Being in Japan is doing wonders for my education. Learning a new language, getting to know the local customs, developing my knowledge of an ancient culture and all that. And discovering the JDM cars, of course. I had little more than a vague idea about the Nissan Silvia, for instance. Then I finally caught one – or maybe it caught me. And now I’m hooked.
Of course, it had to be the S15. First because that’s the most recent of the breed, and thus the least difficult to find, but also because it catches the eye a lot better than some of its predecessors. I’m not saying all the older ones would leave me entirely cold, but some are really so generic as to be hard to notice. I certainly never paid them any attention at the time, whereas the old S10, for instance, is unforgettable, but not necessarily in a good way.
Here’s the whole family, just so we can all reminisce. The first one, made from 1965 to 1968, is as lovely as a mid-‘60s two-door can be, but I’ve never seen one, much to my chagrin. The S10 (1975-79, top right), based on the B210 Sunny, is a distillation of Nissan at their ‘70s weirdest – the very definition of “acquired taste”. The S110 (1979-83, middle left), based on the B310 Sunny, and the S12 (1983-88, middle right) are the expected and unexciting ‘80s box, though the S12 ushered a more performance-oriented turn for the Silvia, with its bespoke S-Platform. The S13 (1988-93, bottom left) and S14 (1993-98, bottom right) are typical ‘90s flavourless jelly beans, especially the latter. But then came the S15 to save the nameplate’s bacon – or perhaps to see it off, adrift in a blaze of glory.
The S14 didn’t sell too well on the home market. For one thing, the Japanese economy was tanking (and Nissan along with it) at that point in time, and for another, it was too big, going over the 170cm width limit that previous generations had all adhered to. Japanese size regulations being what they are, the car was put into a tax bracket that could not be justified by its image. It was also, unsurprisingly, a tad on the heavy side. So the Silvia went on a diet for generation number seven, but it also stayed home: unlike the Silvias of the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s, no S15s were made with left-hand drive. Only Japan got these, along with Australia and New Zealand (where it was badged as the 200SX), starting in January 1999.
Unlike Toyota, who switched their Celica to FWD in the mid-‘80s, Nissan kept their sports coupé RWD till the end. From the S12 on, the suspension was independent all-round – the famous S-Platform, which subsequent Silvias all employed, including the S15. Engine-wise, the famous SR20DET was the high-performance option since 1991, when it was included in the S13 (at least for the JDM – other markets could get different engines). By the time the S15 arrived, the 2-litre DOHC turbo was on its way out because of upcoming emissions regulations, but it still had a few years to spare.
Our feature car is the desirable Spec.R version with manual transmission – the milder Spec.S made do with the SR20DE (i.e. sans turbo) and cost about ¥500,000 less. For the Spec.S, The standard transmission was a five-speed manual, with an optional four-speed auto; the engine output varied according to the transmission: 160PS for the auto and 165PS for the manual. The Spec.R came with an Aisin six-speed manual and 250PS; the optional auto decreased the engine’s power by 25PS.
As per JDM tradition, there were a host of trim levels, optional packages and special editions available on the Silvia. An Aero version provided spoilers and such, the L Package provided blue suede seats (not to be stepped on) and so on. As far as I can tell, the featured car is a standard model, blissfully devoid of extra bits of plastic on its body or silly wheels – unlike many others. A standard Spec.R Silvia is plenty interesting already, there is no need to customize or “improve” it in any way, in my view.
Above: 2000-02 Nissan Silvia Varietta; below: 2000-01 Mitsuoka Le Seyde
But there were a few special versions available at the time anyway, made by Autech: a coupé based on the Spec.S but with 200PS and the Aisin manual box, as well as the intriguing (and rare) Varietta, Japan’s first home-grown electrically retractable metal top. And if we must mention absolutely everything S15-related, the 2nd-generation Mitsuoka Le Seyde was based on the Silvia.
The interior, not swathed in suede (or Le Suede?), is nothing to write home about, really. The only nifty nugget, which unfortunately is not easily seen in this photo, is the pod-like extra dial on the right A-pillar. On the Spec.S, it’s an oil pressure gauge; on the Spec.R, it’s a turbo boost meter.
What really draws the eye in is the Silvia’s hindquarter. Pity the one I found was partially obstructed by plants, but still, that angle is where the car has more personality, with those large turn indicators wrapped around the edges, that large centered chrome script (and odd off-centre keyhole) and Nissan’s signature rear wiper. Well done on this end, Nissan.
The front, by comparison, could be anything from the late ‘90s. But it’s not a bad piece of design, by any means, but it doesn’t have the rear end’s character. Not sure why this particular car has these non-standard (fog?) lamps on either side of the license plate: the OEM placement for these should be further outboard, and they were not that shape anyway. Thankfully, that detail is insignificant and doesn’t affect this car’s looks.
Same with the GT-R badge on the rear end, which though very Nissan doesn’t belong on a Silvia, as far as I know. In the end, this 7th-geneation seems a worthy swansong for a long-lived nameplate. After just over 43,000 were made, including 1143 Variettas and about 4000 export models, the last S15s were put together in August 2002 and the final cars were sold by November, closing the book on both the S Platform, the SR20DE engine and the Silvia altogether. Those rather modest numbers were probably what convinced its maker to nix the line. Nissan, then in the midst of an unprecedented cost-cutting exercise under the famously ruthless Carlos Ghosn, had to let go of some of their baggage, I suppose. The best always go first.
Related post:
Cohort Mystery Car: Nissan Silvia S15 Varietta – If You Say So, by PN
Lovely rear styling, I agree. The big tail lights hit the spot, for me. But unless the latest automotive trend is mildew, someone needs to take an old toothbrush to that Spec-R emblem. Icky!
Prized over here Sylvias are very sought after and under the new regulations dont qualify as used imports as they are too old they will have to age into classic status to get in.
I don’t see any stock ones around here anymore. They all seem to be modified with lowered springs, tires that wear the inside edges and personal massagers attached to the shifters. Usually the seeker wants some ridiculous amount to boot.
Never seen one in the flesh, as it never made it here. Nice.
I quite liked the S13, and the S14 was popular with the go-fast tuner crowd, with it being the last of the breed with RWD.
Never seen a gen1 either, for that matter.
I loved the S13 hatchback. IIRC it was available with a turbo. Or maybe the turbo was aftermarket. One summer I borrowed an S13 notchback non-turbo with a stickshift in about 1992. It was a fantastic car. Loved driving that car.
Another factor contributing to its demise were changes in emissions and safety regulations from 2000 that killed off a lot of other lower volume models by the end of the grace period in 2002. Of course, platform rationalisation didn’t help.
I do think the S15 is my favourite generation of Silvia, but then that was the brand new one more easily discovered through games when I was a kid…
I prefer this, and the two jellybean’s sleek and clean styling, over today’s hideous lizard-eyed, angry-insect, fish-mouthed, flared-gill designs.
Happy Motoring, Mark
“Varietta, Japan’s first home-grown electrically retractable metal top”
Once upon a time, April first of 1989… In all seriousness, the Toyota Soarer Aerocabin checked each and every one of those parameters off that list back then. I already know what you’re thinking, and I disagree. Tell me what exactly a Fiat 500c is, then we can continue this debate, wink wink:
Call that a convertible? More of an elaborate sunroof.
The French would called that a “découvrable” (like, say, the 2CV) and the Varietta “coupé-cabriolet” – a CC, if you will…
I’ll never forget the day, as a 20 year old parts apprentice, that the sales manager of the small dealership I worked at threw me the keys of a blue S15 200SX and told me to be gone for at least an hour! In NZ we got them fresh out of the earliest production, out were actually JDM-spec cars, with a Nissan badge front and rear, and 200SX on the boot lid, all fitted locally. Our cars still had “Silvia” on the headlamp corners and dash-board.
Interesting that there were so few variettas! They started coming in to NZ in the mid-00’s, and we must’ve had quite a few of them. They tended to have a lot of problems with the roof.
When I was working at Nissan NZ around 2010 I was chatting with one of my contact at NMC Japan about the S-line, and he had been in the team involved in the very early stages of procurement planning for the next generation, before it was cancelled.
My two youngest sisters (one now deceased) owned qty-4 between them…..all of them notchbacks and all of them automatic (neither learned to drive standard).
My youngest sister (the one who died) started things out with an ’85 S12. It was white and pretty loaded. I bought the factory service manual for it and was very impressed with the detail and the diagnostics built into the car. She had minor issues with it, the headlight switch had a fried contact and only low beams on one side would work, I ended up finding a redundant contact, because the special column mount switch cost $300, back in 1988, which she couldn’t afford on a college budget. The car ended up getting totalled in a hailstorm in 1992 or so. She ended up replacing it with a ’92 S13,
which she had up until 1998 or so…she used it in her business (photocopier servicing) and put lots of miles on it without changing the oil on time, so I think that’s one reason she had to get rid of it.
My other sister started out with a ’93 S13 which she bought in 1995. I helped her pick it out…bought in San Antonio the day after Selena died (big news especially in San Antonio at the time). It was a nice burgundy color. She was in an accident with it in 1997, I wasn’t around at the time but found out they towed the car with the rear wheels down maybe 20 miles…told the insurance company and they ended up totaling it (it was borderline from the accident alone). From the settlement, she picked up a new ’97 S14, which she still owns (it is the oldest car in our family now). Nice car, but I forget how low these are until I (infrequently) ride with her, at my current age, I have to stoop down pretty low to get in…I used to have a Scirocco, but that was close to 40 years ago, it was also pretty low, but I’ve gotten used to my Golf, which although not a truck or SUV is easier to get into and out of.
They never sold the S15 here in the US, probably just as well for us, but I did like these when they were available. Also, my college car was a ’74 Datsun 710, which I think of as the sedan version of this size car…so maybe we’ve had qty-5 of these in the family….one sister had a Toyota Tercel briefly, and my Dad a ’76 Subaru, but no other Japanese cars, at least yet.