I’ve found the perfect combination for an absolutely unhindered workflow. This consists of brewing a very large cup of strong black coffee and browsing crystal clear promotional images of Japanese cars while listening to vaporwave music. You’re probably very familiar with the first two, and the third thing is basically slowed down corporate elevator music with effects. It sounds like you’re trapped in a 1990s consumer electronics showroom and everything is plastic and great. This suits the smooth, pastel coloured backdrops of Japanese cars like nothing else.
The result of all this, uh, painstaking research is that I keep uncovering some definitely interesting 1980s cars, featuring combinations of noses and tails and dashboards and seats I have not been aware of. Sure, most everything sporty back then was uniform in colour and had a 16-valve engine, but the trim options are endless. And for obvious, 0-in-the-middle-forbidding Peugeot reasons, the Nissan Sunny 305 and 306 Nismo never made it to European or American shores. Here they are.


The seemingly-Japan only version of the Sunny features the tall, blocky and wide nose also seen on the US model Sentra. There’s a heavy aero kit surrounding the car, body colour, button-style hubcaps on 14″ wheels. Most likely, the NISMO package gave the car a stiffer suspension and some anti-roll bars.

The car manages to look like an ’80s tough guy with rolled-up sleeves and a distinct Miami Vice cop attitude, for what is a dressed-up Nissan hatchback.

For good measure, this is what Europe got most of the time: a decidedly more dainty version of the Sunny, on the N13 platform instead. Those 13-inch steelies can still be seen rolling around most Finnish small towns.

Here’s the beating heart inside the Sunny 306: the 1.6-litre GA16DE twin cam engine, producing 122 horsepower. The lesser 305 version had to make do with the older E15-series engine, which managed less than 100 horses – 115 if turbocharged.


It would take a day at a Japanese Gran Turismo -style track with a Sunny 306 and a Corolla FX16 to be able to make any conclusions about the NISMO sticker adding anything substantial to the white Nissan hatch, but that’s something I can only see happening with my mind’s eye.
But listening to some of the more awesome vaporwave tracks, I can completely imagine the shootout comparo. Try Luxury Elite’s Strut (2015) for example, for getting into the correct, corporate mood.


Besides, that interior with cloth that sharp and a leather steering wheel that grippable, the 305/306 combo is nothing short of convincing.

The 303 version, if the nomenclature can be correctly decoded, was the base 1300cc model. The first “3” probably stood for three doors.


A quick search on Japanese used car sites does not bring up any 305RE or 306 NISMO survivors, but at least I found these photos of the brochure. You could, among other stuff, specify different kinds of Fondmetal wheels, a stereo with a separate equalizer, and what looks like a smoke detector.
The coffee is wearing off, but I’m still in the hole with all these excellent Nissans. I might need to brew a fresh cup.
[Source: Nissan]