Author Topic: Solved - NEH 5340: Denka EV by Denka Manufacturing Co / N.E.C.  (Read 601 times)

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Offline Carnut

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Solved - NEH 5340: Denka EV by Denka Manufacturing Co / N.E.C.
« on: October 23, 2018, 06:18:44 AM »
What's this car and who made it, for 1 point?:

Remember - solving puzzles using 'Google Search by Image' is BANNED on AutoPuzzles!
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Offline Carnut

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Re: NEH 5340
« Reply #1 on: November 06, 2018, 11:50:15 AM »
Experts?
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Offline gte4289

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Re: NEH 5340
« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2018, 12:42:23 PM »
Denka made by NEC (Nippon Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Co., Ltd.)

Offline Carnut

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Re: NEH 5340
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2018, 02:17:17 PM »
Denka made by NEC (Nippon Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Co., Ltd.)

That's the car, although I have a different name for the manufacturer.
Locked for you to have another look..
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Offline gte4289

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Re: NEH 5340
« Reply #4 on: November 07, 2018, 04:29:24 AM »
Denka made by NEC (Nippon Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Co., Ltd.)

That's the car, although I have a different name for the manufacturer.
Locked for you to have another look..
When using the Latin alphabet to refer to an East Asian company (that has not yet adopted a standard romanization of its name), we have to keep in mind that there will be multiple ways to express the company's name. Generally, these will be:

1. with the writing system(s) in use in the country of origin (e.g., Japanese, Chinese, Korean);

2. with a direct, phonetic romanization;

3. with a partially translated romanization;

4. with a fully translated version; and

5. alternative versions of each of these.

In the present case, the manufacturer of the puzzle automobile was (at the time) named 日本電気株式会社. This breaks down as:

- 日本 (phonetic = "Nihon"; usually written as "Nippon"; translation = "Japan")
- 電気 (phonetic = "Denki"; translation = "Electric")
- 株式 (phonetic = "Kabushiki"; translation = "Stock")
- 会社 (phonetic = "Gaisha"; translation = "Company") (usually written in combined form as "Kabushikigaisha" and translated as "Ltd" or "Corporation")

By the time the puzzle vehicle was manufactured, this company had already adopted the standard romanization/English translation, "Nippon Electric Company, Limited" or simply "NEC." Even so, I have seen romanizations of the company's name as "Nihon Denki Kabushikigaisha," "Nippon Denki Kabushikigaisha," "Nihon Electric Corporation" and even just "Nihondenki."

I have also seen sources that refer to the short-lived vehicle manufacturing branch of this company as "日本 電気 自動車 製造 株式会社" (phonetic = "Nihon Denki Jidōsha Seizō Kabushikigaisha" (usually romanized/translated as "Nippon Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Co., Ltd.").

The romanized version of the company name you have should either be one of those I've mentioned above or a variation thereof.




Offline gte4289

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Re: NEH 5340
« Reply #5 on: November 07, 2018, 04:32:18 AM »
By the way, this is the same NEC that exists today as a multinational electronics and telecommunications conglomerate.

Offline Carnut

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Re: NEH 5340
« Reply #6 on: November 07, 2018, 06:41:17 AM »
OK, thanks for the clarification!
I actually got the picture from a Japanese site, where everything was in Japanese, then I translated both the name of the car and its manufacturer using Google Translate.
The manufacturer came up as "Denka Manufacturing Co.", which seems to mean Electric Manufacturing Co.?
Maybe this was before it became NEC, but I don't know since no dates were mentioned, or not that I found anyway.
I think in view of what you've written I'll call it solved - well done.
What strikes me is how few English/Western language sites there are about these Japanese electric cars from the 1940s/early 1950s.  It's almost impossible to find information about them except using the Japanese language (thanks Heaven for Google Translate!)
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Offline autospeurder

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Re: Solved - NEH 5340: Denka EV by Denka Manufacturing Co / N.E.C.
« Reply #7 on: November 08, 2018, 07:02:42 AM »
In which year was this car (approximately) produced

Offline Carnut

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Re: NEH 5340
« Reply #8 on: November 08, 2018, 07:19:35 AM »
The manufacturer came up as "Denka Manufacturing Co.", which seems to mean Electric Manufacturing Co.?
Maybe this was before it became NEC, but I don't know since no dates were mentioned, or not that I found anyway.

As I said, no date seems to be mentioned on the site where I found it, which is a bit odd.
But I guess it was around 1947/8.
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