The Nissan A series of internal combustion gasoline engines have been used in Datsun, Nissan and Premier brand vehicles. Displacements of this four-stroke engine family ranged from 1.0-liter to 1.5-liter and have been produced from 1967 to the present. It is a small-displacement four-cylinder straight engine. It uses a lightweight cast iron block and an aluminum cylinder head, with overhead valves actuated by pushrods.
The Nissan A engine design is a refined, quiet and durable gasoline engine. It appears to be a modern replacement of the earlier iron-headed Nissan E engine and is of similar dimensions. The 1960s E series was an all-new design from newly acquired Aichi Kokuki, and integrated Nissan's improvements to the BMC A-Series engine design in the 1950s (Nissan was a licensee of Austin Motor Company technology). As production continued, 1974 and newer A-series engines have different block castings, with relocated motor mount bosses.
The A10 is a 1.0-liter (988 cc) engine, released in September 1966 in the 1967 model year Datsun 1000. The A10 featured a three main bearing crankshaft. Bore was 73 mm and stroke was 59 mm (same as the Nissan C engine). With a two-barrel Hitachi carburetor and an 8.5 to 1 compression ratio this engine produced 62 bhp (46 kW) at 6,000 rpm and 61.5 lb·ft. of torque (83 Nm). The Datsun 1000 Coupe introduced in Sept 1968, was equipped with an uprated A10 engine boasting a free flowing dual outlet exhaust manifold with increased compression, now 9 to 1. With a revised carburettor, this engine produced 66 bhp (49 kW). Later versions of A10 produced 59 hp (SAE). A belt-driven SOHC version of the A10 was built as the E10 into the early nineties.