Yutaka Katayama helped build Nissan's U.S. presence "from scratch," the company noted.

Known as “the father of the Z,” the original Nissan 240Z sports car, Yutaka Katayama was both a passionate brand ambassador and a serious business executive who continued to play a role at the Japanese automaker long after his official retirement in 1977.

Katayama, who first joined Nissan in 1935, handling publicity and advertising, died last Thursday, his family announced, at the age of 105.

Known more widely as Mr. K, Katayama was one of the first American executives for what was then known as Datsun — at a time when Japanese brands had little appeal to U.S. motorists. He helped inspire some desperately needed passion by pushing for a small, stylish and affordable sports car that came to be known as the 240Z.

“Yutaka Katayama was a passionate ambassador for the Datsun and Nissan brands and our condolences go out to his family and friends,” Nissan said in a statement noting the former executive’s passing. “His more than 80 years in the car business included an induction into both the American and Japanese Automotive Hall of Fames. He was a pioneer on both sides of the Pacific, and we are grateful for his service to Nissan and his passion for our brands.”

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Katayama was active on both sides of the Pacific. He helped start the first showing of Japanese cars after the devastation of World War II, the 1954 All-Japan Motor Show. And he was instrumental in finding a niche for some of those cars in the promising U.S. market at a time when American motorists were focused on big domestic iron.

Katayama with the original Datsun 240Z.

Katayama’s first visit came to the U.S. aboard a ship hauling raw silk while still a student at Keio University in 1927. In the years after the War, he was sent back to start Nissan’s U.S. sales arm, the maker noted, “from scratch.”

Like its Japanese rivals, what was then known as Datsun got its first break with the twin oil shocks of the 1970s. Americans were suddenly drawn to the smaller, more fuel-efficient – and more reliable – models being imported from Asia. But Nissan needed something more spectacular, Mr. K reasoned, something that was not just reliable but fun to drive.

“A car is a horse. I want to drive a thoroughbred that’s in tune with my heartbeat, but not something that’s too dressed up for someone like me,” Katayama recalled during an interview with The Associated Press in 2002.

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Katayama retired in 1977, but continued to be seen as an icon of the brand, especially by fans of the Z car. He became an active proponent of returning the sports car to the line-up when it was dropped by a struggling Nissan in 1996.

Teetering on the edge of failure, Nissan officials quickly began to realize they needed to revitalize their line-up, an impression enhanced when the then-head of public relations lamented that many of the brand’s products had been “hit with an ugly stick.”

Teaming up with France’s Renault in a bid to raise desperately needed cash, Nissan’s new boss, CEO Carlos Ghosn, made a new version of the Z car a central part of his Nissan 2000 revitalization program.

“The Z car will support Nissan’s renaissance,” responded Katayama, after hearing the news in October 1999.

To his surprise, Nissan also asked the former executive to return as the pitchman for the new Z car, and Katayama enthusiastically went on tour to promote the car and his old company.

He spent his last years in full retirement, though Katayama was said to retain his love of sports cars.  In announcing Katayama’s death, son Mitsuo suggested that his father was happily zooming around in the Z in heaven, no longer worried about “gas, police or traffic tickets.”

Katayama is survived by his wife Masako, four children, 11 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.

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