Ohta Jidosha

Summary

Ohta Jidosha (オオタ自動車, Ōta Jidōsha) was one of the largest Japanese automotive manufacturing companies in the 1930s. The company was established in 1922, and produced cars from 1934 until 1957, when it was acquired by Tokyu Kurogane Kogyo company and ceased auto production. The factory became Omori Works (大森ワークス) when it became part of Nissan when Kurogane joined the corporate structure.

1955 Ohta KD Trucks (Japan)
1936 Ohta Type OC Phaeton

Ohta Jidosha Seizosho Co., Ltd. was founded in Ōmori, Ōta, Tokyo by Hiro Ōta.[1] His son, Yuichi Ōta, later became design director for the company. In 1922, the company produced a prototype, called the Ohta Model OS. Auto production started in 1934 with the car powered by a 736 cc 4-cylinder engine. The Ohta Model OC was built in 1936, and the Ohta Model OD was produced from 1937 to 1939.[2][3] The company changed its name to Kosoku Kikan Kogyo Co., Ltd. (高速機関工業) (High Speed Engine Industry) in 1935, and then to Ohta Jidosha Kogyo Co., Ltd. (オオタ自動車工業) in 1947.[citation needed]

After World War II, the company produced the Model PA,[4] which was often used as a taxi. Other models included the Model OE, which resembled a Sunbeam-Talbot, the Model VK-2, and the Model PK-1.[5]

Yuichi Ōta later designed the Datsun DC-3 and the Datsun S211.[6]

References edit

  1. ^ Odin, L.C. World in Motion 1939 - The whole of the year's automobile production. Belvedere Publishing, 2015. ASIN: B00ZLN91ZG.
  2. ^ Odin, L.C. World in Motion 1939 - The whole of the year's automobile production. Belvedere Publishing, 2015. ASIN: B00ZLN91ZG.
  3. ^ 240 Landmarks of Japanese Technology http://www.jsae.or.jp/autotech/data_e/1-9e.html Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Popular Science. Bonnier Corporation.
  5. ^ The Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars 1885 to the Present Edited by G.N. Georgano; 1968; E.P. Dutton and Company; New York, NY
  6. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-09-18. Retrieved 2011-07-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)