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Silvia Literature
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On this page you will find information about various books and magazines that have featured the Silvia, or that will be of interest to Silvia owners. This page also contains details of material printed by Nissan such as owner's manual and promotional material for the Silvia. This is almost certainly not a complete list of Silvia literature, if you know of any items that are not listed here please let me know.

Silvia Magazines
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This is a list of magazines that have articles about the Silvia.
Aust.Motor Sports - January 1965      "Datsun will release high performance coupe"
a small article and a photo of the soon-to-be-released "Datsun 1500 Coupe"
Motor Manual       - June 1965             "Datsun Coupe"
a small article with a photo of the Silvia and a photo of the dashboard
Wheels                   - June 1965            "Open Air Invasion"
a three page article about the Silvia plus the Toyota Sports 800 and the Daihatsu Compagno Spyder
Sports Car World   - August 1965        "The coming of the coupes"
a small section on the Silvia.
Modern Motor       - April 1966            "Alfa-beater ? "
a two page article with three photos
Sports Car World   - August 1966        "Three thrifty coupes"
An article about the Silvia plus the Mazda 1000 Coupe and the Isuzu Bellett GT. Has two pages on the Silvia, the Silvia is featured on the cover of the magazine.
Sports Car World   - December 1966    "Gas gear for summer go"
a men's wear fashion feature with people modelling clothes, standing next to a Silvia and other lesser cars.
Motor Manual Int. - October 1973     "Evolution of the Datsun Sports Car"
a five page article about Datsun sports cars, including the Silvia.
Nissan Quality Service Communicator - February 1988        "Nissan Silvia CSP311"
a Nissan Motor Co. Aust. in-house magazine.
Z Car Magazine - Late 1999 - Vol. 4, No. 15         "Nissan Silvia - A Lesson in Design"
a highly detailed 5 page article about the Silvia.
Thoroughbred & Classic Cars - April 2000           "The Mysterious Count Albrecht von Goertz"
a three page article about 'the Man' . Article talks about the Silvia and his other creations.
The following are magazine articles that are from an unknown source. These are articles that have been copied and given to me, but the name of the magazine and the printing date were not supplied. The name of the article and an estimated printing date is shown below.
??? 1964                 "New autos introduced at Tokyo Motor Show"
??? 1965                 "Nissan Silvia Coupe"
??? 1965                 "Luxury sports model is coming-1600 Coupe will catch eyes"
??? 1965                 "Quiet grace and vivid performance"
??? 1990s               "feature Classic Car Gallery  Silvia 1600 Sports Coupe"
                               from one of Nissan's own publications - possibly "MyCar"
Silvia Books
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These are books that have a significant amount of information about the Silvia, or that have information that should be of interest to Silvia owners.
DATSUN AUTOMOBILES FROM JAPAN
by Halwart Schrader
published by Schrader and Partner GmbH Munich,
Germany 1976
This is one of the best books on Early Nissans and Datsuns I've ever seen. Printed in Germany  with text in German and in English, it includes well over 100 photos (all black and white unfortunatly) covering every major model from 1932 to 1976, plus pre Datsun cars including the Dat, Datson, Gorham and Lila. Only a very small section is on the Silvia, but well worth having for the details about other early models.
THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE JAPANESE CAR
by Marco Ruiz
published by Crown Publishers Inc. New York,USA.1986
A very good book about the Japanese car industry covering all major brands. It has a
large section on Nissan, the Silvia is mentioned, but only breifly. Mostly all the photos are
in Black and white. I think it is still available.
THE RECKONING
by David Halberstam
published by Bantam Books London 1987
"How Japan beat the United States in the auto industry war and rewrote the rules of
international buisness competition."  This book explores the difference between Japan end the USA by examining the history and buisness practises of Nissan and Ford.
No photos and no mention of the Silvia but it does have one of the most thoroughly researched corporate histories of Nissan (and Ford) you will ever see.
NISSAN SILVIA RESOURCE BOOK
compiled by Alan Bent
I can't forget to mention this book! This is a book that I compiled and wrote myself. It is intended as a reference book for the owners of the Nissan Silvia, but it will also be of interest to anyone wanting to learn more about the Silvia. For more information about this book click here .
DATSUN ROADSTER PARTS CATALOG
printed by Rallye Enterprises Ltd.
Rallye Enterprises is a buisness in the USA run by a major Early Datsun nut and
specialises in parts for Fairladies. There is practically nothing these guys can't get for a  Fairlady. Their parts catalog is very detailed containing many exploded views
reprinted from original Nissan parts books.(exploded views are extremely useful when
rebuilding things such as carbs, steering boxes etc.) It also has heaps of great tips and
tricks to keep your car going, plus road tests and pretty pictures of Fairladys. There is nothing in the book that is specifically for the Silvia, but because the Silvia is mechanically identical to the Fairlady 1600 the technical and mechanical information is quite useful for Silvia owners. You can order it from Rallye Enterprises, P.O.Box 367, Graham, Washington,USA, 98338. Or e-mail Dann at Rallye@datsunroadster.com
FAIRLADY-1
published by Neko Publishing Co. Ltd.
Fairlady-1 is the first book in a 3 book series about Datsun Sports Cars. Fairlady-2 and
Fairlady-3 are mostly about Z cars. Fairlady-1 is about the Fairlady 1500, 1600, 2000, the
Silvia and the 240Z. It is a spectacular book, with many detailed photos of each model,
including many close-up photos. It probably makes facinating reading too. I wouldn't
know because the only thing wrong with the book is that it's all printed in Japanese!
You can still learn lots about the cars as the Japanese use the same number system as
we do. Even still, it's worth getting just for the pictures. A large section of the book is dedicated to the Silvia.
Oh, the other problem with the book is that it's enormously expensive. Don't expect much change out of $100.
DATSUN 311-1600 & 2000 SPORTS CAR
published by Chilton's
This is a reprint of the factory workshop manuals for the Fairlady 1600 and Fairlady 2000. To the best of my knowledge Nissan never printed a Workshop manual specifically for the Silvia, because the Silvia is mechanically identical to the Fairlady 1600 they just used the Fairlady manual for the Silvia. So this is effectively a reprint of the Silvia manual. The factory manuals aren't the best, but there is a lot of useful information.
DATSUN 311-1600 & 2000 SPORTS CAR
published by Motorbooks International
Basically the same as the book listed above. This is a reprint of the factory workshop manuals for the Fairlady 1600 and Fairlady 2000.
***COMING  SOON***
Phill Brook is working on a new book on pre-1970 Datsun sports cars. It should be out in
early / mid 2000. Keep an eye out for it, it sounds like it will be well worth having. It will be listed here as soon as it becomes available.

Nissan Motor Co. Literature
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In this section you will find information about various books and promotional materials printed by the Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. for the Silvia.
Silvia owner's manual (English version) Publication # 16141 (101301)
a 37 page booklet that was supplied with the Silvia when new. All text is in English.
Silvia owner's manual (Japanese version) Publication # (no number is shown)
a 48 page booklet that was supplied with the Silvia when new. All text is in Japanese. This booklet is larger and more detailed than the English language version.
Silvia parts catalog - Publication # C-026 printed in 1965
a 59 page parts book featuring close-up detailed photos of the various sections of the car, rather than the exploded view diagrams used in the majotity of early Nissan parts books.
Datsun Sports Car Model SP(L)311 Service Manual - Pub. # 45121(008318)
To the best of my knowledge a service manual specifically for the Silvia was never printed. Because the Fairlady 1600 (SP311) is mechanically identical to the Silvia, the Fairlady 1600 manual is used to work on the Silvia.
Datsun Sports Car Model SP(L)311 Service Manual - Pub. # (11230160)
This is the same as the above manual except that it is updated to include both the initial 3 main bearing engine and the new 5 main bearing engine.
Introduction of Nissan Silvia - Service Bulletin
It is not known whether this book actually exists! Service bulletins were printed and distributed to all Nissan dealers to supply them with details about each new model and also to advise about any changes in the specification of any existing models. Theoretically this book should exist, but I have never seen one, and nor has anyone I know.
Maintenance Handbook - Publication # 36111 (10570900)
A booklet that was supplied with the Silvia (and other Nissan/Datsun cars from this era) that contains a log book with service details and the warranty papers for the car.
Silvia Sales Brochure - Publication # PE603-611210
a 4 page, 4 colour sales brochure with "Crisp Look", "Datsun Coupe 1600" on the cover with a Japanese couple standing next to the car. Text is in English.
Silvia Sales Brochure - Publication # PE641-503250
Identical to the above brochure except that it also lists the Nissan Motor Corporation in USA addresses on the back. This is highly unusual considering the Silvia was never sold in the USA.
Silvia Sales Brochure - Publication # (no number shown)
Printed in Australia and showing the address of the Nissan Motor Distributors (Australia). It uses many of the photos from #PE603-611210 but is a different design. Cover says "Crisp Look", "Datsun 1600 Coupe" and "Datsun- leads in automotive design". Also has a photo of 2 golf bags that allegedly came out of the boot of the car.
Silvia Press Photo - No Publication number - From 1965
Press photo of the "Nissan Silvia/Datsun Coupe 1500"
Sales Brochure with the Silvia and Fairlady - No Publication Number - 1966
Brochure from Belgium titled "This is Datsun". Flemish text.
Silvia Press Photos - No Publication Numbers - From 1967
2 x colour press photos of the "CSP311 - Nissan Silvia/Coupe 1600"
Silvia Colour Press Slides - No Publication Numbers - From 1967
3 colour transparency slides, 2 featuring a Silvia Gold coloured Silvia on a country road and one of a white Silvia on a concrete pavement with a concrete wall in the background.
Silvia Dealer Showroom Poster - No Publication Number - Circa 1965
A colour poster issued to dealers to promote the Silvia. Has the same photo as the cover of the sales brochure (Publication # PE603-611210), with a photo of a Silvia with a Japanese couple with a blue background. Has the words "New Products" printed on the top and "Datsun Coupe 1600 ("Silvia")", "2-Seater, 1,595cc, 96hp (SAE)" printed on the bottom.
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