In my recent quest to discover the wild world of JDM cars in their natural habitat, there are times when I hesitate to take certain photos. I’ve lived in Asia for eight years now and certain cars look so familiar to me that I forget how exotic they might appear to other eyes on other continents. Is this just a Camry with a weird grille? Have I seen this boring-looking ‘90s shitbox elsewhere under another name? Will I fall asleep writing this up? It’s not always clear. In this case though, there was no hesitation. Yummy JDM goodness, thy name is Nissan Gloria 430.
Nissan’s 430 platform was introduced in June 1979 under two nameplates – Cedric and Gloria. It sounds like a retired couple living a few houses down your street, but that’s what big Nissans were called for eons. Mister Cedric was Nissan through and through, born in 1960 with the company’s first unit body. Miss Gloria, née Prince in 1959, was boxing in the same category, i.e. the larger 2-litre-ish domestic saloons / wagons that was dominated by the Toyota Crown. As we saw recently, though it’s been mentioned before, Gloria and Cedric got hitched up in 1966 – Gloria took her husband’s name, as tradition dictated at the time. By the time the Nissan 230 appeared in 1971 (i.e. the 3rd generation Cedric and 4th generation Gloria), the happy couple were virtually indistinguishable.
This was the plan all along. After 1971, the only difference between Cedric and Gloria was in small details – a busier grille here, different taillights there. True to gender norms of the era (and country), Cedric played the breadwinner part, with fewer frills and some export sales in Europe, Australia and Asia, usually under the pseudonym of Datsun 280C. Gloria was all about glamour and stayed home. Some say she was more sporty-like, but I don’t know that this was fundamentally true, at least with this 430 platform. Seems like marketing more than anything else, but that would change a bit in later generations.
Flavours of Nissan 430 — top: Gloria saloon; middle: Gloria wagon; bottom: Cedric hardtop sedan
Both 430 models were available as a saloon, hardtop sedan (a proper one, sans B-pillar) and wagon with multiple levels of trim (the above is just a sampler), and on the JDM both shared a 2-litre OHC straight-6 as their basic petrol engine, though a 2.8 was also available and some taxis / fleet cars were ordered with a 2-litre 4-cyl. Diesels came as a 2.2 litre 4-cyl. or a 2.8 litre 6-cyl. and transmission to the live rear axle was a 4-speed manual, with optional 5-speed, or via a 3- or 4-speed automatic.
Our Gloria of the day has the floor-mounted 5-speed manual, which stands to reason, as it’s a Turbo SLG. This was the first Japanese-made turbo engine, producing a very decent 143 hp. It was also fitted to the Laurel, the Skyline, the Fairlady Z and the new Leopard. It was also the final throes of the old Datsun straight-6: the next generation Gloria/Cedric Y30 inaugurated the start of the V6 era for Nissan.
It’s a pity that this Gloria is not the top-of-the-line Brougham, but this interior already seems quite Broughamy as is. The rear passengers even have their own cigarette lighter on that cutesy formica consolette. The buttons are for the radio, because you’ll want some nice tunes to go with that soothing smoke. Maybe they should have dubbed it Gloria 420. All in all, an impressively well-kitted car for the early ‘80s.
Design is a very subjective topic, but I hope you’ll agree with me that, not unlike its Nissan 330 predecessor, this hardtop (or its quasi-identical Cedric “spouse”) is the Nissan 430’s best iteration. The front end is decent enough, though a bit on the bland side. Personally, it’s that rear end that really gets my juices flowing, as well it should. The standard saloon and the wagon pale in comparison to the hardtop’s wraparound rear window and this edgy behind. You don’t point at it, it points at you.
Cars like these are starting to get some attention after many years of neglect, if Japanese car mags are anything to go by. I hope this survivor, soon to celebrate its 40th anniversary, will get the fix up it deserves. Thanks again for your grace in posing for these pictures, Madam Gloria. I’ll leave you my contact details, just in case…
The cars are interesting, given today’s obsessions with elevated conveyances that look like they want to rip your head off.
The article is hilarious.
Thank you, good sir.
I agree with your stance, so succinctly described by your avatar. Cars belong on the ground, not several feet into the air.
Another great JDM find Tatra. So many design elements popular from the time. Nissan styling leaning towards boxy and angular compared to Mazda, Honda or Mitsubishi. The styling of the rear end and back window is reminiscent of the Mitsubishi Galant Lambda/Plymouth Sapporo/Dodge Challenger. The concurrent Mazda 626 as well. With the Mitsubishi appearing cleaner in execution.
The wheel arch design is very reminiscent of the late 70s Corolla. While elements of the greenhouse, especially the C-pillar design appears like the later Dodge 600/Chrysler E-Class.
The attractive wagon is quite similar looking to the Maxima wagon. Though the Gloria line appears a more interesting design overall.
I agree, the nose looks a bit formal for the rest of the car.
I realize the car is far newer, but that 4 door hardtop gives off a 60s vibe to me, especially in the rear passenger area. My first thought was an earlier song. Which the car even spells out on the back: G-L-O-R-I-A.
You’re right JP, this Gloria definitely has a 60s feel with the interior detailing, brougham touches, and its name spelt out on the trunk.
Even the hood and trunk logo evokes the early 60s Thunderbird badging.
I like this live version that The Doors did:
https://youtu.be/HFIlE0fiL84
Never heard this cover version of Gloria before – Van the Man sings it better…
I agree with Mellow-san.
Them did it best…
https://youtu.be/GVjceA1WfJU
There are a few of these left on the road in NZ they are even being pulled out of paddocks and sheds as barn finds, the later models with the RB engines are still more common but the ranks are thinning, This is the model my brother had ex Singapore and diesel it had done a huge mileage probably as a taxi, the LD 28 engines are well made and very durable though not very powerful a friend has some, one installed in a XF Falcon ute and the other in a 49 F1 pickup both are turboed and five speed manuals.
At the time I was rather ambivalent about these big Japanese cars. I hated them for their cringeworthy styling and flabby suspension, but I approved of the effort the makers put into engineering and advancements in technology. But my approval or otherwise was moot; I was not the target market for these cars. Judging by their disappearance from our showrooms around 1980 or so, Australians in general didn’t seem to be the target market either. The smaller, sportier Cressidas and Skylines were a better drive perhaps, but lacked the presence of Crowns and Cedric/Glorias.
But now I find myself fascinated by the sheer American-style broughaminess of it all, and in a parkably-sized package. And the amazing two-tones you’d see in JDM press photos! This one’s a Cedric rather than a Gloria, but…
We kept getting the Crown and the V6 300C until about ’87. They both had independent suspensions and such, but neither, especially the Nissan, were an aesthetic addition to any road they travelled upon.
They lasted that long! I got married in ’84, so I wasn’t exactly paying attention to cars I wasn’t likely to buy. I plead distraction.
Love the lacy, old coach themed, head rests and seat back covers.
Much nicer than faded black heavy-metal band t-shirts (discarded by my son) that I use – installed backwards, arms tucked in, not quite fitting all that well, but providing some protection from my dirty sweaty self after a day of digging up bamboo roots in 90+ degree days.
Non-automotive hint of the day – Never plant any type of bamboo (clumping or spreading) in a suburban setting! Although, if the world is worried about carbon sequestration, bamboo is an answer (of sorts).
As a former owner of an 1982 Accord, I still find the rectangular dashboards of the 80’s to be attractive and functional.
“Love the lacy, old coach themed, head rests and seat back covers.”
I was scrolling down to post the same thing, when I saw your comment.
They remind me of the antimacassars you used to see on upholstered furniture in older relatives’ living rooms – rooms that were only occupied on holidays, or if they had guests.
+1 on the bamboo warning. We had a clump of it behind the old outside toilet. It had been poisoned, but it’s tough stuff. I started digging at sunrise and finished by lunchtime. Hardest half-day’s work I’ve ever done.
We got these in Oz, but alas, sans hardtop. (For clarity, they WERE sold with a roof). Similar front to this one, with a stodgier rear. Oddly enough, I rather liked them. They looked like a neater Mk 4 Cortina Ghia, even having very similar alloys. However, they were most pricey, and only for a select few, pretty much older folk whose devil-care attitude to depreciation may have been a product of not really caring what their kids inherited.
That said, my mechanic had one well into its senescence, an eminent recommendation because mechanics only drive unbreakable things for themselves, as they never have to service it or, in this instance, wash it either. Or the massive dog he drove about in it, but that’s to digress.
The article, Mr T, is a delight.
One nit for the picky, the 280Cedria wasn’t the end of the straight six for Nissan, even if they did fit the V6 to the replacement 300C. They heavily reworked the old L-series from the Cedric into the RB series in about ’85, and, garnishes of cams and turbos, it lasted perhaps another 20 years yet.
I hadn’t realised the RB was a heavily-reworked L. On the surface of it, it does seem strange to have both V6s and straight sixes in the range simultaneously, but I seem to recall reading in a magazine at the time that the Skyline range was so strongly identified with the straight six that Nissan felt they had to develop the RB for it. And we’re so glad they did!
Interesting about the L6 – didn’t realize it was a rehash of the old one. I had understood that this engine was LPG-only on the Cedric/Gloria, so it would have been something of a specialty option. The bigger Diesel was also a straight-6, of course.
Fun fact: the RB straight-6 was used in the 4wd version of the Y34 CedGlo (presumably to utilise the existing Skyline/Laurel 4wd running gear).
Tatra, loved this piece, especially the husband/wife framing device.
It’s funny how a slightly more raked roofline can really improve a car’s looks; another pertinent example is the 929/Luce of the late 80s. We actually got the sedan and the hardtop here in Australia but, even though both were quite blocky, the hardtop was just so much better-looking.
As for the 430s, we got the regular sedan as the 280C/300C here in Australia but the more upright roofline made it so much stodgier looking. You’re right — the rear of these is just fantastic.
That interior is pretty Brougham-y, too.
Roofline reminds me of the ’77-79 Chevy B-Body coupes.
I’m hoping you’ve got some final-generation Cedrics/Glorias to share with us at some stage!
You and Don Andreina are really feeding my 4 door hardtop fetish this week. I am enthralled with this one. The rear seat area is fascinating to me because the design of that inner door panel just screams 63 Chrysler New Yorker to me – it shares both the beltline kickup at the rear of the door and the quilted pattern on the upper door panel.
The car is far more attractive than much of the stuff we were getting in the US at the time, at least for someone who likes a combination of square lines and a sleek/sporty vibe.
To be honest, it wouldn’t be difficult to be more attractive than most of the Datsun/Nissan stuff we were getting in the US at the time. Not a high bar.
Tatra87, great piece. Someone else mentioned the word “hilarious” in the comments – I concur that your humor really comes through in this piece.
Cedric & Gloria – I love it! I also agree that this is a great-looking car. The Nissan Laurel of the same era (and the generation just before) also really does it for me in the looks department.
I am enjoying this series on JDM cars of the 80s and 90s, conveyed with polish and great humor, as above. These big Nissans really were quite remarkable in providing luxury and serenity in a nicely sized package. Headroom was sometimes lacking, especially in certain hardtop models, and especially if equipped with a sunroof, but overall, they were comfortable cars for 4-5 passengers. In the JDM, these were very credible competitors to Toyota’s Crown series, as Toyota had not yet run quite so far ahead of its competitors at that point.
Thanks for posting these JDM sightings. After your first few, when I saw William Stopford’s “Violet Delights” post a few days ago, I assumed it would be yet another in the series. Have you spotted any violet Violets in Japan yet?
No Violet as of yet, I’m afraid. If I find one, it will undoubtedly be a mauving experience…
There were a number of these vintage cars registered to Sailors at the Yokosuka Navy base. I had a clapped-out 1978 Skyline sedan, bought (and ultimately sold) for the princely sum of $75 – one had to dispose of their vehicle or they weren’t able to leave. We were exempt from a lot of the taxes that made them prohibitively expensive to own past 10 years old or so. A few enterprising folks would troll junkyards for drive-ins and get them re-registered and sell them on base for a profit, and they would then change hands until they were no longer roadworthy and sometimes past that. A friend of mine’s neighbor *gave* him his old car (mid 80’s Subaru XT) because that way he wouldn’t have to pay a junkyard to take it.
With the Japanese still after the market for smaller cars at the time, we didn’t see many of these in the USA, certainly not the variety of them. Many thanks for filling in the gaps.
Something I have wondered about JDM cars, though…with the side view mirrors perched out on the fromt fenders, what use were they to actually SEE what was in the next lane? It’d be a very small view.
Yes, but objects in mirror are closer than they appear, so it balances out.
Seriously, though, I’ve never experienced it, but I understand that the fender-mounted mirrors work just fine. The only real issue is how to adjust them on really old cars, where there’s no way to do it from the driver’s seat.
But that far-distant mirror must give an almost uselessly tiny field of view. My 59 Plymouth mounted the rear view mirror on the front fender and it was viewed through the windshield. I was used to mirrors mounted next to the driver on the door and found that fender mirror difficult to see much out of. It was better than nothing, but door-mounted mirrors are soooo much more useful.
Some Japanese model names certainly are cringe-worthy to western ears. “Gloria” I can stand, but “Cedric” is in the same ball-park as “Fairlady” and “Violet” although not as comical as “Bongo Friendee”.
Top ten lists of worst model names, foreign and domestic, would be a hoot. Is Cedric much worse than Belvedere?
Yes. Yes it is.
But is it worse than Duster? Maybe not.
Another great post. This is all bringing me back to the 80’s when I was big into scale modeling, just like apparently Old Pete is. Tamiya and others had dozens of Cedrics, Glorias, Laurels, Leopards, etc all of which were fairly foreign and obscure to teenage me at the time. I usually skipped over that stuff and went for what we saw on the roads here, but this (and the other recent posts) are wonderful in detailing the models for me. It’s high time that we take these deep immersions into this stuff after the “Great US Brougham Era” here at CC a few years back. Thanks!
Had a 430 in pillared. Cheapest car I ever bought. Effing loved it.