The author of the book also has a UA-cam Channel where he talks about italian cars all the time. Its called Roadster Life and he's absolutely brilliant
I had a 1984 Nissan Cherry 1,6 Diesel. Its build quality was excellent, typical Japanese at this time. So maybe Alfa learnt to improve quality standards from Nissan, like many others.
The opposite is true: It was an Italian car with Japanese build quality. A friend of mine had one, a 4-door as I remember, it was written Alfa Romeo on it, it looked boring, sounded like an Alfa and ran quick. Ugly car but quite nice!
@@jurivlk5433 Not quite, they were re-badged as Alfa's that's why it had an Alfa badge on it called the Alfa Romeo Arna. It's a Japanese design built by the Italians
Wow, thank you very much for your appreciation of my book, you've made my day! :) It's been a pleasure to watch your video and see the Arna/Cherry Europe being reviewed objectively, without preconceived notions and trite, stereotypical jokes. Well done and, again, thank you very much for your kind words!
You will surely be the person who changes the fate of the Alfa Romeo Arna. Without your "reevaluation," people's perception of the Arna might have ended with Jeremy Clarkson's "explosive demolition."😢 Now in the 2020s, cars have made great advances, but the "fun of driving" is gone. Since new cars rarely have manual shifts, people in Japan🇯🇵 are so desperate for manual shifts that they are even restoring the bodies of mass-produced and commercial vehicles sold in the 1980s and 1990s to return them to the public roads.😱 There are also similar restoration efforts being undertaken by UA-camrs around the world, so in another five years, I think that the bodies of Arna and Cherry Europe will be "rescued" from the junkyards as subjects for restoration by such hobbyists. At that time, I think your "reevaluation" will be a great force.😁
When I had an Alfa 146, one of my contacts at the local council had an Arna - he used to say we both had Alfas. I called his a Nissan and it drove him insane. I suggested he’d bought the badges at a jumble sale and glued them on! I was such a snob!
Thanks for making an honest review of a car so frequently bashed by people who probably never drove one. It does actually make sense as to why it exists when explained properly, even if the results proved unpopular. And an Italian engine in a Japanese car at least sounds fun!
I had a Nissan cherry as my second car - bulletproof and reliable! 60,000 miles in a few years and only ever had to replace the battery, tyres and brakes! Did me proud!
My Brother had a Sliver Nissan Cherry Car had no problems with it for 10 years then he replace it with a Second Hand Nissan BlueBird 1.8GS. Thank You HubNut for the road test bring back the memory of my youth in the 1980s 👍
Thank you, thank you for reviewing this car, I knew it was coming but hardly anyone would do a review on this car which is practically now gone and see how truly is!
7:05 - Matteo Licata is Roadster Life on UA-cam. His car reviews are awesome, I think it is his strong Italian accent that gives its authenticity ! 👌 . My go to channel for everything Italian ! 🇮🇹
The Alfa Arna a car I use to deal with when I was an apprentice and the cherry turbo what a car that was at 17 I thought they were a rocket ship , good memories . Cracking video 👍🇬🇧
I just remembered something, people think that Cherry with an Alfa engine is odd, the Cherry was also sold as a Holden in Australia, Nissan was desperate for business in those days
Headlamp/indicator design shouts Talbot Horizon or late Sunbeam to me. Sounds great. I remember seeing a one back in my late 1980's MOT testing days, always few and far between, and confusing, as not long before I'd tested an Arna!
A car(Cherry or Arna) I have hoped you would review and again you don't disappoint. . Fantastic review and what an amazing little car. I have to say I agree with you 100% that Matteo's book is a fantastic read as are his other books ...
Ian, you read my mind, I thought you forgot the rear wiper test! I must say this is quite interesting; a ordinary, pedantic Datsun/Nissan which is hiding Alfa Roméo underpinnings, brilliant! Unfortunately, AGAIN, we in the US 🇺🇸 never received this vehicle, so lucky (and envious) that you have this low mileage, well looked after example. The engine sounds quite intoxicating, and adding Alfa Roméo control stalks gives it that unique, Italian experience! Another excellent review, thank you very much!
The way to start them was..Ignore the choke, just one press on the accelerator then release, then turn the key. I often had to go and start my assistants Alfa-Romeo 33 for her in the days before the facelift brought fuel injection.
Had one of these as a runaround/courtesy car at a garage I worked at back in the day. It was the courtesy car that was always last to be picked apart from by the staff. If it was there it was the one I always picked. Was quite saddened when the runaround/courtesy fleet were swapped for Vauxhall astras/cavaliers to make things more modern.
My dad had an arna, I loved it. Never knew the Nissan version had Alfa engine I always thought it had a Nissan engine, fairly obvious now it wouldn’t as it wouldn’t fit without major changes.
My first car of my own was one of these, and I loved it! Such fun to drive, and I was gutted when it was written off in the mid-90s. I still miss it to this day. Also, the ‘weird’ lift on the parcel shelf actually meant that any back seat passengers could access the boot space if you needed something out of it (assuming it wasn’t jam packed) which could be quite handy if anyone wanted drinks or snacks on a long journey.
As an Alfa Romantic, I just couldn't handle the hate on the ARNA. In Green, it looks sensational and it's smaller non 1.7 litre engines was sweeter than a five sugar coffee. Nissan was being treated with disrepect by the Australian and Italian governments as Holden built the car as the Astra and the State wanted shot of Alfa but didn't want it to go to Ford , so Sunderland was Nissans go to plan for success. Fiat killed the car, and I defy anyone to say the car was trash. Reading Car Magazines Good Bad and Ugly had a typically Burgess sarcasm to the Cherry Europe. I know what media mogul rained a torrent of turds on it. The lack of stabilizer bars and the IRS didn't spoil the Sud handling, nor did the 33 suffer because of the Boxers sensational low center of gravity. The Cherry Europe, I'd buy one tomorrow. Incidentally, ex Ford guy Howard Marsden got the whole European Cherry/ Silvia/ Primera thing working cohesively with Opel- style seats, better materials and reliable, econonical engines...the Cherry Turbo was a fine engine package, but the handling took years to perfect as the low weight and poor body strength hurt mist early Datsuns. Nissan UK proved that the English can sort, develope and reliably build great cars. Would that the Italians had partnered with Nissan rather than Fiat to secure Alfa.In my opinion, It was Ford of Europe and Walter Hayes and Bob Lutz that pushed Alfa into Fiat hands. Shame....
Honestly, on those rims with that green stripe, I DO think it looks good. It's a pretty little car that matches the era it was built in. Properly happy about this HubNut video!
Is the Arna book by Matteo from Roadster Life? If so, I’d thoroughly recommend his channel to anyone who has an interest in Italian cars - it’s excellent!
Had a 1.5 and could never understand the bad press - which appeared to have come from those who'd looked at it and immediately decided to hate it. Thank you for the memories. It was a real fun car to drive.. when it worked!
The RS Turbo in your video. Am I the only person that is annoyed by young people thinking a 80s Escort is really old so they put black and silver number plates on ?
Great review of a much maligned and misunderstood car. I recently restored the 1.2 3 door base model that you mentioned was at this years festival of the unexceptional and currently in the finishing stages of my own 1.2 SL 5 door Arna. Glad you’re OK after the off road experience on your way home from Eddie’s, he’s such a great guy, you’ll be back on the road in no time (Mrs Eddie does a great cuppa and a tea cake too 😋)
This car reminds me of the Mazda 323 of the same period. Glad to hear Betty was not badly hurt, it could have been much much worse with that bank you could have gone down.
Mom had a 1983 Nissan Cherry when I was a kid. At the end in 1996 it got water in when driving through puddles because the floor had rusted away. She had to scrap it. The scrapyard said the seats were close to fall through the rotten floor. I still have nostalgia for that car though.
Next time you drive a twin carb Alfasud engine, if you want the best noise ever, unclip the air box lid and take out the filter, close the bonnet and hear the noise , the induction sound is better than Roger Clarke's Mk2 Escort! Great vid again Ian 👍
CONGRATULATIONS for a test that I have been waiting for a long time. I have always believed that the much-blamed ARNA was an economical car with excellent technical content! The result of a tangible improvement in road holding and engine in one of the most popular cars of the time, which had excellent sheet metal but poor road holding!
Great video Ian really enjoyed this for one of the reasons being that my dad still owns a 1985 Alfa Romeo Arna registration plate reads - C 240 CAT after purchasing it from a local car auction in the early 1990s. Although it has not been used for almost 30 years we plan to sell it as a restoration project hopefully soon!
Loved this review, I've always been curious about what these cars were really like. I did think you were going to do a Kevin Mccloud at the end there and go off on some pretentious monologue full of intellectual sounding musings about the car while walking away from it. Thankfully, that didn't happen! Nice work as always Ian.
The Arnas which have been imported to Germany had a typical Alfa Romeo frontgrill like the one you have shown on the foto of that book. A good friend of me had one as his first car. It was only available at Alfa Romeo dealers, not at Nissan dealers. Comparing to the Nissan Cherry driving made much more fun, especially with this nice typical Alfa boxer sound. Unfortunately my friend lost it by an accident, when a Granada driver came backwarts out of his garage directly on the road. After that the frontside was totally damaged and could'nt be repaired any more. My friend was very sad about it. He replaced the Arna by an Alfa 33. So thank you for this entertainig roadtest. It brings back some nice memories. 👍
That engine would elevate any small car to fun status. The three boxer Alfa engines I experienced never gave a moments trouble but I will never forget pulling the door strap to close the door and having it just come off and leave the door unmoved! So that engine in a well screwed together car should have been a winner if only it wasn’t so very dull to look at. Truly lovely example though.
A great review Mr HN. As you say this was a very hard sell for either dealership - Alfa drivers not seeing it as a proper Alfa and a bit of an embarrassment and Nissan buyers completely confused as to why you wanted a car that didn't run like an unobtrustive sewing machine to and from the shops and introduced too much excitement/innovation. But great to see one in action. I wonder how much Alfa learnt from Nissan regarding production engineering. I understand with the Honda/BL tie up the learning with the Acclaim was how easy to assemble the japanese design was...it was built for 100% correct assembly, not a bodge here and there. It harks back to an era when Government and politics were stronger than the car firms themeselves and this led to many odd "car crash" models expediently put together to fit regulations as you noted in your Australian visit. Now the car firms only have to suggest they want to do something (or threaten to close a plant) and any government lays out the red carpet and they can do what they like.
OMG 😂😂 I cannot for the life of me believe you have managed to unearth one of these!!!! You really are The Definite Automotive Hero. Hat off to you, sir! 👌
If you properly maintain the Alfa boxer engine, this engine will last just as long as engines from other brands, but there is often the problem that people did not understand this and cut back on maintenance. Very nice car test Ian.
Put 50k miles on a 1.5 TI in the mid-80s and the only engine issue I had was a blown head gasket. The early ones had a fire ring that was asymmetric top on top and bottom sides and would fail. The modified one was symmetrical and was fine. Of course the main dealer who did mine put the early ones in so year or so later I had to do it again myself. Found a broken drill in one head and the valves had been mixed up so some were loose and some tight in the guides - put them in the right places and they were all the same. And yes, I did lap them in.
I had a standard Nissan cherry years ago. A reliable car but a rust bucket, it rusted everywhere, wings, doors bonnet, engine mounts, iner wings, sills. I got the plastic side trim off a Renault 5 and fitted to the side of the cherry, to hide holes in the bottom of the doors.
Yet another interesting collaboration we missed out on in NZ. Thanks for sharing - the wipers with their TOD must be the Italian influence, but then I’m biased as I unashamedly love Nissans lol!
Underrated - an Arna Ti won the AROC UK race championship, I had a few, yes they looked crap but they were light and had a wide track so handled really well.
My dad had a Cherry Europe 1.2 new in 1984 when I was 19. I distinctly remember the excellent noise it made as I hammered it around everywhere at 7000rpm. I would dearly love to have another go in one!!!
Another great review Ian, sounds and looks like you had a lot of fun in this. Will let you off about the mark 3 Escort, was bit my favourite mark either aside from a RST.
Fascinating review. I had no idea the Nissans had an Alfa engine. Assumed this bizzare chimera kept their own running gear for each version. Can't say I want one but so rare. Unforgivable that Top Gear 'hilariously' smash an Arna up. It's a fantastic bit of car history and hopeless brand fusion. Please could you test a Lancia Beta Berlina. My dad had one for 3 years and said it was the most mechanically reliable car until the engine span away from rusting hulk of body!
Totally agree with you about Top Gear. Their attitude is we don't like it so let's smash it up. Keep these vandals from classic cars! Wrecking a rare car, no matter what, is not funny as far as I am concerned.
When i worked at AF Tann as a valeter. My boss Paul had a blue 1.2 Cherry Europe a silver ,white & black 1.5 gti as demos. He loved them & managed to sell them all! The funky green seats are forever etched in my mind. Lol
I like the mid eighties sunny - I found more comfortable the other same size cars, and I liked the big oval dials with a nice orange light - it was just more pleasent... Think they called it datsun nissan sunny i Denmark..
Arna always makes me think of Clarkson line, "Italian build quality with Japanese design flair" In a parallel universe is there an Alfa engined Toyota AE86 that was a runaway success?... Clearly looks _do_ matter, and pretending otherwise stops us moving past that to a more informed view. Good handling is the equivalent of great personality: might be what tells in the long term - but if you don't 'fancy' it in the first place... Don't forget this was a low point for Nissan design too, which seems to be 'car as appliance (/white goods)'. Micra illustrates design progress from boxy K10 to rounded K11 on to curved K12 (an underrated classic) - and the fall since... Though Escort Mk4 one of the great facelifts, broadly agree about Mk.3 - however do remember bustle bums being _de rigeur_ at the time
Miss my cherry Europe was lucky never let me down have been looking for one for years almost impossible to find one I traded mine in for mk2 golf gti great video great to see one getting used
Very interesting, I remember driving lots of examples of Cherrys, Langleys and Sunnys. I hated the handling that in my opinion was the worst in its class at the time. They tended to wander in high speed corners. I always thought the rear arms were too flimsy. It's very interesting to see how Alfa can make it good and fun to drive in a spirited fashion.
Nissan was almost trying to become the "is Pepsi ok?" of Japanese cars at this time, not as sturdy as a Toyota or Subaru and not as spirited as a Honda or Mazda.
Thanks for showing us this forgotten classic. I can remember working on one back in the 1980s, and haven't seen one since! Love the green seats! An absolute credit to the owner. A failure maybe, but what a fun little car! Shame so few are left, wonderful to hear that noise again! I would describe it as a happy sounding motor car! Just goes to show, you don't need vast amounts of power to have loads of fun!
Interesting that you mentioned the high lip on the tailgate. I used to repair washing machines and for some jobs I used to take them away to the workshop. For a while I had a MK2 Astra estate and it was perfect for the job. I later got a Skoda Felicia estate and that high lip made it a huge pain in the proverbial! I ended up making a platform, covered in carpet, that raised the boot floor to the height of the tailgate opening.
What I love most about this channel is seeing / being out in vehicles that we do not often get to see, let alone drive. This beasty is one I have only read about and having had a Nissan Pulsar SGS (3-soor liftback) as a company car for 20k miles, I shuddered at how the car would actually perform. The Pulsar was an A-to-B plodder with no redeeming features except that it got you there and back in the rain without getting you wet. You couldn't push it through the corners because of woeful understeer and if you lifted off, the car just ploughed sideways instead of bringing the rear end around. Power from the 1.5 litre Nissan engine could be called 'adequate' but it did not respond to being pedalled hard and would not be rushed. Street cred was non-existent and the single pinstripe mine had at door handle height just gave me the impression that someone was trying to make lamb out of mutton..... ....so with that as my benchmark, I HAD to watch this video. If there is one word to describe that Arna, it is "Sleeper". People look at it and think "Nissan", but she's got some Alfa bite under the bonnet that would surprise many onlookers. I was rapt with the way it went and it again reminded me of the Alfa Sprint. She rolled in corners (which the Alfa does) but hung on and went round (like the Alfa does) and that snarl of the boxer engine is pure Alfa goodness. Thank heavens they put the disks on the outboard side behind the wheels though, as getting to the inboard disks on the Sprint was a nightmare! In fact, it was hard to see a lot of difference between the Sprint and the Arna when looking under the bonnet because the engine and bracing strut setup looked so similar. The steering column is true Alfa as well, with the exception of the high beam being a button and the right hand stalk not having the fan control on it - even the choke is in the same position as the Sprint! The speed of the wipers and rearward-turning ignition is true Alfa Sprint too, so maybe the Italians had a thing or two to do with the electrical side in there......now that's a scary thought, isn't it? Tell you what though, Ian, I would be keen to own one after seeing this video. I love something that's a bit different that people love to hate (hence why I own a Stag) and my love of the Sprint would be encapsulated in a shell that nobody would bother looking sideways at in a carpark......until the engine roared into life. Many thanks for doing the review on such a unique little car. If the bloke who owns this ever thinks of selling, can you give me a shout, please?
had a Nissan Cherry 1.5 automatic 5 door 'Y' reg new in 1983 in the 80s nice car. Had a problem with wipers not turning off without turning engine off, turned out to be a relay switch being full of water, don't know how because it was in a very sheltered position, cost £28 for a replacement fitted it myself.
14:00 That high bush on the roundabout is a definite traffic hazzard. You can't see what's coming toward you until the other car is virtually on top of you. Result: *CRASH!* Those bushes should be removed immediately.
Not sure if you’re being serious or sarcastic… where I live it seems the roundabouts are actively obscured in an attempt to slow people on the approach. The result is very mixed: half the traffic just dive in, straight lining as much as possible (you cannot see anything so there’s nothing to give way to, so stopping is pointless); the rest stop and wait forever, causing much delay and obliterating the purpose of the roundabout in the first place! The bush is perfectly fine, but as always, YOU must adapt YOUR driving appropriately. Hazard and risk are not the same. There’s no such thing as a « dangerous road »…
That car is what we call a sleeper. Not so hot on the looks department, but ready to giddy up and go when you step on it. Shame they didn't make more of them.
I only ever saw ONE Alfa Arna (and badged as such). It had its top chopped off and was used as a parts buggy in a very large local scrapyard. ARNA = Alfa Romeo Nissan Autoveicoli.
Agreed. But Idoubt you will be burning off too many with 95HP. My' 81 GTV is sprightly enough with 129 HP (at least when it was new 40 years ago...), is great fun to drive, and makes a fantastic noise, but your typical modern shopping trolley would beat it off the line from a standing start.
@@johnphaceas7434 What you arent taking into account is the fact the Cherry Europe only weighs 755kg, a third less than your GTV (assuming its a 4 cylinder), but only 23% less power, and its in a shorter wheelbase, FWD chassis, with a low centre of gravity thanks to that flat four, so will be very entertaining. One of my Uno`s is about 760kg & has 85bhp, & that surprises an awful lot of so called hot hatches & sports saloons, to the point many have asked if its a turbo after a mini duel!
I had a C-reg one of these back in the mid-1990's, exactly the same in silver with green trim seats. I loved it, it was great fun, even drove it to Spain and back. And then the engine died. But fun while it lasted.
Interesting version of the Nissan "Cherry". I considered this generation Datsun-Nissan Cherry for my first car back in 1992, but many of them were already very rusty. I liked the design though, even the dash, those oval shaped speedometer and rev counter were cool in my opinion :)
Waht a fab car. I've only known of the Arna/cherry europe for a few years. Thanks for a great video that shows the true character of one of those rare but interesting cars.
Another of those "think you're having a bad day" stories this time Nissan related.... My much elder brother had two of these nissans. He was deep into a massive house refurb and his missus at the time was very annoyed with all the mess and hassle so to placate her he decided to buy her a sporty little Nissan. To surprise her he had it delivered into the back street of the terraced house and commenced to move it to a better position than the delivery driver had left it. Having started to reverse the car slightly his foot slipped off the clutch and somehow jabbed the accelerator lurching the car into the ropey back yard wall which then promptly collapsed crushing most of the rear end of this brand new car. An insurance claim luckily meant his missus eventually got her new motor...but she still wasn't much impressed. Lol.
The author of the book also has a UA-cam Channel where he talks about italian cars all the time. Its called Roadster Life and he's absolutely brilliant
I know what I'm going to be doing for the afternoon...
Yeah, Roadster Life is really good
Is that the same guy? That’s a great channel for Italian stuff and also Citroens.
He actually used to work for alfa romeo too, designed the shape of the dashboard for the new giulietta
Yes, Roadster Life is a great channel with so many interesting facts for the Italian car nut.
What everyone wants is an Italian car with Japanese build quality, this is a Japanese car with Italian build quality. Brilliant.
Yes, imagine if there was a Japanese made 33?
I had a 1984 Nissan Cherry 1,6 Diesel. Its build quality was excellent, typical Japanese at this time. So maybe Alfa learnt to improve quality standards from Nissan, like many others.
The opposite is true: It was an Italian car with Japanese build quality. A friend of mine had one, a 4-door as I remember, it was written Alfa Romeo on it, it looked boring, sounded like an Alfa and ran quick. Ugly car but quite nice!
Everything is bassackwards! As an example though, that car is fantastic condition
@@jurivlk5433 Not quite, they were re-badged as Alfa's that's why it had an Alfa badge on it called the Alfa Romeo Arna. It's a Japanese design built by the Italians
Wow, thank you very much for your appreciation of my book, you've made my day! :)
It's been a pleasure to watch your video and see the Arna/Cherry Europe being reviewed objectively, without preconceived notions and trite, stereotypical jokes. Well done and, again, thank you very much for your kind words!
You will surely be the person who changes the fate of the Alfa Romeo Arna. Without your "reevaluation," people's perception of the Arna might have ended with Jeremy Clarkson's "explosive demolition."😢
Now in the 2020s, cars have made great advances, but the "fun of driving" is gone. Since new cars rarely have manual shifts, people in Japan🇯🇵 are so desperate for manual shifts that they are even restoring the bodies of mass-produced and commercial vehicles sold in the 1980s and 1990s to return them to the public roads.😱
There are also similar restoration efforts being undertaken by UA-camrs around the world, so in another five years, I think that the bodies of Arna and Cherry Europe will be "rescued" from the junkyards as subjects for restoration by such hobbyists. At that time, I think your "reevaluation" will be a great force.😁
Loving the cherries on the mirror. Lovely touch.
As said, two bites of the Cherry. I doubt if many lost theirs in one though.
When I had an Alfa 146, one of my contacts at the local council had an Arna - he used to say we both had Alfas. I called his a Nissan and it drove him insane. I suggested he’d bought the badges at a jumble sale and glued them on! I was such a snob!
And a smiling and justified one too!
I wonder where his Arna is now..
Thanks for making an honest review of a car so frequently bashed by people who probably never drove one. It does actually make sense as to why it exists when explained properly, even if the results proved unpopular. And an Italian engine in a Japanese car at least sounds fun!
That engine noise is absolutely glorious
"Nissan provided the tedium, Alfa provided the rust" - as Mr.Quentin Wilson once said of this car.
It didn't rust!
Quentin lies again
I had a Nissan cherry as my second car - bulletproof and reliable! 60,000 miles in a few years and only ever had to replace the battery, tyres and brakes! Did me proud!
My Brother had a Sliver Nissan Cherry Car had no problems with it for 10 years then he replace it with a Second Hand Nissan BlueBird 1.8GS. Thank You HubNut for the road test bring back the memory of my youth in the 1980s 👍
Thank you, thank you for reviewing this car, I knew it was coming but hardly anyone would do a review on this car which is practically now gone and see how truly is!
7:05 - Matteo Licata is Roadster Life on UA-cam. His car reviews are awesome, I think it is his strong Italian accent that gives its authenticity ! 👌 . My go to channel for everything Italian ! 🇮🇹
Yes, Matteo is great, absolutely love his videos and voice/accent.
The Alfa Arna a car I use to deal with when I was an apprentice and the cherry turbo what a car that was at 17 I thought they were a rocket ship , good memories . Cracking video 👍🇬🇧
Ah the AlfaSud exhaust fart at the end. You can’t help but love it.
I just remembered something, people think that Cherry with an Alfa engine is odd, the Cherry was also sold as a Holden in Australia, Nissan was desperate for business in those days
I actually really like 80's boxy Nissan styling!
I'm with you there😊
Me too
Me too!
I really want this car now, I much prefer the Nissan styling
It reminds me a bit of the Talbot Horizon so not uniquely Japanese. Rulers ruled at the time.
No more boring than a Mk1 Astra. I think Ian’s being a tad unfair to it really.
yes a cherry turbo review is needed I remember one driving round my local town what a machine!!
great video
Headlamp/indicator design shouts Talbot Horizon or late Sunbeam to me. Sounds great. I remember seeing a one back in my late 1980's MOT testing days, always few and far between, and confusing, as not long before I'd tested an Arna!
Agreed, definitely reminds me of a Talbot, especially at the front
A car(Cherry or Arna) I have hoped you would review and again you don't disappoint. .
Fantastic review and what an amazing little car.
I have to say I agree with you 100% that Matteo's book is a fantastic read as are his other books ...
I was just thinking that front looks like a Mazda 323 I once had (3:58).
Glad to see you're back on the case after your near ditch experience! Keep 'em coming, we can never have too much HubNut.
Hilarious ending Ian! Your personality has come into its own over the years in these reviews 👌🏼😂
Ian, you read my mind, I thought you forgot the rear wiper test!
I must say this is quite interesting; a ordinary, pedantic Datsun/Nissan which is hiding Alfa Roméo underpinnings, brilliant!
Unfortunately, AGAIN, we in the US 🇺🇸 never received this vehicle, so lucky (and envious) that you have this low mileage, well looked after example.
The engine sounds quite intoxicating, and adding Alfa Roméo control stalks gives it that unique, Italian experience!
Another excellent review, thank you very much!
The way to start them was..Ignore the choke, just one press on the accelerator then release, then turn the key. I often had to go and start my assistants Alfa-Romeo 33 for her in the days before the facelift brought fuel injection.
Had one of these as a runaround/courtesy car at a garage I worked at back in the day.
It was the courtesy car that was always last to be picked apart from by the staff.
If it was there it was the one I always picked.
Was quite saddened when the runaround/courtesy fleet were swapped for Vauxhall astras/cavaliers to make things more modern.
My dad had an arna, I loved it. Never knew the Nissan version had Alfa engine I always thought it had a Nissan engine, fairly obvious now it wouldn’t as it wouldn’t fit without major changes.
I love the cherry’s of this era. Iv owned a few including a Turbo.
My first car of my own was one of these, and I loved it! Such fun to drive, and I was gutted when it was written off in the mid-90s. I still miss it to this day. Also, the ‘weird’ lift on the parcel shelf actually meant that any back seat passengers could access the boot space if you needed something out of it (assuming it wasn’t jam packed) which could be quite handy if anyone wanted drinks or snacks on a long journey.
Great review of a very interesting car, Ian. Definitely a new one for me. What a sweet sounding exhaust note.
As an Alfa Romantic, I just couldn't handle the hate on the ARNA. In Green, it looks sensational and it's smaller non 1.7 litre engines was sweeter than a five sugar coffee. Nissan was being treated with disrepect by the Australian and Italian governments as Holden built the car as the Astra and the State wanted shot of Alfa but didn't want it to go to Ford , so Sunderland was Nissans go to plan for success. Fiat killed the car, and I defy anyone to say the car was trash. Reading Car Magazines Good Bad and Ugly had a typically Burgess sarcasm to the Cherry Europe. I know what media mogul rained a torrent of turds on it. The lack of stabilizer bars and the IRS didn't spoil the Sud handling, nor did the 33 suffer because of the Boxers sensational low center of gravity. The Cherry Europe, I'd buy one tomorrow. Incidentally, ex Ford guy Howard Marsden got the whole European Cherry/ Silvia/ Primera thing working cohesively with Opel- style seats, better materials and reliable, econonical engines...the Cherry Turbo was a fine engine package, but the handling took years to perfect as the low weight and poor body strength hurt mist early Datsuns. Nissan UK proved that the English can sort, develope and reliably build great cars. Would that the Italians had partnered with Nissan rather than Fiat to secure Alfa.In my opinion, It was Ford of Europe and Walter Hayes and Bob Lutz that pushed Alfa into Fiat hands. Shame....
Honestly, on those rims with that green stripe, I DO think it looks good. It's a pretty little car that matches the era it was built in.
Properly happy about this HubNut video!
My first car was a Nissan cherry 1 L DX in black WAU501y I really really miss that car
Is the Arna book by Matteo from Roadster Life? If so, I’d thoroughly recommend his channel to anyone who has an interest in Italian cars - it’s excellent!
It is.
Had a 1.5 and could never understand the bad press - which appeared to have come from those who'd looked at it and immediately decided to hate it. Thank you for the memories. It was a real fun car to drive.. when it worked!
The RS Turbo in your video. Am I the only person that is annoyed by young people thinking a 80s Escort is really old so they put black and silver number plates on ?
It actually had dealer plates on it. Bit naughty...
Great review of a much maligned and misunderstood car.
I recently restored the 1.2 3 door base model that you mentioned was at this years festival of the unexceptional and currently in the finishing stages of my own 1.2 SL 5 door Arna.
Glad you’re OK after the off road experience on your way home from Eddie’s, he’s such a great guy, you’ll be back on the road in no time (Mrs Eddie does a great cuppa and a tea cake too 😋)
Great to see.. I owned a number of Alfasuds and you can instantly hear that characterful sounding little boxer engine, just lovely..
This car reminds me of the Mazda 323 of the same period.
Glad to hear Betty was not badly hurt, it could have been much much worse with that bank you could have gone down.
Your best review yet and I have watched them all! Really captured the sprit of this flawed masterpiece the likes of which we will never see again.
Man walking out of café sees RS Turbo with a Arna passing by. Looks down at drink. What year is it?
Thinking of precious Betty while I watch this..
Great video. Thoroughly enjoyable and informative. You’re going to have to try and get your hands on a Nissan Cherry Turbo for a comparison.
I absolutely loved the early cherry's, but that shape just didn't appeal to me , the styling maybe 🤷♂️ Nice to see.. I'm grateful for that Ian 🙂👍
Another truly excellent video. Your knowledge on each car you review is impressive!
Mom had a 1983 Nissan Cherry when I was a kid. At the end in 1996 it got water in when driving through puddles because the floor had rusted away. She had to scrap it. The scrapyard said the seats were close to fall through the rotten floor. I still have nostalgia for that car though.
I briefly had a Alfa Arna and the local Nissan dealers refused to service it.
And was it really that unreliable?
Well, that was very interesting. I hadn’t heard of this collaboration between Alfa and Nissan, so now I’ve learned something. Excellent as always!
Next time you drive a twin carb Alfasud engine, if you want the best noise ever, unclip the air box lid and take out the filter, close the bonnet and hear the noise , the induction sound is better than Roger Clarke's Mk2 Escort! Great vid again Ian 👍
CONGRATULATIONS for a test that I have been waiting for a long time.
I have always believed that the much-blamed ARNA was an economical car with excellent technical content!
The result of a tangible improvement in road holding and engine in one of the most popular cars of the time, which had excellent sheet metal but poor road holding!
Great video Ian really enjoyed this for one of the reasons being that my dad still owns a 1985 Alfa Romeo Arna registration plate reads - C 240 CAT after purchasing it from a local car auction in the early 1990s. Although it has not been used for almost 30 years we plan to sell it as a restoration project hopefully soon!
Loved this review, I've always been curious about what these cars were really like.
I did think you were going to do a Kevin Mccloud at the end there and go off on some pretentious monologue full of intellectual sounding musings about the car while walking away from it. Thankfully, that didn't happen!
Nice work as always Ian.
"Quite stylish, referencing cars like the Morris Ital".
I don't believe a more Hubnut sentence has ever been uttered.
My mind went utterly blank and forgot such creations as the Talbot Horizon.
The Arnas which have been imported to Germany had a typical Alfa Romeo frontgrill like the one you have shown on the foto of that book. A good friend of me had one as his first car. It was only available at Alfa Romeo dealers, not at Nissan dealers. Comparing to the Nissan Cherry driving made much more fun, especially with this nice typical Alfa boxer sound. Unfortunately my friend lost it by an accident, when a Granada driver came backwarts out of his garage directly on the road. After that the frontside was totally damaged and could'nt be repaired any more. My friend was very sad about it. He replaced the Arna by an Alfa 33.
So thank you for this entertainig roadtest. It brings back some nice memories. 👍
Intriguing rarity! Great sounding flat 4. Nice choice of lighting in the closing sequence 👍😎
I never knew that this was a thing. Thanks for the new knowledge that I now have. Also this mix of Japan and Italy, is truly bonkers.
30 years ago work-mate had the Cherry turbo, that was a hoot. Hope you're feeling well and that Betty gets better soon.
That engine would elevate any small car to fun status. The three boxer Alfa engines I experienced never gave a moments trouble but I will never forget pulling the door strap to close the door and having it just come off and leave the door unmoved!
So that engine in a well screwed together car should have been a winner if only it wasn’t so very dull to look at.
Truly lovely example though.
A great review Mr HN. As you say this was a very hard sell for either dealership - Alfa drivers not seeing it as a proper Alfa and a bit of an embarrassment and Nissan buyers completely confused as to why you wanted a car that didn't run like an unobtrustive sewing machine to and from the shops and introduced too much excitement/innovation. But great to see one in action. I wonder how much Alfa learnt from Nissan regarding production engineering. I understand with the Honda/BL tie up the learning with the Acclaim was how easy to assemble the japanese design was...it was built for 100% correct assembly, not a bodge here and there.
It harks back to an era when Government and politics were stronger than the car firms themeselves and this led to many odd "car crash" models expediently put together to fit regulations as you noted in your Australian visit. Now the car firms only have to suggest they want to do something (or threaten to close a plant) and any government lays out the red carpet and they can do what they like.
What a beautiful car why because its still running brilliant video Ian 👍
OMG 😂😂 I cannot for the life of me believe you have managed to unearth one of these!!!! You really are The Definite Automotive Hero. Hat off to you, sir! 👌
If you properly maintain the Alfa boxer engine, this engine will last just as long as engines from other brands, but there is often the problem that people did not understand this and cut back on maintenance. Very nice car test Ian.
Put 50k miles on a 1.5 TI in the mid-80s and the only engine issue I had was a blown head gasket. The early ones had a fire ring that was asymmetric top on top and bottom sides and would fail. The modified one was symmetrical and was fine.
Of course the main dealer who did mine put the early ones in so year or so later I had to do it again myself. Found a broken drill in one head and the valves had been mixed up so some were loose and some tight in the guides - put them in the right places and they were all the same. And yes, I did lap them in.
I had a standard Nissan cherry years ago. A reliable car but a rust bucket, it rusted everywhere, wings, doors bonnet, engine mounts, iner wings, sills. I got the plastic
side trim off a Renault 5 and fitted to the side of the cherry, to hide holes in the bottom of the doors.
Yet another interesting collaboration we missed out on in NZ. Thanks for sharing - the wipers with their TOD must be the Italian influence, but then I’m biased as I unashamedly love Nissans lol!
Brilliant stuff, thanks for posting. Good to see the tripod back and steady camera work! :-)
I checked online a while back and I believe (could of changed) all Arnas are now extinct, not one left on UK roads.
Not true. They do exist in VERY small numbers. The chap who owns this has one, though it's not roadworthy.
I absolutey loved my 33,never ever needed choke!
And now we want a video featuring a 75, i think you would love it
Underrated - an Arna Ti won the AROC UK race championship, I had a few, yes they looked crap but they were light and had a wide track so handled really well.
My dad had a Cherry Europe 1.2 new in 1984 when I was 19. I distinctly remember the excellent noise it made as I hammered it around everywhere at 7000rpm. I would dearly love to have another go in one!!!
Only ever remember seeing one back in the day . Liked the alloys as looked a bit similar to the period BMW design
The 80s Nissan seats in the Aussie Pulsar and Bluebird were awesome! Late N12s also got the Langley rear (and front) lights.
Interesting car, nice video Ian, I had a 33 Cloverleaf while my workmates were running XR3's, the 33 was a much more entertaining drive.
Another great review Ian, sounds and looks like you had a lot of fun in this. Will let you off about the mark 3 Escort, was bit my favourite mark either aside from a RST.
Fascinating review. I had no idea the Nissans had an Alfa engine. Assumed this bizzare chimera kept their own running gear for each version. Can't say I want one but so rare. Unforgivable that Top Gear 'hilariously' smash an Arna up. It's a fantastic bit of car history and hopeless brand fusion. Please could you test a Lancia Beta Berlina. My dad had one for 3 years and said it was the most mechanically reliable car until the engine span away from rusting hulk of body!
Totally agree with you about Top Gear. Their attitude is we don't like it so let's smash it up. Keep these vandals from classic cars! Wrecking a rare car, no matter what, is not funny as far as I am concerned.
When i worked at AF Tann as a valeter. My boss Paul had a blue 1.2 Cherry Europe a silver ,white & black 1.5 gti as demos. He loved them & managed to sell them all! The funky green seats are forever etched in my mind. Lol
I like the mid eighties sunny - I found more comfortable the other same size cars, and I liked the big oval dials with a nice orange light - it was just more pleasent... Think they called it datsun nissan sunny i Denmark..
Arna always makes me think of Clarkson line, "Italian build quality with Japanese design flair" In a parallel universe is there an Alfa engined Toyota AE86 that was a runaway success?...
Clearly looks _do_ matter, and pretending otherwise stops us moving past that to a more informed view. Good handling is the equivalent of great personality: might be what tells in the long term - but if you don't 'fancy' it in the first place...
Don't forget this was a low point for Nissan design too, which seems to be 'car as appliance (/white goods)'. Micra illustrates design progress from boxy K10 to rounded K11 on to curved K12 (an underrated classic) - and the fall since...
Though Escort Mk4 one of the great facelifts, broadly agree about Mk.3 - however do remember bustle bums being _de rigeur_ at the time
The front headlamps and grille are similar to a Mk3 Escort but not sure about the indicators
I remember the cherry from the 80s but never knew this even existed. I feel like I've failed in life and just let myself down 😂
Miss my cherry Europe was lucky never let me down have been looking for one for years almost impossible to find one I traded mine in for mk2 golf gti great video great to see one getting used
Very interesting, I remember driving lots of examples of Cherrys, Langleys and Sunnys. I hated the handling that in my opinion was the worst in its class at the time. They tended to wander in high speed corners. I always thought the rear arms were too flimsy.
It's very interesting to see how Alfa can make it good and fun to drive in a spirited fashion.
Nissan was almost trying to become the "is Pepsi ok?" of Japanese cars at this time, not as sturdy as a Toyota or Subaru and not as spirited as a Honda or Mazda.
Thanks for showing us this forgotten classic. I can remember working on one back in the 1980s, and haven't seen one since! Love the green seats! An absolute credit to the owner. A failure maybe, but what a fun little car! Shame so few are left, wonderful to hear that noise again! I would describe it as a happy sounding motor car! Just goes to show, you don't need vast amounts of power to have loads of fun!
Interesting that you mentioned the high lip on the tailgate. I used to repair washing machines and for some jobs I used to take them away to the workshop. For a while I had a MK2 Astra estate and it was perfect for the job. I later got a Skoda Felicia estate and that high lip made it a huge pain in the proverbial! I ended up making a platform, covered in carpet, that raised the boot floor to the height of the tailgate opening.
What I love most about this channel is seeing / being out in vehicles that we do not often get to see, let alone drive. This beasty is one I have only read about and having had a Nissan Pulsar SGS (3-soor liftback) as a company car for 20k miles, I shuddered at how the car would actually perform.
The Pulsar was an A-to-B plodder with no redeeming features except that it got you there and back in the rain without getting you wet. You couldn't push it through the corners because of woeful understeer and if you lifted off, the car just ploughed sideways instead of bringing the rear end around. Power from the 1.5 litre Nissan engine could be called 'adequate' but it did not respond to being pedalled hard and would not be rushed. Street cred was non-existent and the single pinstripe mine had at door handle height just gave me the impression that someone was trying to make lamb out of mutton.....
....so with that as my benchmark, I HAD to watch this video. If there is one word to describe that Arna, it is "Sleeper". People look at it and think "Nissan", but she's got some Alfa bite under the bonnet that would surprise many onlookers. I was rapt with the way it went and it again reminded me of the Alfa Sprint. She rolled in corners (which the Alfa does) but hung on and went round (like the Alfa does) and that snarl of the boxer engine is pure Alfa goodness. Thank heavens they put the disks on the outboard side behind the wheels though, as getting to the inboard disks on the Sprint was a nightmare! In fact, it was hard to see a lot of difference between the Sprint and the Arna when looking under the bonnet because the engine and bracing strut setup looked so similar. The steering column is true Alfa as well, with the exception of the high beam being a button and the right hand stalk not having the fan control on it - even the choke is in the same position as the Sprint!
The speed of the wipers and rearward-turning ignition is true Alfa Sprint too, so maybe the Italians had a thing or two to do with the electrical side in there......now that's a scary thought, isn't it?
Tell you what though, Ian, I would be keen to own one after seeing this video. I love something that's a bit different that people love to hate (hence why I own a Stag) and my love of the Sprint would be encapsulated in a shell that nobody would bother looking sideways at in a carpark......until the engine roared into life.
Many thanks for doing the review on such a unique little car. If the bloke who owns this ever thinks of selling, can you give me a shout, please?
had a Nissan Cherry 1.5 automatic 5 door 'Y' reg new in 1983 in the 80s nice car.
Had a problem with wipers not turning off without turning engine off, turned out to be a relay switch being full of water, don't know how because it was in a very sheltered position, cost £28 for a replacement fitted it myself.
Nice to see you driving round my neck of the woods Mr HubNut. :)
I always found these fascinating but there are so few videos about them on UA-cam. Great review, sir.
My uncle used to pick my family up from Venice airport in his Arna. Brilliant memories. Great sound as well 👍
14:00 That high bush on the roundabout is a definite traffic hazzard. You can't see what's coming toward you until the other car is virtually on top of you. Result: *CRASH!* Those bushes should be removed immediately.
Not sure if you’re being serious or sarcastic… where I live it seems the roundabouts are actively obscured in an attempt to slow people on the approach. The result is very mixed: half the traffic just dive in, straight lining as much as possible (you cannot see anything so there’s nothing to give way to, so stopping is pointless); the rest stop and wait forever, causing much delay and obliterating the purpose of the roundabout in the first place! The bush is perfectly fine, but as always, YOU must adapt YOUR driving appropriately. Hazard and risk are not the same. There’s no such thing as a « dangerous road »…
That sound is cracking. I know that I would choose the Cherry Europe over the Cherry Turbo.
That car is what we call a sleeper. Not so hot on the looks department, but ready to giddy up and go when you step on it. Shame they didn't make more of them.
I was looking for a review of the Alfa Romeo Arna. Glad I found it.
Not something you saw much in the day. Very interesting little thing. Nice one.
I only ever saw ONE Alfa Arna (and badged as such).
It had its top chopped off and was used as a parts buggy in a very large local scrapyard.
ARNA = Alfa Romeo Nissan Autoveicoli.
I kind of like the bland Japanese styling, the car is a bit of a sleeper. Great fun burning off the boy racers.👍
Agreed. But Idoubt you will be burning off too many with 95HP. My' 81 GTV is sprightly enough with 129 HP (at least when it was new 40 years ago...), is great fun to drive, and makes a fantastic noise, but your typical modern shopping trolley would beat it off the line from a standing start.
@@johnphaceas7434 What you arent taking into account is the fact the Cherry Europe only weighs 755kg, a third less than your GTV (assuming its a 4 cylinder), but only 23% less power, and its in a shorter wheelbase, FWD chassis, with a low centre of gravity thanks to that flat four, so will be very entertaining. One of my Uno`s is about 760kg & has 85bhp, & that surprises an awful lot of so called hot hatches & sports saloons, to the point many have asked if its a turbo after a mini duel!
@@MrPabsUk That Uno sounds an absolute hoot!
@@71simonforrester I`ve got 3 of them! They all make me happy, but that one more so, given the extra grunt!
I had a C-reg one of these back in the mid-1990's, exactly the same in silver with green trim seats. I loved it, it was great fun, even drove it to Spain and back. And then the engine died. But fun while it lasted.
Interesting version of the Nissan "Cherry". I considered this generation Datsun-Nissan Cherry for my first car back in 1992, but many of them were already very rusty. I liked the design though, even the dash, those oval shaped speedometer and rev counter were cool in my opinion :)
Great review, thanks very much.
Waht a fab car. I've only known of the Arna/cherry europe for a few years. Thanks for a great video that shows the true character of one of those rare but interesting cars.
Another of those "think you're having a bad day" stories this time Nissan related....
My much elder brother had two of these nissans.
He was deep into a massive house refurb and his missus at the time was very annoyed with all the mess and hassle so to placate her he decided to buy her a sporty little Nissan.
To surprise her he had it delivered into the back street of the terraced house and commenced to move it to a better position than the delivery driver had left it.
Having started to reverse the car slightly his foot slipped off the clutch and somehow jabbed the accelerator lurching the car into the ropey back yard wall which then promptly collapsed crushing most of the rear end of this brand new car.
An insurance claim luckily meant his missus eventually got her new motor...but she still wasn't much impressed. Lol.