Hobby Search photo sort of shows a dashboard, but not much more.  I would expect to see a car seat at this angle, especially in the white models.



When I think of N scale vehicle models with interiors, the Trainworx trucks or River Point Station Fords come to mind.   

Edit:  According to Wikipedia, the Cressida was the export version of the Toyota Mark II, which was originally a compact and later a mid-size car.

[cfritschle]

I received a set of the Kato 1990's Nissans from N Scale Supply today.  While I have not had time to measure the models and determine the scale, at first glance it appears that the Kato models can be used as "generic" 1:160 scale cars!

Kato Nissan Cedric with Atlas Fairmont


Kato Nissan Cedric with Atlas Taurus


Kato Nissan Pulsar with Herpa Mini


Kato Nissan Pulsar with Herpa Opel


Kato Nissan Pulsar with Wiking VW Rabbit


And yes, the Nissans do have interiors, and I apologize for not "cleaning up" the models before taking the pictures.  With a street price of less than $2.00 per car, these may be helpful in filling some N scale parking lots.

Edit:  I took one of the Cedrics apart to get a better look at the interior.  There are seat backs, but no seat cushions.  No steering wheels, and just a firewall rather than a dashboard.  These details could easily be added, but under normal viewing conditions, no one is likely to notice they are missing.

[C62-2]

I thought that the US equivalent of the Toyota Crown was the Camry - Camry sounds the same as the Japanese word for crown (kanmuri 冠)

[cfritschle]

I was able to measure the length, width and height of the Kato Cedric and Pulsar, and those dimensions multiplied by 150 are very close to the dimensions published on Wikipedia for the prototypes of these cars.  So, the Kato Nissans are definitely 1:150 scale.

However, because the prototype Cedric and Pulsar automobiles were not imported into North America, no one is likely to notice that these models are oversize if placed with 1:160 scale vehicles on a North American themed layout.  And while I have not figured out what North American cars these models could be used as stand-ins for, here are the dimension in 1:1 inches and 1:160 inches:

Cedric
Length = 1.2235 (actual inches) or 195.8 (1:160 inches)
Width = 0.4440 (actual inches) or 71.0 (1:160 inches)
Height = 0.3630 (actual inches) or 58.1 (1:160 inches)

Pulsar
Length = 1.0210 (actual inches) or 163.4 (1:160 inches)
Width = 0.4265 (actual inches) or 68.2 (1:160 inches)
Height = 0.3560 (actual inches) or 57.0 (1:160 inches)

The Kato Cedric's 1:160 dimensions are in the general range of many of the mid-size North American cars from the late 1970s through 1980s, and the Kato Pulsar's 1:160 dimensions are close to the early 1980s AMC Eagle Kammback, and somewhere in between the early 1980s Chevrolet Chevette and Citation.

Also, since Kato made the models to "fill" Japanese open autoracks, these cars could be low cost alternatives to fill North American partially enclosed autoracks where being able to determine the exact prototype of the vehicles being hauled is not critical.  It will be interesting to see how creative N scale modelers will be incorporating these models on their layouts.   

Edit:  Here is a link to Kato's autorack model.  https://www.katomodels.com/product/n/ku5000