Hino is a well-known producer of commercial vehicles today and has been in the commercial truck market since World War II. But for a short while in the Sixties, they built their own rear-engine passenger car.
Say hello to Contessa.
The Contessa traced its roots back to the Renault 4CV. Produced between 1947 and 1961, Renault produced over a million examples of its small family four-door. Aside from its French production location, the 4CV was built under license in Spain, Australia, and Japan.
Japanese production started in 1953, and the 4CV was assembled under license by Hino as the Hino Renault 4CV. The company’s first passenger car, Hino kept building the Renault until its cancellation in 1961. Toward the end of the 4CV’s life, the people at Hino realized they didn’t want to stop producing a passenger car, and set their engineers to work.
When the 4CV ended production, the rear-engine Contessa 900 was ready to take its place at Hino dealerships. Hino re-engineered the 4CV and gave it a larger wheelbase, and a longer and wider body with updated styling for the Sixties. Unlike its Renault-designed predecessor, the additional size meant the Contessa seated five instead of four and was much more desirable as a family sedan. Also available was the upscale looking Contessa Sprint, a two-door coupe. The Contessa was powered by an 893-cc inline-four engine that was a larger derivation of Renault’s 4CV mill. 35 horsepower made for an (eventual) top speed of 68 miles per hour. Originally the transmission was a three-speed on the tree, which was later swapped for a four-speed with a Hino-designed electromagnetic clutch.
Contessa existed in its first generation through 1964, when a new 1300 model took its place. Larger and more powerful than its predecessor, it also wore a new body designed by Giovanni Michelotti. Aside from new styling, the most important change to Contessa was its engine. Now, the car was powered by a 1.3-liter inline-four developed by Hino. A revised Sprint coupe followed the sedan with an introduction in 1965. This time, the Sprint had a performance edge over the sedan: Higher compression in the Sprint’s engine meant a jump in horsepower from 54 to 64.
The Contessa 1300 remained in production through 1966, at which point the company fell under Toyota’s ownership umbrella. Not fond of small car competition, Contessa production was halted by March 1967. A few more Contessas were assembled through 1968 and 1969, as Toyota used up remaining body shells and utilized on-hand Toyota parts when Hino part supplies ran out. Hino would never again produce a passenger car.
Today’s Rare Ride is from the end of Contessa production, a 1967 example. Its series of owners have included a Hino dealer, the Hino factory, as well as a museum. In 54 years it’s traveled 1,708 miles. Yours in New Zealand for $21,459.
[Image: Hino]
The front end reminds me of a first generation Chevrolet Corvair.
A consequence of the cost of meeting government safety and emissions regulations has been the disappearance of dozens, if not hundreds, of small auto manufacturers over the past 50 years.
The Suzuki Regina concept from a few years ago seemed (to me) like it was trying to revive the look.
You beat me to it : “Someone took the pic of Dad’s Corvair and made it narrower and taller!!!”
Somewhere in a box I have a great book about car design, printed in Germany I think. It makes a point about how the Corvair was emulated throughout many car models produced around the globe in the early and mid-60s.
Yeah, there were buckets of early-mid ’60s cars that borrowed the 1st-gen Corvair styling.
This one doesn’t look the part, but it is a Corvair relative:
https://norfolk.craigslist.org/cto/d/chesapeake-1962-oldsmobile-cutlass-f85/7262426757.html
The Corvair resemblance is unmistakable; I guess that’s the 60s for you.
Cool little car, and probably very few examples as nice as that one. That dealer has a lot of interesting vehicles.
Apparently at one point there were plans to market them in the US, as BRE raced them in the US in ’66. Given the timeline, I’d guess a “Japanese Corvair” wouldn’t have marketed well at the time. I got to see a 1300 coupe at a Japanese classics show a couple years back, and it’s a really attractive number.
Even has a Hoffman kink.
It’s the Hoffmeister kink, but yes, it’s there.
whatever felicity wants!
There’s a lot of BMW Neue Klasse in the styling. Also you can see
the influence of the Datsun 1200 Bluebird.
There were more photos in the previous issues of Rare Rides (
Per the Toronto HQ, I’m no longer permitted to use seller listing photos without first obtaining express written permission from the seller. My hands are tied.
Well, that’s a drag. Did someone complain?
Seems to me that someone who puts a picture of his car on the internet is pretty much giving up the right to privacy. Besides, who knows – one of your readers might buy the car.
Complain of TTAC use? Nope.
Some of the NSU 1200 in the styling too.
For Track Use Only! is my thought. Do what you want to do is my philosophy until it impacts me. With many production vehicles offered only with large wheels and minimal rubber I curse the trend. I’ve replaced multiple wheels and tires due to potholes damage. Would have been no problem or minimized to tire damage with big tire small wheel of the old days.
For those with no experience of road surfaces cratered like the surface of the moon you don’t understand.
The Renault 4CV evolved into the Dauphine, then the R8 and R10. The picture clearly shows an R8, only with quad headlamps
I think you are definitely right, this is restyled R8 which was with the sister model R8 the last one with rear engine architecture (this is also consistent with years of production, the 4CV was a bit smaller and production ended in 1961
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_8_and_10
The Dauphine has been also imported from France into the US market and an electric version had been developped by US entrepreneurs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henney_Kilowatt
Every time I see a Corvair-esque rear engine car I fantasize about swapping a GM turbo flat engine.
Man, I know this is small car but she seems to be towering over it in this photo and like she would awkwardly fill any of the positions in the car if she sat in them.
Maybe because I just came from the previous article where the womans shoulder barely made the top of the wheel arch.
She seems to be standing on a curb of about 3″, and is probably wearing heels as well. And that’s before we get to how tiny this car would be in person.
Here’s one near a modern Fiat 500.
https://i1.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/20171223_082638.jpg
Oh sure, go ahead, make sense. I’ll just retreat to my little fantasy world where statuesque women can toss little cars around like they were soap dishes.
Why hasn’t anyone here mentioned the similarities to the Hillman Imp?
Because the Imp came out in 1963, after the Contessa and long after the 4CV.
If anything, the Imp represented the peak of development for this configuration. The Mini had already established the future of smaller cars, and it was front engine and front drive. While some designs soldiered on into the 1970’s, very little new came out after the Imp.
The rear engine was a dead end in car design, front drive proving itself superior in every way. By the end of the 1970’s, only old designs like the Beetle and Porsche 911 remained in production.