On June 21, 2018, I posted a Cohort shot of a Nissan Pulsar NX with the Sportbak, titled: When Was the Last Time You Saw a Nissan Pulsar With the Sportbak? I can answer that question now, if a bit belatedly: on August 26, 2018, almost exactly two months after I asked the question, since I had not seen one in ages previously. And here’s the proof.
As to why it’s taken me a year and a half to post it, I have no answer, except that my files are full of many hundreds of cars I haven’t posted. And what made me think of this one just now? I have no answer also.
Enough of the questions; let’s take a look at the elusive Pulsar NX Sportbak (Nissan EXA N13), billed as “the world’s first multiple convertible”.
The gen2 Pulsar NX appeared in 1986 for MY 1987, as a follow-up to the very angular and rather stubby NX gen1 (EXA N12). It was a decidedly better looking sporty coupe of the FWD persuasion, as was common at the time (think Celica and Prelude). Not surprisingly, it was designed in Nissan’s California studios under the direction of Jerry Hirshberg. But its claim to fame was that it was convertible; not in the usual way, but in the ability to convert from a coupe into a shooting brake. The removable T tops also added to its convertability. Thus the claim.
The origins of this are seen quite clearly in this 1975 Prima concept, by Ghia. Ford decided not to bite. Nissan did.
The front end with its flip up headlights is typical of the smooth, clean and anonymous styling trends of the time, and are a logical follow-up to the more angular version of its predecessor. Under the hood were two versions Nissan’s E-Series fours; a 1.6 L SOHC mill for base versions, and a 1.6 or 1.8 L (1988-1989) DOHC job for those wearing the…
…appropriate badging. Since this one proclaims 1.6 liters, we can pin it down to a 1987. Unless I’ve mixed something up.
The slanted C pillar is of course highly reminiscent of Nissan’s Pathfinder of the same general vintage, whose styling originated at the same source in San Diego.
Here’s a better view of the Sportbak. It’s not exactly hard to see why these were a flop; who was going to spend a not inconsiderable amount of money for an alternate rear end? Or maybe one could buy it with just the Sportbak and not the coupe? Certainly the coupe version was drastically more common. These were rare even in So Cal at the time.
The interior is pretty typical, meaning that high quality fabric that seems to wear like the proverbial iron. And the pods that extended from the dash for numerous finger-tip controls. That was quite the fad at the time, eh?
Admittedly, this Sportbak is being put to good use. Of course the coupe could readily carry this too, if the plug were pulled.
I’ve saved the best for last. Who would expect to see something like this on a Pulsar Sportbak? I’m still dazzled.
I am pretty sure that what appears to be a period between the 1 and the 6 on the side graphic is really just the drop-shadow for the 1, so that it actually says “Twin Cam 16” as in 16-valve. I remember Nissans of that time period having “Twin Cam 16” legends on their sides or tails (or both)
I think I once saw one of these on the road with the Sportbak. They certainly weren’t common in any form.
Yes, these were never common, and I had forgotten all about them (again).
I can only imagine the number of places one of these could leak at this age.
On June 21, 1918 (Just a little typo)
I do believe there was one of these on campus in my college days (1995-1999) and I recall seeing the Sportbak attached at the beginning and end of the school year just for moving things in and out of the dorms.
I was thinking, “Damn, Paul looks great for his age!”
Thanks… fixed now.
That graphic does indeed narrow this particular example to 1987 as that was the only year for a DOHC 1.6 being the “base” engine with a DOHC 1.8 being used in the highest powered model.
I have never seen one of these outside of a magazine ad or the Internet. I knew someone who owned a hatch-back Pulsar in in 1978 but she didn’t go for the wagon top. I must have asked her what the cost difference was, but of the many many things I don’t remember, that is one of them.
I do remember that she slammed the hatch-back closed on a hot Atlanta afternoon and the glass exploded in a million pieces but I don’t believe that had anything to do with the design. Glass is funny stuff, and very moody. If it has a bad temper, well….
This begs the question…when you purchased this car, it came with both tops, right? So, did you have to make two trips from the dealer for each top to get them home?
Is believe that the wagon back was an additional cost option.
Not only do I think I’ve never seen one of these that wasn’t red, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one where the Sportbak wasn’t black. I wasn’t aware the Sportbak came in any other colors.
I always liked these a ton and still do. My favorite thing is the Nissan stamped into the driver’s side headlamp cover.
That’s correct. No matter what color the car was, Nissan only offered the Sportbak canopy in one color (silver).
I guess they thought Silver went with everything.
My aunt bought a red pulsar new in 87. Never got the sport bak thou. I remember looking at the catalog as a kid that showed the sport bak along with some other weird options (I seem to recall a camping kit). She drove in until 97 or so and 150k miles when my father bought it. I drove it some when I was in high school, despite being down on power it was pretty fun to drive and fairly roomy in the front seats (it was a 5 speed). I loved the T -tops but only ever took the hatch off once for the full convertible effect. My dad drove it over 200k when it died after my brother crashed it.
I still love the concept. And there will always be a warm spot in my heart for a shooting brake of any make.
Here’s one still for sale.
https://santabarbara.craigslist.org/clt/d/buellton-classic-1988-nissan-pulsar/7072761882.html
Wow, this guy’s been trying to sell that for a month at least. I guess as unique and rare as these might be, they’re not worth much. I can only imagine how much of a loss the owner took in restoring this oddball.
I remember when these first hit the market. I thought the modular concept for cargo capacity to be brilliant. I didn’t expect people to buy both hatch designs, but the ease at which a dealer could tailor the hatch to the customer was intriguing. I found it unexpected that most people bought the less- roomy design
Despite this model’s failure, the modular cargo concept is still with us, but in the shape of hugely ugly black plastic coffins people insist on strapping to the roofs of (hugely ugly) CUVs
Actually, you could only get the hatchback standard. The Sportbak was an additional option. When you did that, you got both the hatch and the canopy on delivery.
There was no “Sportbak only” choice.
I don’t think I’ve seen one of those in 20 years, at least. Good old Curblandia, OR (but CA plates)! And it’s in amazing condition.
Funny, I didn’t even notice the horse image on the first photo of the rear, until you pointed it out in the last photo. What a wild choice. This car has clearly been well-loved throughout its life.
I agree that the 1 and 6 on the side decals is a 16, not a 1.6.
The car has the single tip exhaust which came with the base SOHC engine. It could have been changed of course.
It has been a long time since I have seen a Sportbak! Cool idea. I like the mesh rims on this example as well.
I knew a guy who had one one of these in the early 90’s. I did not get the impression he was totally in love with the actual concept once he got to try it out in practice. I remember him saying it was just easier to leave the bigger wagon-back on the car because where do you store it otherwise (the other roof was much easier according to him), and that he only made the mistake once of completely removing the rear section and then driving around, only to be caught in a surprise thunderstorm. The image and realization of that scenario erased any real convertible “practicality” from my mind very quickly.
Indeed, these might have sold better if there had been a third, folding, removable soft-top option for surprise inclement weather. In fact, if there was a soft-top, it might have been better to simply skip the regular hard Sportbak, altogether. Although, as stated, storing that big ole wagon Sportbak would still have been a headache when using the soft-top.
I haven’t seen a Pulsar of any variation since I was a kid in the ’80s. I remember seeing one drive through the strip mall bagel shop my family ate at occasionally near White Plains, NY. Even at eight years old, I thought those cheese grater taillights looked ridiculous. But the rest of the car made sense in a Japanese faux-sporty ’80s kind of way.
Looking up the plate on CA’s smog database, it looks like this plate was originally issued to a 1998 Ford Windstar in 2007, and from 2009 to 2015 it was assigned to a 1987 Pulsar NX… but the kicker is that in 2018 it was reassigned to a 1989 Pulsar NX, which I have to assume is the one here. I am going to guess that this person VERY much liked his/her Pulsar and went to some length to source this clean example. Hope they still have it!
The 16 valve version was called the Pulsar NX SE. Your looking it up as a plain NX and the single tip exhaust leads me to believe this is actually a base model or a composite vehicle perhaps.
My friend bought one of these brand new when I was in college. After only a few months, it got T boned on the passenger side. Then a few years later, rear ended. One feature I really liked was the pop out door vents for the HVAC. I never saw that on any other car before or since.
The CA smog database doesn’t really distinguish between trim levels of a car, just the model as it entered by the smog technician at the time of the test. The disabled person plates can move from vehicle to vehicle so this person almost certainly owned two different Pulsars.
Those pop-out door vents are, indeed, an interesting feature. I wonder why they didn’t catch on.
Just a little note, the twin cam engines were CA16DE and CA18DE, not an E series, there was no twin-cam E-series engines.
A friend of ours had one of these, back in the high school days, and we used to laugh at him, what with our “big” 2.0 Celicas and Preludes!
My best friend originally had an ’82 Accord he bought new, but it was totalled in an accident (someone avoiding someone else stealing gravel on the side of the road hit him)…this was in 1989….he replaced it with an ’82 Celica Coupe with only 22000 miles on it. He used to call the 2.4 litre 4 cylinder his “big block 4” (not many 4’s with higher displacement).
I loved these Pulsars then, and I love them now. I thought the whole idea of a “modular” sport coupe / shooting brake / convertible in one package took a lot of creating thinking.
The rear “Sportbak” cap reminds me more than a little of that on a late-’70s Pontiac Firebird concept or show car I remember having seen – except that one wasn’t removable, like this one.
I believe you’re referring to the “Type K.”
Awesome. That’s the one. Thank you!
Another unusual feature I remember about this car was it had two third brake lights or HCMSLs. One was inside the car and the other was on the trunk/tailgate lid.
CC effect: I saw one of these yesterday. Although to be fair, it lives up the road so I see it every time I pop into town. Owned by an elderly lady, it’s her daily driver, light green, very clean and tidy. An unusual concept, but good on Nissan for being brave enough to give it a try. Reminds me of the Toncar conversion of the Volvo 440.
Love seeing this. I own an ’87 Pulsar and still love it. Sadly I don’t have the SportBak option though. I would love to find the canopy for it. Ive seen two old website posts from Junkyards, but they already have sent them to the crusher. Feel free to reply if anyone knows of one for sale!
I was thinking of doing the same thing on my 2nd gen Scion TC but ended up replacing it with a ’13 Rav4 because no Camry wagon is available in North America.
Hi all, after finding this yard sale find this past labor day, I thought I’d take a pic for you guys. This is on the east coast. This one runs!. Needs ac charged,oil leak fixed, headlights replaced , but overall a clean neat vehicle. 1989 Nissan Pulsar NX Se. Only 112k miles.
This is my car. It’s an 89. GA16i motor.