Ah, the late ‘90s. When life was simpler and cars were deadly dull. Maybe not quite as dull as the early ‘90s, but still about as exciting as a glass of tepid water. There, sitting among the bleak hatchbacks of that terrible decade, was the 2nd generation Nissan March / Micra. Successful, popular, well-regarded and duller than a weekday in February. Luckily, Nissan had an answer. It was the answer of the times, the hip and groovy streak of genius that would sell, sell, sell and get the kids to swarm their local dealerships. In a word: retro.
But not just any old retro, no. The glitzy chrome accents and gaudy grilles were good – inspired, even, but now Nissan gave their retro a theme. And on the March, that theme was dance. Retro dance. You know, the sort of thing kids go mad for. Rumba! Now that’s about as novel and fresh as that glass of tepid water I mentioned in the intro. Shades of Havana in the ‘30s. JDM customers can relate to that, right?
The Rumba was not dancing solo. Nissan were keen on playing all the hits in those days. The K11 March was declined into at least four music/dance-themed retro sister models, the others being Bolero, Polka and Tango. One wonders why the Charleston, the Can-Can and the Waltz were passed over. Or the Mashed Potatoes, the Funky Chicken and the Salsa (too food-related, maybe?)…
This fearsome foursome came about in the late ‘90s. The 1996 Tango was the first, a sort of trial balloon. Then the March got a facelift in 1997 and the three others arrived in quick succession. Nissan made their Autech subsidiary put their name to these four March sisters. I’m not sure why. Perhaps to make them seem cutting edge, trendy or performance-oriented. They were neither, of course.
Has any car been subjected to more retro versions than the Nissan March K11? Nissan / Autech created the aforementioned sorry sorority, but there were many more. There’s the Nissan “Verita 1952” – a Taiwanese first cousin with an apparent thyroid issue (top left). There were also a number of more distant family members afflicted with more serious cases of retro-itis, such as the infamous Mitsuoka Viewt and not one but at least three VandenPlas 1100 clones: the Lotas Princess (bottom right), the Copel Bonito (bottom left) and the Ministar (I’ll spare you that one, and a few others).
This rampant retro fever did not stop with the demise of the K11 platform, either. Some of these jumped to the K12 and continued on for years. The Bolero, which seems to have created quite a following for itself and is not a rare sight even today, is still being made, though it has switched hosts and is currently infecting the Dayz kei car. It seems the Rumba, for some reason, didn’t catch on all that well. It was launched in November 1998 and was gone by 2002. Even the Macarena lasted longer (certainly felt like it).
And I kind of see why. At least, the Bolero has that unique streamline-modern-esque grille. For their part, the Mitsuoka and the Princess pay homage to ‘60s legends (yes, I’m saying the VandenPlas ADO16 is a legend. Well, in Japan, anyway…) that would be challenging to afford and run otherwise. The other March sisters are pretty pointless, Rumba included. Some websites claim this is supposed to evoke the BMC Mini, but it really doesn’t. The Daihatsu Mira Gino did that far more convincingly. This March just looks like a fish-faced pike car without a purpose, a stylistic hook or a set of gills. No wonder it went extinct.
Related posts:
Curbside Classic: The Japanese Retro Trial (2nd Witness) – Mitsuoka Viewt K12, by T87
Curbside Classic: The Japanese Retro Re-Trial (2nd Witness) – Nissan March “Herbie”, by T87
The Vanden Plas clone looks almost convincing, I’m surprised some havent been imported theres likely an issue with safety equipment stopping that untill they age into the classic category the open slather on used imports has been reined in somewhat recently, someone noticed the lower safety standards of JDM models compared to export versions Suzuki’s Swift has been in the firing line over that recently, Vewts are now complyable so maybe some of the other March based oddballs will show up.
So, it’s “Jo,” then?
CC Effect? I’m in the middle of (re) reading Little Women right now.
Hehe… I wondered if obliquely referencing 19th century literature would get picked up. CC Effect, definitely.
The Japanese fascination with the Allegro Vanden Plas always perplexes me. I wonder if they would be similarly attracted to the Triumph Mayflower? Then again Mitsuoka as whole perplexes me but their continued survival shows that they meet a need.
Not the Allegro VdP (good God, please no!), the Princess VdP 1100 / 1300. I don’t think even the most perverse Japanese British car aficionado would think the Allegro VdP to be worthy of an homage.
I’ve seen a couple imported Boleros over here. They are distinctive and neat looking. The Rumba looks a bit like a sad face with that grill. I sort of like the Mitsuoka Viewt even though it is awkward looking proportion wise.
If you were around in the 90’s you would not have thought the 2nd gen Micra boring – it was actually pretty good, with a sweet OHC motor. I found one in a JDM specialist once, and it had fuel injection and electric windows – options that were never available in Europe.
If you look hard at a 2-door model and squint a bit you will see that it was already retro – it was Nissans’ interpretation of the 1959 Mini, which was already popular in Japan. Obviously Nissan dispensed with the rubber springs, external seams and unreliability.
Strictly talking about styling here, Uncle. I was around in the ’90s and remember seeing quite a lot of these in Europe. One T87 family member bought one new, even. It was a very good car. But the styling was not my cuppa, though as I said not many cars of that period found grâce to my eyes.
Considering that Nissan used to make licensed Austin/BMC cars, and the engines in the 510 and 240Z can be traced to Austin ancestry … these “retro” cars are somewhat “authentic.”
Some things are better photographed in the dark. It’d be hard to muster up enthusiasm for a dance with this one but apparently someone did. At least Nissan let their freak flag fly for a decade or so there…The world would be a poorer place if all Micras were just silver and looked exactly the same.
My wife had a facelift Mk2 Micra (in a very vivid sparkling green metallic) when I first met her. As much as it wasn’t my cup of tea, it was a reliable little car and remarkably spacious. It was also incredibly sturdy. The car was hit side on at almost 30mph and despite the damage, it was deemed as repairable. She was very emotional when we traded it in and still talks fondly about it to this day. I hadn’t seen the Rumba until today, and as much as I love seeing unusual cars, this has damaged my eyes!
Interesting post Tatra87. Most of these are on our Kiwi roads, but until I read the article, I had no idea some were official Nissan models. I’ve never seen either of the VDP 1100 clones here, but I agree with Bryce, those ones are actually almost convincing – they certainly evoke a ‘what if’ alternative reality, where the Micra is the 1999 Austin 1300, and the Lotus Princess the VDP version.
My wife had a Bolero at one time and liked it, replacing it with the much more fun Subaru R2 eventually. It was a bit different….she liked the slightly retro look.