Prince Prince Sedan History

The Prince Sedan (internally coded AISH, later ALSIP) was the car that put Prince Motor Company on the map. After the rising cost of lead-acid batteries made the company's earlier Tama electric vehicle uneconomic post-Korean War, Prince commissioned a new 1.5-litre gasoline engine from Fuji Precision Industries, completing a prototype in early 1952 and debuting the sedan at exhibition that March.

Positioned as a compact executive car aimed at government and corporate buyers, the Prince Sedan featured a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout and a 4-speed manual gearbox. It sold steadily through 1957 and was succeeded by the first-generation Prince Skyline, which carried the platform philosophy of a premium, well-engineered Japanese passenger car forward.