Tag: nissan march (Page 2 of 3)

Nissan March K11 basics – March-athon

December 20, 2023 / banpei / 1 Comment

Earlier this week I kicked off the March-athon for the Nissan March K11 with the March Tango post. I guess I was a bit too enthusiastic after the Down on the Street post. Perhaps I should have calmly thought first about what would be the most logical starting point. In hindsight, I should have started with a posting about the basic K11 itself. So that’s what I’m doing today. I’ll keep this post limited to the Japanese March K11 and omit the export versions.

Nissan March K11 history

When the March K11 was launched in 1992, the previous generation March K10 had been in production for over 10 years! The K10 generation had been highly loved and popular. It received a (rounded-off) facelift in June 1985 which made it more up-to-date with the tastes of the mid-1980s. In 1989 it received its second facelift, making it even more rounded off but it was still getting more out of fashion every day it sold.

Let the March Tango into the night! – March-athon

December 17, 2023 / banpei / 4 Comments

Yesterday I already briefly touched upon the Nissan March Tango’s history. As I concluded, there were so many Nissan March K11 variants that it deserves its own series to highlight each and every one of them. Today we’ll kick off this series with the March Tango simply because I already covered it yesterday.

Today's subject: the Nissan March Tango — Today’s subject: the Nissan March Tango

What is a March Tango?

Down on the Street: Nissan Micra Gogomobile

Nissan Micra that likes to Tango a March – Down on the Street

December 16, 2023 / banpei / 0 Comments

Apparently, ten years ago I was wrong about a particular Nissan Micra I found parked down on the street. Very wrong. The Micra in question featured a retro-styled front end and I thought, back then, it was some bodykit for the March in Japan.

Apparently, it is a Nissan March Tango produced by Autech in 1996 and 1997! So how did I manage to finally identify this front end after 10 years? And what’s the Autech March Tango? Are there others as well? I’ll try to answer all these questions today but a follow up has to come soon!

Connecting the dots

When I was on a voice call with my friend in Japan Daniel O’Grady (Wasabi Cars) talking about his awesome Mitsuoka Ray, I briefly mentioned encountering this car over ten years ago. He asked me to send him a picture, which I did. Modern life is so convenient: While talking to each other over WhatsApp, I was able to search my blog, find the post in question and send the photos. When Daniel saw the Micra in question he told me it was a Tango, a March Tango. Boom! Mind blown!

The Tommy Kaira M13 Baby Gang – WTF?!

December 13, 2023 / banpei / 0 Comments

You may wonder what image DALL-E 3 would generate if you described the following picture of the Tommy Kaira M13: big wide gaping mouth and above it the tagline Baby Gang in big bold letters. Personally, I think not much good: either it would just get confused by that mismatch of information or it simply refuses to create something NSFW!

Tommy Kaira M13 brochure: Baby Gang with a Micra K11

This picture brings up even more questions. Why Baby Gang? Why the Italian Flag? Why is such a big gaping hole necessary? I’ll try to make some sense out of this…

The Tommy Kaira M13

The first thing you probably notice is that the Tommy Kaira M13 actually is based on a Nissan March K11. The Nissan March K11 was released in 1992 and Tommy Kaira offered the M13 for the first year in 1993. Remember that the Japanese bubble economy burst in early 1992. The more expensive Tommy Kaira cars must have fallen out of grace quickly and this smaller M13 was an excellent choice!

Versions

As stated earlier, the Tommy Kaira M13 was based on the Nissan Micra K11. After the first M13, it existed for another generation with the Micra K12.

Nissan March Turbo K10 steering wheel and gauge cluster

Why did the 1985 Nissan March Turbo feature this hybrid cluster? – Deepdive

October 25, 2023 / banpei / 0 Comments

1985 was the peak of the digital gauge clusters. When digital gauge clusters were introduced with the Aston Martin Lagonda in 1976 they were a luxurious feature. However, by the early 1980s, Toyota already launched their Soarer with a similar digital gauge cluster. Toyota being Toyota, copied their new technology to other upmarket cars like the Chaser, Cresta, Mark II, Celica, Carina and Corona. Soon other brands, like Nissan, followed suit and also featured digital gauge clusters in their top models. By the mid-1980s these digital gauge clusters had trickled down to even the smallest commuter cars like the Honda City and the Nissan March. The gauge cluster of the Nissan March is what we feature today!

Shuto Expressway C1 full loop 1986 versus 2023

Video Friday: amazing Shuto Expressway C1 side-by-side driving (1986 versus 2023)

October 20, 2023 / banpei / 1 Comment

Two weeks ago I posted a video of the stunts of Shuto Kosoku movie on the Shuto Expressway. A few days ago I came across a relatively new video by Kamepo: the Shuto Expressway C1 loop driven in 2023 synchronized with footage from 1986! I have been a long time subscriber of Kamepo’s videos and I’m sure I have posted a couple of his/her videos over the years.