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Few, if any, people are likely to approach Davey on seeing his 1974 Nissan and tell him ‘my dad/mum/next-door neighbour/teacher used to have one of those’. The H250-Series President was never officially sold in the UK, and Mr. Peskett ‘only bought it by fluke from Japan’.  In its homeland, this was the car for senior politicians, business tycoons and the Royal Family. 

In 1963, Nissan introduced the 2.8-litre Cedric Special 50 - its first six-cylinder offering and a rather opulent machine. Two years later, the H150-Series President succeeded in October 1965; it was the most luxurious car made in Japan. The engine choices were a 3.0-litre straight-six or a 4.0-litre V8, to appeal to those industrial magnates who might have otherwise considered an imported US car. The fact that Japan’s then Prime Minister Eisaku Sato favoured a President as his official car further enhanced its appeal.

A 1973 facelift as the H250 helped maintain the profile of Nissan’s flagship opposite the rival Toyota Century. The H252 followed in 1978, and the President gained various improvements over the next 16 years - but it retained those distinctive “Early 1960s Detroit” lines.  Davey remarks that ‘People always look and they think it is American’. However, 1989 marked the end of an era, as the new HG50 was essentially a long-wheelbase  Infiniti Q45.  

The President was initially intended solely for the Japanese market. Nissan did eventually produce a small number of export models and issue brochures written in English. However, the Cedric remained the largest car offered by Datsun UK. Dave acquired his H250 via a friend who owned a Japanese car parts shop. One day this gentleman was visited by a lady from Japan whose business was importing motor vehicles, resulting in their working together.

When Mr. Peskett was next in search of spares for a Cedric ‘I mentioned I always wanted to import a President and he gave me the lady’s email’. Davey made contact, and three weeks later, he received a reply. ‘I then asked her if she had any 1980s H252 Presidents around as I was looking for one. She said, “no, sorry we only have a 1974” - and I was so lucky I asked. They are so rare I didn’t expect to find one’.

Davey finds his President to be ‘a lovely cruiser to drive; very smooth for its age and so ahead of its time’. As for the standard fittings, these include electric power for the reclining seats and even the quarter vents, air conditioning, and an eight-track cartridge player. Above all, the H250 is a car that looks genuinely imposing and dignified. As the 1985 brochure observed – ‘Uncommon refinements make all the difference’.

WITH THANKS TO: Davey Peskett

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