Yoshihiko Matsuo, the Man Responsible for Datsun’s 240z, is Dead at 86

Yoshihiko Matsuo passed away this past Saturday, July 11. He was 86 years old. The announcement was made a few days later, abiding by Japanese customs. Matsuo was the lead designer of the Datsun 240Z and was responsible for a large part of the car’s success beyond the design alone. While the 240 was his biggest success, his impact has been felt far beyond the single model.

Born on July 10, 1934 in Himeji, a city in the Hyogo Prefecture of Southern Japan, it seems like Matsuo always had a passion for cars. His love for cars was cited as going as far back as childhood where he was said to have sketched them. From there, the passion would only develop to lead him to become one of the most important figures in the sports car world.

Japanese Nostalgic Car tells us that “While a high school student, he came up with an initial concept for a small three-wheeled truck working at Osaka Textile Industry Co., a division of Daihatsu. Soon after, while attending college at Nihon University College of Art, used that experience to help design the Daihatsu Midget, the company’s first major automotive hit”

From there, Matsuo would attend Nihon University College of Art. He would then graduate and head to work at Nissan. He didn’t start out working on the legendary coupe. However, everything that he touched seemed to turn to gold.

While working on recovering sales for one of Nissan’s sedans, Matsuo would come up with the design for the 240z. Matsuo and his team were responsible for everything from the car’s design to determining what market it would serve. This even meant digging into optional equipment, marketing, and the price point. In other words, the team led by Matsuo had their fingerprints all over the 240.

In time, the Datsun 240z has been cited as one of the most influential sports cars of all time. With that, Matsuo has been credited with not only innovating the sports car world. More importantly, he was believed to have an integral part in making this world accessible to the masses. Therefore, even for people who wouldn’t exactly classify themselves as import fans, there’s a good chance that any car fan has been touched in some way by Matsuo’s work.