Connie 360

Production	July 1962 - March 1970
Class	Motor car
Body type	2 door car, estate,light van, pickup truck
Engine	Air-cooled 4-stroke horizontally opposed 2-cylinder OHV 354cc
Transmission	3-speed MT Column shift 4-speed full synchro MT from 1968 onwards
Wheelbase	75.71 in, 1923 mm
Length	117.99 in, 2997 mm
Width	51.18 in, 1300 mm
Height	53.5 in, 1359 mm
Ground clearance	8.11 in, 203 mm
Vehicle weight	575kg (light van)  420 kg (Saloon)

The Cony 360 is a light vehicle built as a car, light van and pickup truck manufactured and sold from 1962 to 1970 by Aichi Machine Industry

History

Aichi Machine Industry, an automobile parts manufacturer affiliated with Nissan Motor. The model’s name is AF7 type. It is a new model changed version of the Giant Cony 360 AF3 type that was produced from 1959, but the name "Giant" that Aichi Machine Industry used for auto three-wheelers for many years and the product name used for minicars. "Connie" be used as a brand name thereafter.

The car and AF7 truck was released in July 1962, followed by the AF7V light van in November of the same year. The body design was renewed, and the flat deck style, which was popular at the time, was adopted as early as possible, and the comfort was improved. Also, instead of the AE57 type horizontally opposed 2-cylinder forced air-cooled engine based on the auto tricycle used in the Giant Cony 360, it was changed to the AE58 type with the same structure but a short stroke with a bore of 64 mm and a stroke of 55 mm. This engine was air cooled developed with the aim of reducing weight and improving performance fitted with a light alloy head, and the maximum output increased from 16 horsepower of the AF3 type to 18.5 horsepower with a Mikuni Shoko, downdraft, single barrel, carburettor, and from 1967 onwards it became 20.6 horsepower.

PERFORMANCE: 18.5 horsepower (saloon)

• Engine capacity: 21.65 cu in, 354 cu cm;
• Fuel consumption: 88.1 m imp gal, 73.4 m US gal, 3.2 1 x 100 km;
• Max speed: 52.8 mph, 85 km h
• Max power (SAE): 18.6 hp at 5500 rpm
• Max torque (SAE): 20 1b ft, 2.8 kgm at 4000 rpm
• Max number of engine rpm: 6000
• Specific power: 52.5 hp/l
• Power- weight ratio: 49.8 lb/hp, 22.6 kg/hp.
• Max speed in 1st gear: 16.2 mph, 26 km/h; max speed in 2nd max speed in 3rd gear: 52.8 mph, 85 km/h

The layout of the underfloor engine (midship), which has been a feature since the Giant Cony 360, has been inherited as it is, and the engine is vertically mounted to reduce the overall height as much as possible to improve comfort and load ability. A dry sump with a separate oil tank, which was only used for racing cars at the time, was adopted and did not have an oil pan. In addition, the steering gear used a rack-and-pinion system that was on par with European state-of-the-art vehicles.

In February 1963, the "Van Deluxe" was added, which could be called a passenger car In November 1965, about three years after its release, a minor change was made, and the front part of the flat deck style was changed to a more general shape. In July 1967, a sub-transmission "High Power Drive" was added, and in 1968 the gearbox of all cars became a full synchronous 4-speed.

In March 1965, Aichi Kikai entered into a business alliance with Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., and in 1966 began production of A-type engines and transmissions for the Sunny. Partly because of this, the company was reluctant to make model changes or enter into price competition, and prioritized maintaining profits. From the following month, the line was switched to the Datsun Sunny Truck, a registered vehicle with a larger displacement. The production volume of the AF7 type was 143,845 units.

After that, Aichi Kikai produced the Cherry Cab, which was larger than the Sanitra, and its successor, the Vanette, until 1993, and the Serena, a one-box minivan based on the Vanette, until 2001. Currently, the company has withdrawn from the production of finished vehicles and is concentrating on manufacturing parts such as engines and transmissions. Some were exported to Okinawa and the Philippines, which were under the control of the United States, while knockdown production was also carried out in Taiwan at Yulon Motor, a business partner of Nissan's parent company. It was exported to the mainland United States in small numbers, and was used for delivery and as a work vehicle on the premises. Since February 1969, the dealership had already changed its name to "Nissan Cony and began selling the Sunny and Cabster