In the previous post in the March-athon I promised there would be another final final limited edition. So here it is, the Nissan March White Limited! You may wonder what’s a Nissan March White Limited. In today’s post, I’ll tell you all about it!
But first, let’s see if ChatGPT can make a joke about it:
Why did the Nissan March White Limited get a job at the bakery?
Because it wanted to show off its dough-white exterior and prove that it could rise to the occasion – delivering freshness with every drive!
Yes, ChatGPT is a true stand-up comedian! Badum-tssh
What is a Nissan March White Limited?
In May 2000, the March White Limited was announced as “with dazzling whiteness and calm”. In 2024 this sounds more dated than ever. 24 years ago BLM hadn’t happened yet and Japan’s fashion ideal was still fully focused on Europe. But let’s just ignore that for now and continue with the Google translation.
The March’s special edition “White Limited” shines in dazzling pure white. The side guard mouldings, door handles and license lamp cover are also all white. Furthermore, it features stylish skeleton audio and skeleton keys. We have also prepared special seat cloths to bring out the new appearance of the March.
Okay, let’s just unravel all of that. So Nissan decided the last and final special edition of the March would be a trim level with only white body panels, side guard mouldings, door handles, mirrors and everywhere else imaginable.
In addition to that, it also features skeleton audio and keys. That may sound spooky, but I think that’s a translation error by Google. It probably refers to the see-through plastic casings that were stylish right around the turn of the century. Think of the Apple iMacs, or the Apple iBooks or any other Apple product of that era. And lo-and-behold, it does feature a radio and keys that fit that description. To make it even more late-1990s/early-2000s, the radio supported both cassette and Mini Disk!
Also, notice the keys also feature remote-control functions and, I think, this was a first on the Nissan March K11.
Not fully decked out specs
When I peeked into the options list, I saw this White Limited was only available in 5-door body shape and featured 1.0 and 1.3-litre engines. Both engines were mated to an automated gearbox, where the 1.3-litre received the Nissan-developed CVT and 4WD.
To top it off, it received a set of hubcaps. Yes, those nice-looking alloys aren’t actually alloy wheels but hubcaps on black steel wheels.
Body colour
As White Limited suggests, there was only one body colour available. The body colour is Skily Snow Pearl (WK1), which is a very white pearl colour that was also available on the Nissan Skyline R33 and the Nissan Stagea 260RS Autech. The colour seems to be more silver metallic under certain light and it’s definitely a very interesting colour. Reproducing the colour also seems to be very complicated according to the GT-R Registry:
WK1, the colour code for Silky Snow Pearl, is a 2 layer white pearl with a coarse pearl layer that shines brilliantly in the sun! To make the base layer of WK1 in Glasurit paint, first lots of a high strength white is needed to begin the white base. Then, some blue black is needed to slightly darken the white, followed by some ochre to give the white a more yellowish tone and then finally, an oxide red is thrown in to give the colour a more dirty red tone! That creates the base layer for WK1. To make the pearl layer, some white pearl is added first to start off. Then, a lot of mixing clear binder is added in to not only hold the pearl together, but also to enhance the transparency needed for pearl layer. A small amount of reduced white is added to give the pearl layer a slightly more white base to it. Finally, add in some M1 additive to make the pearl shine more brightly in the sun and that’s how you make the pearl layer of WK1!
Holy moly! That’s incredibly difficult! So that colour definitely was something special on this White Limited.
Interior
On the interior side, not much changed except for the “skeleton” radio and striped fabric. It’s funny how Nissan completely missed that striped fabric in their brochure!
Sales
Being the final limited edition, I don’t it sold well. It was a nice addition to the already ageing lineup and felt a bit more modern due to everything being painted in the body colour. However, the March K11 was by now over 8 years old and was in dire need of a replacement. The fact that I could only find two March White Limited for sale on the internet confirms my suspicions.
Conclusion
The March White Limited was the last and final limited edition. I personally would have expected a final edition receiving all the goodies, options and some more. But apparently, that wasn’t the purpose of this special edition. To me, it looks like another niche that had to be targeted by another special edition. Another diversification of a car that already had too many offspring.
On the flip side, the much more modern “skeleton” radio was a nice addition. Also, the incredibly beautiful and rare paint must have been a treat to look at. The paint was only available on high-end cars like the Skyline R33 and the Stagea. It must have felt to the owners that their March was at least two steps higher than its note-siblings.
Even though I haven’t covered all Nissan specials (including the cabriolet), next time I’ll cover a non-Nissan version of the March instead. It’s a tuning house special that describes it as a Neo-Retro-Sport. Can you guess which one it will be?
Leave a Reply