The 80's, when every automotive engineer had a box of straight edges and little more. People forget how radical the Taurus/Sable twins were for their time.
My best friend's family when i was growing up bought (2) brand new 1987 Stanzas from our local Nissan dealer. One was the Stanza GXE 4-door as in this video with the 5 speed in Burgandy exterior and interior. His wife's car was the 5-door Hatchback design(Not shown here) in Beige exterior/interior with optional 4 speed automatic. Both were very elegant cars for their day. His GXE had the optional Moonroof which really made it fun to drive.
@@nickbar8645 my mother also had a 92 sentra... Traded for the 93 stanza altima because i was getting too long for the sentra, and stepdad is 6'6"... The altima aint much bigger, tbh...
My sister had the next generation of the Stanza before it became the Altima. It was a fantastic car and the blue plush interior was beautiful and so comfortable.
I had the 93 Altima, built in 92. It even had a sticker on the trunk that said Stanza Altima. Drove that little car from 1999 to 2017 and around 280,000 miles. Great car
@@jeremyb4493 As you mentioned you had one of the very early Altimas just as they were changing over from the Stanzas. To have the nameplate, "Stanza Altima" is extremely rare. I've never seen one labeled that way.
basshead maybe the stanza wasn’t the the pinnacle of the Nissan line at the time but I’d bet it was a hell of a lot more reliable than anything they build today. Also look at the other cars from the time like the Maxima, Z car, Q45 and a lot of JDM products and it’s clear that Nissan has gone down hill.
I really think some of these 1980s cars were very handsome. It seems like every modern car has some weird awkward design decision, whereas these were just simple and elegant.
@@JDMHaze my cousin Andrea first car was a 1997 Stanza Altima SE. Had a 2006 Stanza Altima 2.5S in 2014 and something went out. Now she currently drives a 2017 Nissan Pathfinder SV in ruby claret red pearl.
In ‘93 during Altima’s first year release, it’s called Altima Stanza. The Stanza name eventually was dropped. Sort of like what Toyota did with the Celica Supra name.
David Conde I've seen the commercials for the very first Altima. At no time is "Stanza" uttered as part of the name. It has always been known publicly as the "Altima".
I am old enough to remember this review when it first played. Amazing how far Car's have come; back when we thought an inside release for the fuel door was some kind of luxury feature.
Kevin Barry it still is. A lot of cars and trucks no longer have this basic feature. They stopped caring about nice things on cars when they realized they could just shove a touch screen into one, not put any of those cool little features in to save money, and call it a day.
My dad had a 1991 with a manual trans. Was a fun little car lasted forever and looked great in a dark charcoal metallic with some American racing wheels
Good choice. Mine was an 87 as my first car. It got wrecked and the switched out the transmission into an 88 stanza as my second car. Then traded that in for a Toyota Celica a few years later. Watching this sure brings back memories for sure.
@Frank White people said the body was too heavy for the engine at the time.. when I had mine it would struggle just to get up to speed on the highway.. and passing let alone go up a hill..🤔🤷🤦
33 years ago, 97hp was not bad. indeed, it was the average on vehicles that size. for instance, an accord from that time had around that power figure too.
Different times! Point of reference, my ‘88 Maxima which was on the same platform as this Stanza, had a 3.0 L SOHC V6 instead of the SOHC (I think?) CA20E 4 cylinder. The VG made 160 hp and was considered fast for its day. I think the Maxima was good for a 10 second 0-60 time, though the VG makes it seem faster then it really is. Point of reference, my ‘17 Honda Civic EX-T makes 170 hp from a tiny 1.5 L turbocharged 4 and it’d blow the doors off my Maxima and my Civic isn’t considered fast by any means; competent, yes..... fast, no.
I still think a majority of the Japanese cars of the 80s look good with the "blocky" styling. Hard to believe how small they were compared to today's midsize models.
The 1987-1992 Nissan Stanza is one of my ultimate favorite car in that line up, next to 1987-1993 Maxima SE, 240 SX SE, and the Sentra SE-R. In the early 90's era. I like the Stanza SE with the 5 speed manual 2.4L inline 4, the color have to be red, dark grey, and black.
I agree, the Nissan's from the 80's and the 90's era were awesome. I'm not a fan of today's Nissan's though mostly because of their problematic CVT'S, too many crossovers, and with the exception of the GT-R, 370Z and Maxima, most of the current Nissan line is just boring.
The 2017 Nissan Sentra SR and the Nismo trubocharged 1.6L with 6 Speed manual I say is pretty cool. They could have put a 2.0L turbocharged motor to make it more sporty and maybe 200+horsepower to match up with the Honda Civic SI
Let's see no stop/start, no gasoline direct injection problems, no excessive oil consumption, no turbo failures, no lack of a spare tire, no beeping noise for things like "lane departure", no awful "electronic" parking brake, no digital shifter, no "I-Drive" rotary knob or "touch-pad" controls, no fake exhaust tips, no 9 speed transmission... I love these old cars!
Nice-looking car. Used to see so many back in the day. At least I could distinguish between the car models back then, unlike the ones today. SUV heaven, or hell, now.
@@JDMHaze Same here because they made such good cars, and now they're not. A mechanic I follow on UA-cam named "Scotty Kilmer" said that Nissan was a good brand before the year 2000, but after year 2000 was when they partnered with Renault. I think they did that because they were having financial issues and partnered with Renault to help them out if I'm not mistaken. Scotty Kilmer said something along those lines, I could be wrong. Need to check again, because he's not a fan of Nissan anymore.
one. there woudn't have been a nissan in the 21st century if not for Renault and two. Nissan's were junk cars in the 90s so-so humdrum cars in the 80s, whilst they became higher quality performance machines again in the 00s thanks to their partnership and your follow-ship of the brand.
Motor week... You actually did it... Oh my gawd 😍😍 thanks for listening to me.. you have no idea how much I wanted to cry of happiness.. Recently I got rid of my 88 Stanza because I didn't want to see it suffer anyone.... And the fact you uploaded your review of it made my day.. I finally got to see a New Stanza with shiny new metal and paint... Btw my mom's stanza was the same color as the test car brownish gray metallic.. now do the 89 and 90 model year and I will be complete...but yes thank you..
I used to have a 1999 Nissan Altima SE that made it to 205K before I got rid of it. Original engine and transmission. Can’t do that with today’s Altimas and those junk CVTs.
Frank White ummm those engines were designed BEFORE renault changeed anything And any models a few years after Reno took over we're still from the generation before the merger, The VQ 37 is based on the old engine design platform and honestly Nissan engines are pretty good, it's the transmission that's ruining them
Grandma had an ‘87 Stanza GXE value package, loved that car. Had the coldest A/C ever, strong enough to keep 5 people cool across the 120 degree Arizona roads. Reliable & comfortable. I gave it to a friend a few years back who needed some wheels. I saw it on the road not too long ago.
We called it the Bluebird over in the UK & we got a 1.8 turbo ZX too. They were a really reliable range of cars as evidenced by their becoming popular as minicabs.
Had the Nissan Stanza wagon in 1986 and LOVED it. Sliding doors on both sides...amazingly accessible. Today I have a Nissan Xterra and LOVE it. Gas mileage stinks, but it is built like a tank!
Motorweek, I plead, please bring the 1984-87 Honda Civic (and/or Wagovan/wagon) for the next review. A quirky car, where the contemporary review would be interesting to see.
Back when Nissan made quality cars, but I'm not fond of that particular generation's engine's Achilles heel: it's timing belt. I prefer the last generation of Nissan Stanza (1990-1992) in the US Market with the 2.4L KA24E engine (with a timing chain), which put out a decent 138 hp. Coupled with a 5-speed manual transaxle, it was a very fun to drive compact to say the least!
I can attest to that haha.....i got one of these forr free in 2003 because of the timing CHAIN broke at a stop light very minimal to no problem and a head gasket cuz the guy used the wrong coolant but i 13 so it was an experiance to say the least many many do overs till i got it right. but id love to find one for a nice price mine was an 88 and it had the enginnne with 8 spark plugs
Jonny Rocket The 88 CA20E engine would have a timing belt. Blown head gaskets are caused mainly by overheating the engine or poor design on the manufacturer’s part.
These cars were so nice back in the 90s. Nissan used to send out those glossy promotional books and i used to be in fantasy land dreaming about which car i wanted a long with all the features. I stull remember when the Altima debuted circa 1993. They rolled a ball bearing on the car to show its aerodynamics or something. Sentra came years before the Stanza.
I had an 86. Believe it was called T11. The first gen was from 82-86. By 85 it had the European headlights and was fuel injected by 84. It was very reliable, handled very well, even in the snow, and had full gauges. Just don't forget to replace the timing belt!
I actually just bought and won a 1987 Nissan Stanza at a silent auction yesterday for $500, and I am so excited to have my first project car and I plan to restore it fully!
I bought an 86 stanza years ago for $200 cuz the owner couldn’t get it to run.. ended up being a faulty crank angle sensor. Car ran great and was pretty fuel efficient. Gave it to my cousin in 2015 and he still uses it as a backup car. Stout little car. Black with grey interior.
I had an 82 Stanza, got 250k mikes out of it before I sold it, my friend had an 88 or 89 Stanza like this one, I loved it, very comfy and quiet. A/c blew snowballs. My 82 was very nice, it was very comfy also, i think back then the nissans and Toyota’s were trying to prove themselves to American automakers that they could make good reliable comfy cars. My Stanza was the truth!
It was called the Nissan Bluebird in europe and asia and had a reputation for reliability and durability that even rivalled toyota.many are supposedly still doing daily duty in the uk. They were a bit boring, but very comfortable and quiet cruisers. Super solid construction too.
I had an 82, passed down from my dad to me when I was 16, it had the power sunroof and 5 speed, it was very comfy and surprisingly room. Gas was cheap and you could put $5 in the tank and ride all night. Got 250k miles on the car.
This is basically a badge engineered Bluebird that was a CKD from Sunderland, cars that wree a minicabber's dream in the 80s, especially in diesel form, it was the first Nissan built in Sunderland too
Thís was sold as the NISSAN SENTRA in South Africa and I believe, as the NISSAN SUNNY in some other markets including it's country of origin, Japan. Very reliable and quality little cars for their market bracket.
The first generation Altima was officially called the Stanza Altima. Even the Altimas badge at the time had the word Stanza in small letter underneath the word Altima on it. Not sure why Nissan decided to retire the Stanza nameplate for the Altima nameplate.
For the last generation of the Stanza, it had gone to plain Jane styling. Sandwiched between the successful Maxima and Sentra, the Stanza was selling only about 50k units annually. Nissan wanted a greater market share, especially given the success Honda was having with the Accord and Toyota with its Camry. As for the name change, it wasn't exactly clear why the Stanza name was retired at the last minute as it was set to roll out as the Stanza and not Altima.
my family had one of these ours had every feature i think you could get: sunroof, the really good calrion made stereo/tape deck you could "scan" your tape - i t would play the few seconds of each song, pus the ability to tell it how many songs to go forward or back it even had a car alarm, it was slow (first car i got to drive at 16), it was slow but the inside was fanastic..
That headrest! Why don't they do that adjustment for forward and back anymore? I have an Altima and sometimes I wish the headrest was just an inch further back so it's not digging into my head.
The greatest Stanza I ever saw was as s kid in the early 90s ....remember when it was popular to put a 6" chrome or gold plate along the bottom of the doors. It said STANZA-SIDE *gunshots* Hahah and the matching gold crown and kleenex box 🤣
I don’t know what John Davis was smoking. I had this exact car - a 1987 Stanza GXE - and it was the worst piece of garbage I ever owned. First, it was DANGEROUSLY underpowered - the 97 hp engine came from the previous Stanza, a smaller and lighter car. Even MW measured 0-60 at 12.5 seconds. Merging onto a busy highway meant taking your life in your hands. There’s a reason why the next Stanza model had a 138 hp engine. Second, while there were a lot of good interior features, the car was tinny as a Coke can. Third, the skinny tires made handling a joke. This model only lasted three years, from 1987 to 1989, before being replaced by a much better car. I’ve owned many cars over the past 30+ years but this car is by far the worst.
They used the same engine in the Nissan Stanza Wagon LOL. 12.5 was with manual, probably a second or 2 slower with the auto. I also recall Toyota brought out the 16 valve 2.0 for the Camry along with its redesign and sales took off. By the way, the next Gen though better wound up being too fuelish for a compact
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Personally, I prefer 'square and stylish' over 'jellybean' derivatives.
The 80's, when every automotive engineer had a box of straight edges and little more. People forget how radical the Taurus/Sable twins were for their time.
Can definitely agree, such as with the 1995 to 1996 Elantra, 1995 to 1996 Caravan, and 1995 to 1996 Taurus.
McRocket because as ole Huey Lewis said, “It’s hip to be square”!😂
Same here.
Straight lines in designing is the best
I would appreciate more of these retro videos in this quarantine time 😷
They always make my day
My best friend's family when i was growing up bought (2) brand new 1987 Stanzas from our local Nissan dealer. One was the Stanza GXE 4-door as in this video with the 5 speed in Burgandy exterior and interior. His wife's car was the 5-door Hatchback design(Not shown here) in Beige exterior/interior with optional 4 speed automatic. Both were very elegant cars for their day. His GXE had the optional Moonroof which really made it fun to drive.
My uncle had the Stanze and I remember it was really elegant at that time!My Father had a Volkswagon Jetta!
Before Nissan has the Altima, there was the Stanza.
Had
This was a compact. The Sentra would go on to replace it
@@Cody-ch2lc Nah, the Sentra already existed at the time.
@@nickbar8645 my mother also had a 92 sentra... Traded for the 93 stanza altima because i was getting too long for the sentra, and stepdad is 6'6"... The altima aint much bigger, tbh...
Datsun Stanza. Nissan Altima. The first year of Altima was the Stanza Altima for some odd legal reason.
My sister had the next generation of the Stanza before it became the Altima. It was a fantastic car and the blue plush interior was beautiful and so comfortable.
I had the 93 Altima, built in 92. It even had a sticker on the trunk that said Stanza Altima. Drove that little car from 1999 to 2017 and around 280,000 miles. Great car
@@jeremyb4493 As you mentioned you had one of the very early Altimas just as they were changing over from the Stanzas. To have the nameplate, "Stanza Altima" is extremely rare. I've never seen one labeled that way.
This car comes from a time when Nissan actually cared about building quality automobiles.
Zach May This comes from a time when they weren’t partnered with Renault.
Frank White Nissan doesn't compare to Toyota or Honda now a days.
+Zach May Seems like you didn't watch the video.
+Zach May Mediocre handling, terrible trans and clutch, slow, ugly. No quality here.
basshead maybe the stanza wasn’t the the pinnacle of the Nissan line at the time but I’d bet it was a hell of a lot more reliable than anything they build today. Also look at the other cars from the time like the Maxima, Z car, Q45 and a lot of JDM products and it’s clear that Nissan has gone down hill.
1:39 No auto journalist today would ever share that information, for us common folk who work on our own cars, John Davis is the real OG
In america. Brittish top gear called it as it is.
Quattro 4 what do you mean
Very good looking. A shame most of them have disappeared.
My mom had one in the same color as the test car but it was 4 speed auto with overdrive and no moon roof.
I really think some of these 1980s cars were very handsome. It seems like every modern car has some weird awkward design decision, whereas these were just simple and elegant.
Still have mine to this day, I miss what nissan used to be
My aunt had a 1990 Nissan Stanza for 17 years...That car was so reliable
JoshBe FreeTV my aunt had 1 and it held up,, the odometer would freeze occasionally lol
@@JDMHaze yeah, the tach/rev counter would have a mind of its own moving back and forth lol😂😂😂
Kevron Harris yeapp!!!
@@JDMHaze my cousin Andrea first car was a 1997 Stanza Altima SE. Had a 2006 Stanza Altima 2.5S in 2014 and something went out. Now she currently drives a 2017 Nissan Pathfinder SV in ruby claret red pearl.
My mom still has her 93 altima... 120k+ all original. Starts EVERY time...
My mother is still driving her 93 STANZA Altima...
It's either a Stanza or an Altima. It can't be both.
In ‘93 during Altima’s first year release, it’s called Altima Stanza. The Stanza name eventually was dropped. Sort of like what Toyota did with the Celica Supra name.
BroodallyHonest yes it can
David Conde I've seen the commercials for the very first Altima. At no time is "Stanza" uttered as part of the name. It has always been known publicly as the "Altima".
My cousin had a 1997 Stanza Altima SE as her first car.
I am old enough to remember this review when it first played. Amazing how far Car's have come; back when we thought an inside release for the fuel door was some kind of luxury feature.
Kevin Barry it still is. A lot of cars and trucks no longer have this basic feature. They stopped caring about nice things on cars when they realized they could just shove a touch screen into one, not put any of those cool little features in to save money, and call it a day.
@@LrulestheworldM8 my 2017 Hyundai Sonata still has one. It's good for security
I love Nissans those Stanzas were some great cars the 1990-92 were my favorite.
My dad had a 1991 with a manual trans. Was a fun little car lasted forever and looked great in a dark charcoal metallic with some American racing wheels
“Noo!! Not my Nissan Stanza! Doug’s gonna kill me”
"Who's Doug?"
damn man you got me, that's why i'm here
even today it looks good. I loved my stanza. we had an '87 from 1990 to 96.
Funny how MW seemed to always test a manual trans in about everything, even on cars where 98% of them were sold w/ automatics. lol
The Altima is basically a stanza.
@@theKevronHarris Replaced in '93. Yes.
@FiatDuster yes, 30% manuals in US, 90% in Europe.
@@theKevronHarris which are basically a bluebird.
That’s because they are enthusiasts.
I had a few 90's Stanzas back in the day. Damn good cars. I had timing chain tensioner issues with all three. The 2.4 was bulletproof other than that.
If there was a new Stanza, then it'll probably be plagued with CVT problems.
True. The Altima is the Stanza BTW.
I mean, it's a Nissan so of course it would have that horrid CVT they put in everything.
One of Ford's better moments was finally admitting CVTs were a good idea on paper, but not so much in the real world and dropping them.
@@christopherconard2831 but then they decided to make the mustang a crossover and kill all cars. Garbage brand in 2020
@@kirbyswarp wish Ford shouldn't done that!
I had an '89 and I loved it so much. It was my 1st car...
Good choice. Mine was an 87 as my first car. It got wrecked and the switched out the transmission into an 88 stanza as my second car. Then traded that in for a Toyota Celica a few years later. Watching this sure brings back memories for sure.
“Substantial” 97hp lol
Turbocharged it!
Actually brochures says 94 Hp so this is a big needed boost..
@Frank White people said the body was too heavy for the engine at the time.. when I had mine it would struggle just to get up to speed on the highway.. and passing let alone go up a hill..🤔🤷🤦
33 years ago, 97hp was not bad. indeed, it was the average on vehicles that size. for instance, an accord from that time had around that power figure too.
Different times! Point of reference, my ‘88 Maxima which was on the same platform as this Stanza, had a 3.0 L SOHC V6 instead of the SOHC (I think?) CA20E 4 cylinder. The VG made 160 hp and was considered fast for its day. I think the Maxima was good for a 10 second 0-60 time, though the VG makes it seem faster then it really is. Point of reference, my ‘17 Honda Civic EX-T makes 170 hp from a tiny 1.5 L turbocharged 4 and it’d blow the doors off my Maxima and my Civic isn’t considered fast by any means; competent, yes..... fast, no.
That was my first car back in the early 90s and geez I loved that car.
Nissan Stanza is nice and beautiful car
I still think a majority of the Japanese cars of the 80s look good with the "blocky" styling. Hard to believe how small they were compared to today's midsize models.
Exactly. My dad had an '89 Camry, I think the new Corollas are larger than that car was.
"CANTSTANZYA"
Worlds are colliding!
All we need to do is to find an old Stanza with ‘Tropic of Capricorn’ inside.
The 1987-1992 Nissan Stanza is one of my ultimate favorite car in that line up, next to 1987-1993 Maxima SE, 240 SX SE, and the Sentra SE-R. In the early 90's era. I like the Stanza SE with the 5 speed manual 2.4L inline 4, the color have to be red, dark grey, and black.
I agree, the Nissan's from the 80's and the 90's era were awesome. I'm not a fan of today's Nissan's though mostly because of their problematic CVT'S, too many crossovers, and with the exception of the GT-R, 370Z and Maxima, most of the current Nissan line is just boring.
The 2017 Nissan Sentra SR and the Nismo trubocharged 1.6L with 6 Speed manual I say is pretty cool. They could have put a 2.0L turbocharged motor to make it more sporty and maybe 200+horsepower to match up with the Honda Civic SI
I had a funny Venture Brother's reference comment here but they deleted it...
Good times, we had nice cars and non corona virus
Let's see no stop/start, no gasoline direct injection problems, no excessive oil consumption, no turbo failures, no lack of a spare tire, no beeping noise for things like "lane departure", no awful "electronic" parking brake, no digital shifter, no "I-Drive" rotary knob or "touch-pad" controls, no fake exhaust tips, no 9 speed transmission... I love these old cars!
One of the saddest day of my life when I ran my stanza while overheating and blew the engine cuz I was an idiot
Ohhhh you silly goose.. don't do that again
OMG Ihad a 95 Altima 5sp FREAKING LOVED that guy....did the same thing...DOA after that.
@@bilbobaggins4710 you think
Good riddance.
A few years later they had the 2.4L 12 valve out of the 240sx. Big improvement.
I remember when the Altima first came out it had a Stanza badge along with the Altima badge.
Nice-looking car. Used to see so many back in the day. At least I could distinguish between the car models back then, unlike the ones today. SUV heaven, or hell, now.
When Nissan was quality and reliable before they turned to shit partnering with Renault.
Sami Uddin renault RUINED nissan , It pisses me off
@@JDMHaze Same here because they made such good cars, and now they're not. A mechanic I follow on UA-cam named "Scotty Kilmer" said that Nissan was a good brand before the year 2000, but after year 2000 was when they partnered with Renault. I think they did that because they were having financial issues and partnered with Renault to help them out if I'm not mistaken. Scotty Kilmer said something along those lines, I could be wrong. Need to check again, because he's not a fan of Nissan anymore.
@@SamiUddin13 while he is correct about modern Nissan, Scotty is an idiot.
@@kirbyswarp what's Scotty an idiot about?
one. there woudn't have been a nissan in the 21st century if not for Renault and two. Nissan's were junk cars in the 90s so-so humdrum cars in the 80s, whilst they became higher quality performance machines again in the 00s thanks to their partnership and your follow-ship of the brand.
Motor week... You actually did it... Oh my gawd 😍😍 thanks for listening to me.. you have no idea how much I wanted to cry of happiness.. Recently I got rid of my 88 Stanza because I didn't want to see it suffer anyone.... And the fact you uploaded your review of it made my day.. I finally got to see a New Stanza with shiny new metal and paint... Btw my mom's stanza was the same color as the test car brownish gray metallic.. now do the 89 and 90 model year and I will be complete...but yes thank you..
This was sold as the "Bluebird" in Europe. There was also a previous generation Stanza but it was below the previous generation Bluebird in the range.
The stanza looks like a baby Maxima
Kevron Harris it was,, This was the altima before the altima was the Ultima
That's what the video mentioned, Captain Obvious.
Same platform, the Nissan “U” platform. My ‘88 Maxima is a PU11.
The Stanza and Maxima chassis parts were the same like the struts.
Back when Nissan made quality cars and not the garbage they’ve been putting out since Renault took over.
Michael Dierks i got the LAST maxima before EuroTrash motor took over as my 1st car,,, 2000 maxima and i loved it
I used to have a 1999 Nissan Altima SE that made it to 205K before I got rid of it. Original engine and transmission. Can’t do that with today’s Altimas and those junk CVTs.
Cameron Adams 99-91 altima was the LAST generation of solid altima
Frank White ummm those engines were designed BEFORE renault changeed anything And any models a few years after Reno took over we're still from the generation before the merger, The VQ 37 is based on the old engine design platform and honestly Nissan engines are pretty good, it's the transmission that's ruining them
Frank White drive a non GTR Nissan with a CVT and you’ll see what we mean. Go drive a Versa, Altima or Sentra.
1:43 John: A STICKY ANTI RUST-COAT ON THE ENGINE MAKES ANY WORK A MESSY AFFAIR! LOL
Fortunately, the engine works pretty well, despite being sticky. Ironically, it's the _not_-sticky stick that harms performance! 😁😂
We can take my Nissan Stanza. It's grey...mostly...
Love that weird head rest adjustment
Grandma had an ‘87 Stanza GXE value package, loved that car. Had the coldest A/C ever, strong enough to keep 5 people cool across the 120 degree Arizona roads. Reliable & comfortable. I gave it to a friend a few years back who needed some wheels. I saw it on the road not too long ago.
How did it do on the hills with that load?
We called it the Bluebird over in the UK & we got a 1.8 turbo ZX too. They were a really reliable range of cars as evidenced by their becoming popular as minicabs.
Nissan-Constanza
elkofcanada :Costanza
The perfect daily driver to report for duty at the Monarch's Mighty Flying Cocoon.
My parents bought a GXE in '88. Great car. Drove it until it was practically falling apart... in 2019. Miss that car.
Had the Nissan Stanza wagon in 1986 and LOVED it. Sliding doors on both sides...amazingly accessible.
Today I have a Nissan Xterra and LOVE it. Gas mileage stinks, but it is built like a tank!
Until it may need water pump repair/replacement.
@@toyoscio I think those were the earlier model years
Thank you for these videos
I always loved this generation of Nissan Stanza. I'd still own one.
"What? No, My Stanza! Mark is gonna Kill Me! I'm not on my payments yeeaat."
I love these retro reviews!😍😍😍
That Stanza is ‘ballin with those rims!
Motorweek, I plead, please bring the 1984-87 Honda Civic (and/or Wagovan/wagon) for the next review. A quirky car, where the contemporary review would be interesting to see.
Back when Nissan made quality cars, but I'm not fond of that particular generation's engine's Achilles heel: it's timing belt. I prefer the last generation of Nissan Stanza (1990-1992) in the US Market with the 2.4L KA24E engine (with a timing chain), which put out a decent 138 hp. Coupled with a 5-speed manual transaxle, it was a very fun to drive compact to say the least!
I can attest to that haha.....i got one of these forr free in 2003 because of the timing CHAIN broke at a stop light very minimal to no problem and a head gasket cuz the guy used the wrong coolant but i 13 so it was an experiance to say the least many many do overs till i got it right. but id love to find one for a nice price mine was an 88 and it had the enginnne with 8 spark plugs
Jonny Rocket The 88 CA20E engine would have a timing belt. Blown head gaskets are caused mainly by overheating the engine or poor design on the manufacturer’s part.
My ex-girlfriend had a red one back in the day. The car was fantastic. The independent rear suspension really made the car handle well.
In the Philippines, this model was called Nissan Maxima and was debuted in 1987 until mid-1990.
Aw, Doug's gonna kill me!
It’s powder blue, mostly.
Big fan of this predecessor of the Altima
Back when Nissans were cheap, easy to repair, bulletproof and didn't have CVT transmission.
These cars were so nice back in the 90s. Nissan used to send out those glossy promotional books and i used to be in fantasy land dreaming about which car i wanted a long with all the features. I stull remember when the Altima debuted circa 1993. They rolled a ball bearing on the car to show its aerodynamics or something. Sentra came years before the Stanza.
For whatever reason, I really liked these when I was a kid.
I had one of these and absolutely loved it!!
I owned a 1987 stanza, one of the best cars I’ve ever owned
I had an 86. Believe it was called T11. The first gen was from 82-86. By 85 it had the European headlights and was fuel injected by 84. It was very reliable, handled very well, even in the snow, and had full gauges. Just don't forget to replace the timing belt!
i daily a 87 stanza i love it
I actually just bought and won a 1987 Nissan Stanza at a silent auction yesterday for $500, and I am so excited to have my first project car and I plan to restore it fully!
LOL
That guy closed that mirror fast like Don’t look at me... he’s always silly!!!
I bought an 86 stanza years ago for $200 cuz the owner couldn’t get it to run.. ended up being a faulty crank angle sensor. Car ran great and was pretty fuel efficient. Gave it to my cousin in 2015 and he still uses it as a backup car. Stout little car. Black with grey interior.
My uncle had the Nissan Stanza in the Late 80’s early 90’s and I remember he had it for years 😂
I had an 82 Stanza, got 250k mikes out of it before I sold it, my friend had an 88 or 89 Stanza like this one, I loved it, very comfy and quiet. A/c blew snowballs. My 82 was very nice, it was very comfy also, i think back then the nissans and Toyota’s were trying to prove themselves to American automakers that they could make good reliable comfy cars. My Stanza was the truth!
It was called the Nissan Bluebird in europe and asia and had a reputation for reliability and durability that even rivalled toyota.many are supposedly still doing daily duty in the uk. They were a bit boring, but very comfortable and quiet cruisers. Super solid construction too.
I like the generation after this. I wish I could find one to restomod it
I had an 85 loaded with auto great car!! Wish I still had it!
Nice shot of the old Bonita avenue.
Nissan's biggest customer back then was the consumer. Nissan's biggest customer now is Enterprise, Hertz, and National.
3:51 this is way ahead of its time, and much better than most of the current head restraints.
Back in the early 90s my neighbor had a blue on blue 88 Stanza. They washed it every week.
I had an 82, passed down from my dad to me when I was 16, it had the power sunroof and 5 speed, it was very comfy and surprisingly room. Gas was cheap and you could put $5 in the tank and ride all night. Got 250k miles on the car.
I'd love to be able to find a clean 5sp out there some day
Wow, that’s what I drove for my first car!
This is basically a badge engineered Bluebird that was a CKD from Sunderland, cars that wree a minicabber's dream in the 80s, especially in diesel form, it was the first Nissan built in Sunderland too
My dad had the 1987 Burgundy Stanza great reliable car
Thís was sold as the NISSAN SENTRA in South Africa and I believe, as the NISSAN SUNNY in some other markets including it's country of origin, Japan. Very reliable and quality little cars for their market bracket.
A real gem, wasn't it?
The first generation Altima was officially called the Stanza Altima. Even the Altimas badge at the time had the word Stanza in small letter underneath the word Altima on it. Not sure why Nissan decided to retire the Stanza nameplate for the Altima nameplate.
For the last generation of the Stanza, it had gone to plain Jane styling. Sandwiched between the successful Maxima and Sentra, the Stanza was selling only about 50k units annually. Nissan wanted a greater market share, especially given the success Honda was having with the Accord and Toyota with its Camry. As for the name change, it wasn't exactly clear why the Stanza name was retired at the last minute as it was set to roll out as the Stanza and not Altima.
2:05 someone shakes the car while the driver pretends to be driving and shifting gears...hahaha nice i miss 80´s
This car still looks great!
How could I have forgotten this one?!!!!!!
made in oppama
Yokosuka japan
小学5年生の時に社会科見学で日産追浜工場でこのUSスタンザとオースターを造ってるのを見学させてもらいました。
帰りにお土産として日産のロゴ入りの三角定規セットをもらったのが良い思い出です笑
These cars were very well built! Solid and could practically weld the hood shut and just drive this thing lol
my family had one of these ours had every feature i think you could get: sunroof, the really good calrion made stereo/tape deck you could "scan" your tape - i t would play the few seconds of each song, pus the ability to tell it how many songs to go forward or back it even had a car alarm, it was slow (first car i got to drive at 16), it was slow but the inside was fanastic..
Nissan has quality cars during this time. Now. At our scrapyard we see so many of the newer CVT trans cars/suvs come in needing 3k+ work. Sad indeed.
That headrest! Why don't they do that adjustment for forward and back anymore? I have an Altima and sometimes I wish the headrest was just an inch further back so it's not digging into my head.
i saw a 91 Stanza on the road a few days ago, it was VERY beat up, but the car still runs.
Awesome video, thank you motorweek
Not to be confused with the Costanza (sometimes referred to as Vandelay) which was introduced 3 years later.
M. Forest : and treated itself like an amusement park...
The Bluebird was a great car, but there's no denying it, the replacement Primera was a real game-changer.
I loved my old nissan bluebird that's what we called them in the uk mine was 88 e plate 2.0 glx ..
The greatest Stanza I ever saw was as s kid in the early 90s ....remember when it was popular to put a 6" chrome or gold plate along the bottom of the doors. It said STANZA-SIDE *gunshots*
Hahah and the matching gold crown and kleenex box 🤣
I don’t know what John Davis was smoking. I had this exact car - a 1987 Stanza GXE - and it was the worst piece of garbage I ever owned. First, it was DANGEROUSLY underpowered - the 97 hp engine came from the previous Stanza, a smaller and lighter car. Even MW measured 0-60 at 12.5 seconds. Merging onto a busy highway meant taking your life in your hands. There’s a reason why the next Stanza model had a 138 hp engine. Second, while there were a lot of good interior features, the car was tinny as a Coke can. Third, the skinny tires made handling a joke. This model only lasted three years, from 1987 to 1989, before being replaced by a much better car. I’ve owned many cars over the past 30+ years but this car is by far the worst.
They used the same engine in the Nissan Stanza Wagon LOL. 12.5 was with manual, probably a second or 2 slower with the auto. I also recall Toyota brought out the 16 valve 2.0 for the Camry along with its redesign and sales took off.
By the way, the next Gen though better wound up being too fuelish for a compact