Junkyard Classic: 1987 Nissan Stanza – Mini Maxima

Nissan’s former reputation for sportiness, dating back to its days peddling Datsuns, is all but gone today. The Maxima died in 2023, but the manufacturer still maintains a well-rounded lineup of sedans with the Versa, Sentra, and Altima, albeit with most traces of sportiness removed.

Now the top dog by default, the current Altima took over from the Stanza as Nissan’s mid-sized model back in 1993. If the state of 5-year-old Altimas around me is any indication, this segment of cars tends to get ridden hard and put away wet by many of its owners. Without the reputation or resale value of, say a Toyota or Honda, to stave off repair bills equaling the value of the car, a mainstream Nissan sedan showing up in a junkyard in such excellent condition 37 years after it rolled off the assembly line is genuinely remarkable.

The Stanza began as an export version of Nissan’s Violet line of cars. It arrived in the United States under various model names, initially under the Datsun nameplate. Confusing “Datsun by Nissan” badging was slapped on the previous generation which began the Stanza naming scheme.

This particular Stanza is from the fourth generation’s second year, still based on the JDM Violet. For just 1990-1992, a stopgap generation would be based on the Bluebird before the equally Bluebird-based ’93 Stanza Altima muddied the waters of the naming scheme –yet again. Since the Stanza name never meant much here, it was not a great loss when Nissan’s intermediate became firmly entrenched under the Altima name.

If we move over to this side of the car, this Stanza’s main cosmetic flaw –the peeling paint– appears less significant. Such extremely asymmetrical clearcoat failure is typically only seen on cars that have spent long periods of time parked outdoors. Yet, otherwise, this vehicle looks like it was taken off the roads yesterday.

If we examine an identically colored Maxima from the same period in similar junkyard surroundings, the smaller Stanza certainly starts to look more aspirational. The family resemblance to the sporty high-tech Maxima certainly helped the Stanza’s image. They are noticeably differently sized and proportioned vehicles, but their similarly clean and rational boxy appearance did some heavy lifting in helping them compete against their perpetually stodgy Toyota cross-town competitors.

However, if we were to flashback to a different Stanza I spotted parked on the street, the more compact proportions do evidence themselves. The poor state of this Stanza’s paint makes our shining maroon example all the more remarkable.

Surprisingly, the Stanza boasted quite a stylish and comfortable interior. The maroon velour driver’s seat looks great and likely feels incredible in addition to holding you in place in the corners. For a car that cost $10,999 in 1987, or $31,187 today, it’s remarkably upscale. Admittedly, this is the fancy GXE model that forgoes the rental-spec hard cloth seats of the base model for these Maxima-ish thrones.  In fact, the entire interior design down to the dashboard is nearly identical to that of the Maxima shown earlier in the post.

Yet, if you look closely, you’ll spot the 5-speed manual instead of the expected automatic. It’s unusual to see a manual on a high-trim car such as this one.

Surely, with so little wear on the seat, this is a low-mileage car?

In the junkyard, I became convinced this was a 439,950 mile car. However, if you look closely, you can see this is actually 139,950 miles –somehow, the ‘1’ character picked up a horizontal scar that made it look nearly identical to a ‘4.’

While we’re here, let’s contemplate the stylish graph paper gauge backgrounds. Nissan really did have a great eye for adding stylish touches to its mainstream and basic cars during this period. Unfortunately, this talent does seem to have been lost sometime in the intervening 37 years.

With 97 horsepower from a 2.0 NA inline four, this Stanza wouldn’t have been exactly quick, but it was respectable performance for its time. It weighed 2,800 lbs, so it was comparatively light by modern standards. A modern Nissan Sentra has an additional 250 lbs. to lug around with 50 extra horsepower and it’s considered quite pokey today.

I would consider this junked Stanza to be a truly remarkable survivor. Aside from a bit of clearcoat peel, it’s a real-time capsule. Whether or not you wish to relive the experience of driving a Stanza, it’s emblematic of a bygone era in mainstream sedans. Sadly, this car must have been turned into Chinese washing machines by now, likely without donating a single part. There can’t be many Stanza owners to raid this complete car for its unobtainium parts.

 

Related CC reading:

Curbside Classic: 1986 Nissan Stanza Wagon (Prairie/Multi) – The First Modern Mini-Van

Curbside Classic: 1989-1992 Nissan Stanza (Bluebird U12): The Shrinking Violet