Best of OPC. Did you know the Stanza wagovan has no pillar between the front and rear doors? That means the entire wall opens up, just like Honda would do with the Element 20 years later. If you can watch the Motorweek video review embedded below without wanting one, you're made of sterner stuff than I.
8 comments:
Want. Need. Must have.
THAT IS TOTALLY COOL. I DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU GOT THAT VIDEO BUT WOW, WHAT A TIME CAPSULE.
And I'm afraid I'm NOT made of sterner stuff than you, because I DO want one. Right now!
Totally freaking amazing!!!!
naah
If it was based on Stanza running gear I don't think you'd want it. The Nissan Stanza was one
of the worst cars ever made. Owners reported such problems as wheel shimmy, excessive tire
whine, premature brake and driveshaft failures. As I mentioned on the Maxima wagon post, the
song "Shake, Rattle, And Roll" effectively described this vehicle. Though it was very innovative,
I think that Nissan should've gotten the bugs out of it first, instead of leaving it to the owners
who got stuck with these rolling problem factories to sort out the issues on their own. That's
why Nissan lost the top spot to Toyota when it came to build quality in the '80's--a situation
from which they never recovered.
Thanks for this excellent post, Tony. I've always thought these were pretty funky cars! But maybe somebody can help me understand something: is there any functional advantage to eliminating the pillar between the front and rear doors?? I'm trying to imagine the Nissan engineers high-fiving each other because this design would appeal to moms who want to more easily load groceries in their cars or to dads who want a versatile camping vehicle. But I don't see any advantage in this design besides easier cleaning of the interior (it would be easier to retrieve small objects that fall under the front seats). And it might actually be more difficult for people of limited mobility to climb into or out of the back seats, since there is nothing structural to grasp.
Thoughts???
pillar between front and rear doors, call it B-pillar
I wanted it way before I saw the video. I can't believe how much that combination of colors, hubcaps, graphic and emblems is working for me. I'd really like to compare it with the mid and late 80s Civic wagon before/if/when I pull the trigger on one of those. Painful, painful, best of. I want a KA engine swapped one!
Nissan prairie in eurooe
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