Mr. K is gone.

[FairladySPL]

105

Wall Street Journal story:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/nissans-fat ... 1424510374

[FairladySPL]

http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/HERITAG ... index.html

----- Original Message -----
From: "Scott Sheeler"
To: "Roadster List" <datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, September 01, 2009 2:35 PM
Subject: [Roadsters] Mr. K is 100 Years Old This Year


> >From my 2006 email to The List:
>
>
>
> To members of the Roadster List and other friends:
>
> It has occured to me that everyone who has enjoyed, or is enjoying, a
Datsun
> roadster - in any shape or condition - should understand its roots.
Without
> being long-winded (but I probably will be), the Datsun roadster owes a
great
> deal, if not all, of its success to Mr. Yutaka Katayama - "Mr. K." as he
has
> come to be called.
>
> Rob Beddington of fairlady.org writes:
>
> "If you do a website search of 'Katayama' on http://www.fairlady.org you will see
> that not only was Mr K the driving force behind roadster racing in the USA
> but his acts of support to individuals and teams at grass roots level were
> legendary.
>
> Among many acts of generosity (and corporate shrewdness) Mr K. gave Bob
> Sharp 5 'salt-damaged' Datsun 2000s on the East Coast in recognition of
his
> success with the 1500 and 1600, he by-passed an unhappy Dick Roberts at
the
> Datsun's Competition department to arrange the two 2000's for Pete Brock
> direct from Japan, and he gave Jack Scoville an engine for the car that
went
> on to win the Datsun 2000 its first national championship.
>
> So without Mr K there would have been no BRE roadster team (so no BRE 510
or
> 240Z), much less of a racing heritage, which is still recognised today,
and
> of course, less Datsuns on the road - "race on Sunday, sell on Monday."
>
> Thanks, Rob.
>
> On September 15, 2009 Mr. K will be 100 years old.
>
> I would like to ask everyone on the list to send Mr. K an email birthday
> wish - nothing fancy - just
>
> Subject - "Happy Birthday"
>
>
> "Mr. Katayama, thank you for your years of support for the Datsun
roadster -
> my roadster has given me a lot of enjoyment and great times. Best wishes
on
> your 100th birthday"
>
> or something like that. His secretary says that attachments cannot be
> received so the "shorter the better" and no pictures.
>
> The email address should be: mr.k@able.ocn.ne.jp...
>
> It won't take long and will be a nice gesture to a man who, 49 years ago,
> laid the groundwork for the reason this "list" even exists.
>
> Please remember to send it on September 14 since that will September 15 in
> Japan.
>
> Thanks in advance for the support.
>
> Scott Sheeler
> The Datsun Roadster Book

[Fairlady66]

Good bye Mr. K, may you R.I.P. Thank you for being such a good friend to us all.

In 2009 I organized Mr K's 100 year Birthday Celebration for the Datsun Heritage Museum.
In 2010 he signed the Dash Plaque for our clubs 10 year anniversary. Mr K never stopped living, and his legacy will continue to live on.

[Datsun.David]

Passing of an Icon.

He truly left his mark on the world.

Z.

dw

[datsun1500]

What a true gentleman. I was in semi regular contact with him by email for the last 15 years or so. Every so often he would write to ask me how the 1500 was doing, just out of the blue. Not too long ago I sent him a photo of my 1500 next to my neighbors Toyota 2000. He said it was the first time he's ever seen a 1500 and Toyota 2000 in the same room, and the last time he saw any Roadster and 2000 in the same place was 40 years ago!

[Phred58]

Though I never met Mr. K personally, I did receive a response to the 100th birthday wish I sent him which I thought was pretty cool. I think back to all the memories I have with my roadster over the past 40 years and also of the fact that I now earn a living due to his efforts to bring the Datsun name to the USA and realize how unique an individual he was.

What was meant to be a punishment (if I understand his journey to the USA correctly), he turned into a triumph. That, I think, is a great measure of success by almost anybody's standard.

RIP Mr. K.

[Gregs672000]

The great thing about Love is that, when passed from person to person, it never dies. I love my car, and my kids love my car, and hopefully their kids kids will love my car, even if it's outlawed by then.
Thanks for the Love Mr. K, we're all sharing it.

[xeddex]

http://jalopnik.com/nissans-father-of-t ... 1687214072

RIP Mr. K. "Love Life...Love Cars....Enjoy the Ride"

[FairladySPL]

I'm a little disappointed not to see more mainstream media coverage of Mr. K's passing, given his stature and longevity.

However, among the media outlets catering to enthusiast drivers that have picked up the story, AutoWeek has a good write-up:

http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/mr ... r-dies-105

Car buffs will never see another individual who spanned the creation of the automobile to the status of collectible. That Mr. K continued his investment of time and enthusiasm right up to the end speaks volumes to what he meant to the brand and the car. I can't imagine any of today's anonymous corporate kingpins standing ahead of and personifying any of their vehicles, let alone a specific model or development category.

I'm hoping someone at Nissan corporate in Japan will see a message of condolence I sent to the email listed in Scott Sheeler's old posting, above. The email has not kicked back, suggesting the address remains valid.

[Alvin]

This one's for you Mr. K!

[youtube][/youtube]

[Alvin]

Another fantastic tribute to Mr. K, from Bob Bondurant

http://www.bondurant.com/pit-row/news/f ... -my-friend

[mellis18]

R.I.P. Mr. K!!!!

[steve_car]

Good article from Hagerty:
http://www.hagerty.com/Articles-Videos/ ... 02-25-2015

[dbrick]

I think a great tribute to his work is that groups of people all over the world, like our forum here, SOCAL and all the other ROC's and Z clubs and forums exist at all. Mr K wanted Japanese cars to be respected as long lasting quality vehicles. We drive them, many un-restored, on race tracks, across and around the whole country, and as daily drivers. Not hesitating to drive 1000 miles or more for a week long trip to a car show in 40 to 50 year old cars, past other classics on trailers. Mission accomplished.
As someone said above, the world mourning the passing of a retired auto executive, or even knowing his name in the first place, is beyond rare.

[Linda]

It would be nice if Nissan honored Mr K by bringing back the Roadster. A few modern tweaks and they might give Mazda a run for their money.

Linda