CarBrandLogos archive · Hino · 1961

HinoContessa

A rear-engined saloon by Michelotti, from a company that now builds lorries.

Photo: Rikita · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Hino history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Hino Contessa, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Hino spent the 1950s building Renault 4CVs under licence at Hamura, and when that agreement ended it kept the lesson: a rear engine driving the rear wheels made sense for a small car. The Contessa 900 of 1961 was Hino's own design on that principle, with an 893 cc four behind the rear axle, three- and four-speed gearboxes, and saloon and coupé bodies. Some were assembled in Haifa by Kaiser-Illin for the Israeli market.

1961 Hino Contessa 01 · Mytho88 · CC BY-SA 3.0

HINO Contessa 1300 at London Science Museum

Design and engineering

The first car ran to 1964, when the larger Contessa 1300 took over with bodywork by Giovanni Michelotti. That car is the reason the name is remembered: the coupé in particular has a delicacy of line unusual among Japanese cars of the period, and it is now among the more collectable Japanese designs of the 1960s.

HINO Contessa 1300 at London Science Museum · Hahifuheho · CC0

In production

The line was cut short by corporate strategy rather than by failure. Hino entered a partnership with Toyota in the mid-1960s and withdrew from passenger cars to concentrate on trucks and buses, which is what it has built ever since. The Contessa was the last car Hino sold under its own name.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1961–1964

Engine

893&nbsp

Body

2-door coupé

Technical specification

The Contessa, in detail.

Production: 1961–1964
Class: compact
Body style: 2-door coupé ; 4-door sedan
Layout: RR layout
Engine: 893 cc GP20 inline-4
Transmission: 3/4-speed manual
Assembly: Hamura, Tokyo, Japan ; Haifa, Israel (Kaiser Motors; Kaiser-Illin Industries)
Manufacturer: Hino Motors