Junkyard Find: 1987 Nissan Pulsar NX
We saw an ’83 Pulsar not long ago, but it wasn’t until later in the 80s that Nissan’s semi-sporty commuter got really weird. Yes, interchangeable rear body panels!
I believe the wacky “Sportbak” wagon option was built on a different body than the regular Pulsars (but I could be wrong); this type of Pulsar could be purchased with this coupe attachment or a hatchback shell. The T-top style roof panels could be removed; they didn’t leak as much as their GM counterparts (which isn’t saying much), but there’s a reason that T-tops went out of fashion.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell why a rust-free 25-year-old car got scrapped, but that’s not the case here.
To understand the oddball styling on this car, it is necessary to understand its era. Now does it make sense?
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.
More by Murilee Martin
Comments
Join the conversation
Haaaaaaa! I haven't seen one of these in years, even in rust-free California! When I was a freshman in High School here in Northern CA there was a junior girl at my school who had one circa 1990-91. It was black but her dad had it two-toned with silver for her and it had a gigantic LA Raiders logo painted on the hood. She always wore her bangs about 1' high and wore baggy, pleated "MC Hammer" pants with the ankles cut at a strange angle. Also, neon pink Oakley Razor Blades. Her name was Andrea but she thought she was gangsta went by 'Drea and this car had it's own soundtrack of Color Me Badd, Bel Biv DeVoe, McHammer or Vanilla Ice. Her only complaint about the car was that she couldn't fit 12" or 15" "hella beat" subs in the back, and she was stuck with a single 8" sub. (I guess she didn't have the wagon attachment?) One night during a football game someone keyed the crap out of her car with what looked to be more of a tire-iron than a little key, an incident that fueled my high school's rumor mill for the next month or so before she crashed it and totalled the thing, rendering the previous vandalism only important to her own ego.
I don't have time to write tonight, but my wife owned an 87 Pulsar for about 15 years. I can relate to most of the comments from pulsar owners. If you have time, maybe you could read the story of her Pulsar on my link. below. http://ttagpine.hubpages.com/hub/My-wifes-possessed-car