I’ve been looking for years, but no luck. There’s still a few of these Pulsar coupes around, but none with the optional Sportback. But JWFlynn found this one in Malden, MA. Obviously, not a lot of the Sportbacks were sold. And it wasn’t exactly an original idea by Nissan either.
Here’s the ad for “The World’s First Multiple Convertible”.
Here’s its inspiration, the 1975 Ghia-designed Prima. Ghia was then owned by Ford of course, but apparently Ford decided not to bite. Good call, apparently.
There are one or two up here in Vancouver Canada. I saw one on Craigslist about 2 years ago.
This one has been parked on and off in the same location for a couple of years. Thought I had submitted it before but I guess not. So I snagged this photo yesterday.
Saw this one in Berkeley CA on 11/21/13:
Rear view:
The Sportback might have went over better if it had been offered as a much more traditional folding top that could be operated by one person, a la Jeep Wrangler.
Then, again, maybe not…
This was the ultimate “Chic Car” of it’s time period; often bought new by oblivious secretaries and shunned by their boyfriends.
I actually see some elements of Nissan (the Cherry in particular) and Honda Civic in the Prima prototype – it carries a Ford engine, but what car was it based on (if any) in Ford’s lineup? The original Fiesta wasn’t out yet. As for the Pulsar, I don’t know the last day I saw one of any kind, as they were never sold through the official dealers here, but a few came in as personal imports during the ’80s. This was probably mentioned before on this site, but when you bought this car, did it come with all these different roof treatments “in the box” or were they dealer options?
I loved my little Pulsar. I never had the Sportbak, but I drove around without the notch back for most of the summer months, if I recall, there was a drain in the hatch area, so rain was only a minor inconvenience.
Champaign, IL, 1990 was the last time for me. A very unique and memorable car for a 5 year old child. I recall they were commonly seen in white.
1988
A friend had one.
Yes – she is a girl.
They call it a wagon in the ad, but without a tailgate it’s pretty hard to load. (Does the whole Sportbak swing up on the hatchback’s hinges?) The Ghia Prima at least has a tailgate, being essentially a pickup with various caps.
Plus there’s the problem of where to store the Sportbak or the hatchback. I had to rig up some heavy hooks to hold my Miata’s hardtop up and out of the way in my garage. The stylish young people shown in the ad probably don’t even have a garage.
I wonder if the Sportbak was sold in Japan? Not many Japanese have garages.
The removable top requiring more than one person or a hoist works, but only on upper-tier vehicles where it’s presumed that the owner will have a garage. The best example I can think of is the Mercedes-Benz SL roadsters prior to the folding hardtop cars.
But, yeah, on the other end of the spectrum where there wouldn’t be a good place to remove and/or store the top, it’s pretty much a fail.
Around 2008, in Rhode Island.
I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I had one of these new in 1987. I had the underpowered XE model. I did enjoy the versatility of the car. I regularly took off the T-Tops and had the back off a few times. I traded it for a new Nissan Hardbody truck soon after. Big time Chic car, what was I thinking??
The Prima is a much better workout of the concept. All four forms look natural and pretty.
But the concept is unusable. Any conversion that requires two or three people plus maybe a hoist is not worth the trouble. Back in the ’30s there were a few removable pickup beds, and commercial sedans that could revert to a family sedan, but those were sold to businesses where you could count on having a paid helper plus a place to keep the pieces.
I trust you folks; otherwise I would think this was Photoshop! That’s a homely little car.
Whoever played Gran Turismo 4 will remember this as the Nissan EXA
Probably at least 20 years for the Nissan. Even longer for this – maybe 25 years?
JUNKYARD TREASURE: 1992 GEO STORM WAGONBACK
http://autoweek.com/article/junkyard-treasures/junkyard-treasure-1992-geo-storm-wagonback
Isuzu had a Storm variant too.
make that Prizm
Got it right the first time. The Geo Prizm was a Toyota, and always a four-door. There was a pretty sweet 5-door hatchback in the first generation though.
There’s one in Brandon Manitoba. It shows up at every downtown cruise night.
Too bad they didn’t do that with the Pathfinder.
Two years ago, I saw a derelict Pulsar NX Sportbak sitting in a yard in rural northwest Ohio. A yard, not a driveway… as in slowly getting covered by vegetation. It might have had a For Sale sign in the window — one that looked like it had been there for quite a while. Other than that example, it had probably been 20+ years since I’ve seen one.
There’s a Japan-only model available in Portland.
https://portland.craigslist.org/clk/cto/d/1991-nissan-pulsar-gtir/6595996276.html
About 4 months ago. We never got (AFAIK) the sportsback version here in Aus.
Before that sighting, it must have been 10+ years
Spring 1989, northbound Temple City Boulevard south of Las Tunas Drive in Temple City, CA (L.A. Suburb)…haven’t seen one in the metal since.
Everything in that advertisement 🙂 🙂 🙂
Just last weekend at a car show, and then on the road on its’ way home. Didn’t get pics due to camera issues but the car’s local to me.
I seen one a odd but cool looking car the date is incorrect I bbelieve
https://www.flickr.com/photos/52345709@N02/11934519473/in/photolist-25yv13m-jbBwR8
A tad late here, but when did I last see a Pulsar with Sportback? Yesterday! And the day before…and every day before that… On a serious note though, someone up the road has one as a daily driver. It’s light green (including the Sportback top) and is either in the owner’s carport or out and about. It was certainly an unexpected sight when we moved here a year ago, and was the first time I’d seen one since the late 90s. Not my cup of tea, but I love it’s individuality among the more modern cars in town.
I have a 1988 Sportbck here in Ohio