Poetry In Motion: 1989 Nissan Stanza Sedan vs 1986 Nissan Stanza Wagon

Sbsd 1 19 2024
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Happy Friday, Autopians! Another week in the books, and what a week it has been. I’ve been stuck at home all week due to the weather, but it looks like we’re turning a corner now. For the last day of this weird week, I want to show you two examples of the same car, courtesy of the folks in the Underappreciated Survivors Facebook group.

Yesterday, we went down to Cow Town and looked at a horned Lincoln and a spotted Neon. I assumed the hot-rod Lincoln would run away with it, but lo and behold, the little Neon won. I realize that many of those votes were qualified with “despite the automatic,” but still, it’s nice to see a car I really like win one.

And yes, that’s basically the same three-speed automatic Chrysler had been using ever since the K-car days, and it’s similar in design to the rear-wheel-drive Torqueflite automatics that date all the way back to the 1950s. Who cares? Maybe I just don’t have very refined taste (actually, I know I don’t), but I’m perfectly happy with a simpler version of something, if I can rely on it. I don’t need fancy stuff like a fourth gear.

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Now then: It’s hard to remember, when you see a beat-up Altima weaving in and out of traffic, or when the rental company tells you all they have left are three Versas, but Nissan used to be a respectable automaker. Perpetually lagging behind other Japanese makes in sales, Nissan made and sold some really good cars thirty or forty years ago. But they weren’t memorable cars, except for the fast ones. Today we’re going to sing the praises of the neglected middle child of Nissan’s lineup, the Stanza, and remember that at least one version had a really great trick up its sleeve.

1989 Nissan Stanza GXE – $3,000

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Engine/drivetrain: 2.0 liter overhead cam inline 4, four-speed automatic, FWD

Location: Rochelle Park, NJ

Odometer reading: 32,000 miles

Operational status: Ad doesn’t really say, actually, but I assume it runs and drives

1982 was a big year for Nissan in the US. The brand name change from Datsun to Nissan began, and along with it, the model numbers were replaced with actual names. Two of those, the Sentra and the Stanza, were all-new cars. The front-wheel-drive Stanza replaced the rear-wheel-drive Datsun 510 which replaced the 710, though all three were called the Nissan Violet and/or Auster in Japan. I can’t help but wonder if its sales might have been better if Nissan had not kept changing the names of things.

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The Stanza is powered by Nissan’s fuel-injected CA20E four-cylinder, putting out 105 horsepower. Its performance was on par with similar cars of the day, which is to say slow. This one has an overdrive automatic, but even a manual Stanza is pretty pokey. This car sounds like the quintessential “little old lady who only drove to church” car; it has had only one owner, and covered only 32,000 miles. It’s practically a time capsule.

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This car makes me miss the days when car interiors came in more colors than just black or gray. Common practice was to make the inside match the outside, like this one. It does make junkyard-diving for parts a bit more difficult, of course; you can always find the missing or broken piece of trim you need, but never in the right color. This one doesn’t appear to need anything, but there is an odd wear pattern on the driver’s seat, like the owner had something in their pocket all the time or something. At least it’s not worn through.

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Outside, it’s straight and shiny, as you’d expect from a garaged car with so few miles. It may not be the most exciting thing on four wheels, but it’s also a practically new thirty-five-year-old car, cheap.

1986 Nissan Stanza Wagon – $2,250

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Engine/drivetrain: 2.0 liter overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD

Location: El Cajon, CA

Odometer reading: 104,000 miles

Operational status: Only says “great on gas,” so I guess it runs and drives?

The four-door sedan wasn’t the only Stanza model available, though. This is the Stanza Wagon, which was known as the Nissan Prairie in Japan. Though they called it a wagon, this is in some ways closer to a van; it has sliding doors on both sides (more than a decade before Chrysler’s minivans), but there’s more: There is no B-pillar. Open the front door and the sliding door, and you’re faced with a massive hole in the side. This makes it incredibly easy to get people – or stuff – in or out, but I imagine you couldn’t get away with it these days, with modern side-impact standards.

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The doors latch at the top and bottom, so they can be opened independently; you don’t have to open the front door before the rear door, like on a Honda Element or a Saturn coupe. It’s a really neat bit of engineering. The basic platform on which this clever, upright body rides is not the same as the Stanza sedan; it’s related to the smaller Nissan Sunny (Sentra in the US). It does, however, have the same CA20E engine. This one is a five-speed manual, and also pretty low mileage. It has had a “bunch of maintenance” done to it, which I presume means it runs well, but once again, the ad is light on details.

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This is a California car, and I almost didn’t need the ad to tell me that. It has no rust, but the paint is baked to a chalky, matte finish. The only shiny paint is inside the door sills and under the hood. But personally, I’d take faded and chalky over rusty any day. Inside, it’s at least as clean as the red one, and once again, matches the outside.

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It also has some wonderful ’80s touches like the grid pattern on the instrument panel, and speakers mounted in the ceiling in the rear. According to the seller, it sounds pretty good, too. So once again I have to ask: What would you play in it? Me, I’m thinking Level 42, specifically the World Machine album. No reason; it just seems to fit.

So there you have them: two different cars, about the same age, with the same engine, but very different overall. You can’t go wrong either way, I think, so it comes down to personal preference. Shiny old-lady sedan, or cool but faded wagon?

(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)

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105 thoughts on “Poetry In Motion: 1989 Nissan Stanza Sedan vs 1986 Nissan Stanza Wagon”

    2. Ugh, yes. My brain and other decision organs say, wagon, wagon you fool! But the sedan looks sooo good, both in terms of being kept up and just that boxy perfection. The paint is still reflective, for god’s sake! But but but, it’d be so satisfying to bring the wagon’s paint back to life.

      It was a coin flip, and whoever scoops these is the real winner.

  3. Ahh, the days when Nissan actually made good product. Never as cool as the equivalent Honda, but good honest transportation (and the Maxima was definitely no slouch for the time).

    I’ll vote wagon for the manual and cool doors, but why not both? Not a bad choice here.

  4. This is the first time in ages that I could go either way and be happy. Sliding door wagon? Sure. Color match interior sedan in good shape? Sure.

    At the prices, why not both?

  5. Damn! I wanted to vote for the sedan since I knew the wagon would run away with the victory and I prefer the more secure trunk and less weight of sedans. But I can’t pass on the manual and trick doors.

  7. Wagon for me. There’s a good chance that paint can be polished out, by the way it’s fading I think it’s single stage paint which can looks stunning after proper polishing. And I love the large, pillarless opening. And like many of us, I too am a sucker for a manual wagon.

  8. At first I thought the wagon was the same Stanza that was on Hello Road a couple years ago and later sold on BaT. It was also a light blue ’86 located in California, but two-tone exterior and with an automatic.

    I kept looking for the catch on the wagon because it’s going to load up and walk away with the win. It gets my vote for the manual and quirky factor, but the sedan is very clean and maybe a stronger contender for a “I can’t believe this survived” award at a Radwood. A wagon buyer is more likely to keep that going at whatever cost than a plain old sedan.

  10. I came here preparing to vote for the wagon by default, but honestly, that sedan is too nice to pass up. Then I saw the doors on the wagon; and thoughts of my kids being in that thing when it gets smacked by a brodozer running a red light gave me cold chills; so yeah sedan it is. I know the sedan isn’t going to fare much better, but they at least have a chance.

  11. I only drive stick shift wagons in real life but voted for the sedan. It came down mainly to color and style. Also, I can’t resist well preserved, ordinary, old cars. Silver/silverish is my least favorite car color. I like the classic 3-box shape of that sedan but think the tall wagon look is ugly. That view of the pillarless side also gave me pause. Like Max, I know the sedan isn’t going to be that safe in a crash either, but it’s surely better.

  14. Both are perfectly servicable machines, I was ready to pick the sedan, but that opening and a manual? Wagon please just for the usefulness over just reliable transportation.

  19. 750 smackers would buy you some sort of paint job — not, alas, a $29.95 Earl Scheib job these days — and the manual trans. is, IMO, a clincher. Besides, 104K miles is not excessive for one of these.

    I could see the sedan hitting BaT next time around…

  20. I mean, COME ON.

    A weirdo manual wagon up against a reasonably nice, but otherwise bland, automatic sedan?!? In THIS crowd?!?

    This is like pitting a rabid Kodiak bear against a baby armed with an ice cream scoop.

  21. I’m going with the wagon, but both are decent choices.

    Is the driver’s seat of the sedan actually worn? It looks like the apparent wear could be due to lighting since the discoloration/wear is far less prominent in the shadowed area.

      1. The upholstery does look a bit faded in places, as does the steering wheel. I suspect the upholstery looks a lot better in person or in different lighting conditions, though.

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