The 1,5 Nissan Sunny 1983 Coupé is a Japanese family car that met the requirements of the time, now almost 40 years ago. A harmonious and versatile car, beautiful clean lines, with the characteristic reliability and economy.
By: Dirk de Jong
Nissan is one of the largest car manufacturers in the world and used two names Datsun/Nissan for different types. From 1958 to 1986, only Nissan cars for export markets were given the Datsun designation, by March 1986 Nissan had phased out the Datsun name. During the transition period, the names Datsun and Nissan are both indicated next to the type designation on the back of cars delivered at that time.
Politeness
You tend to greet Branko the Japanese way, with a small bow, as that is a sign of respect. Respect because the Nissan Sunny 1,5 Coupé is not the only special car in his collection. In the yard is a nice Nissan Pickup. And in his shed (his pleasure zone) there is still a very special car, a Nissan Prairie. It was a very daring, but also very successful car concept at the time, a unique appearance, a car like no other.
Nissan Sunny 1,5 Coupe
This time it's about the Nissan Sunny 1,5 Coupé, a car that was offered in many variants at the time. No fewer than three, four and five doors, in addition a station wagon and a beautiful coupé, as well as a wide choice of engines. The Sunny from Branko has 5 gears, variable interval on windscreen wipers, deep-pile carpet, petrol and tailgate can be opened from the inside, top-hung windows with controls between the front seats. It was all there in 1983.
Branko .'s story
Branko: “My enthusiasm is easy to explain. It started with my father's purchase of a Nissan Bluebird in 1985. I was 14 at the time, but what a difference from the Opel Rekord and the Ford Taunus we had before. As an intern I started my automotive life at ABD in Drachten, and later at Hoevenaars in Berlicum (Brabant). Both companies were leading Datsun/Nissan dealers.”
“Ultimately, until 2004 I very much enjoyed working with Harm and Pieter van der Veen at ABD Nissan in Drachten. There is still contact with André Hoevenaars in Berlicum, with economies of scale in the car world, his garage company was merged into a large car group years ago. The love for Datsun/Nissan is unstoppable, he still works every day – even in his senior status – in his workshop. In fact, my Nissan Sunny 1,5 Coupé is from his collection! He evokes history with his collection, and my passion for collecting is also due to that. It will come as no surprise that over the years more and more Nissans were purchased within our family, all these cars now have many stories and memories attached to them and that is what makes it so much fun.”
It also strikes me that Friesland has a lot of classics, Dirk lives there and then heat makes sense, nicely next door, but here in North Holland you also have many enthusiasts with very nice cars. Let us hear from you, make time for it.
This is a Belgian car, here we had no rear fog lamps. That only came with the bumper change
The Nissan we now know in Europe is Renault .
The Nissan of the 80s/90s was generally very good.
You still see the round Micra K11 regularly. Its 1.0 and 1.3 engines are indestructible.
The Micra K10 was the car I learned to tinker on at Koops
That is not a Dutch version. We didn't have standard rear fog lights at the time. That was only with the bumper change
Fantastic condition… that engine compartment?!!! You can feel the love/enthusiasm of the previous owner and perhaps this owner too! I also had a break variant in the late 80s with the 1500 petrol. Was my first company car. Once won a bet with it: it went over 100 km/h in 2nd gear. Super strong mechanics, reasonably fast for that kind of car. Unfortunately it went under due to rust.
Dirk, do you ever visit other provinces than Friesland for your stories?
This is awesome!
You used to see these standing or driving around here and there, but most of them were recycled ten years ago.
In the mid-90s I worked at a company that had the station wagon variant (I can't remember the year of manufacture, think 1985 or something) as a gray license plate, so no rear side windows but steel. What was special about that car was that it had round headlights, from what I understood only the commercial vehicle variants had those?