My father, at my request, bought a 1987 SE manual and drove it for two years and about 65,000 miles before swapping it out for a Jaguar XJ6 that he THEN swapped out for a new ES250 after only one miserable (for him, not me) year.
As happy as I was that he got the scary-looking, heavily-spoilered Black Max SE, it was the second choice of what I'd dragged him out to consider; I'd been lobbying heavily for a Peugeot 505 Turbo. That, obviously, would not have been nearly as reliable in use.
My wife’s two older sisters had this rivalry thing with my wife. We bought a Sentra. They both bought Maxima wagons: one this color and the other one was blue. Go figure.
Mom gave us her '84 for learning/high school duties (my older brother got it first). She 'upgraded' to an Eagle Premier, which I later inherited when she got the LeBaron convertible. Anyway, that Maxima was a good car, way better than its replacements. It came with Datsun floor mats. The voice warning feature always cracked us up. I got into my fair share of trouble in that thing as a stupid 16 year old and am lucky to be alive.
My 83 280zx was so rotted out and flexy with the t-tops out that when cornering hard the doors would sag enough to trigger the "door ajar" chime from the in-dash computer. It was a great party trick when I had a passenger with me.
I'm sorry, I didn't know you were legally blind...
EDIT: sorry, that was kinda jerky of me. But I just can't compare a Rogue, one of the best anonymous vehicles with which to rob a bank, with one of these Maximas. Now an '87 Sentra, OK. I think I just have affection for 80s cars because I grew up with them.
My mom had a 1985 two-tone Maxima wagon (grey and silver) with a grey interior. The dash was basically the same as this one but with electronic climate controls. For the time, it was a rocketship (and the torque steer was something else). I had a 1985 2.3L 88 horsepower Mustang LX and I took the Maxima whenever I could.
I remember a Car & Driver review from 1985 describing the wagon as "natty". They were right.
The last car my father bought before his passing was a new 1986 Maxima sedan. Silver with dove gray leather. After he died my mother drove it until she replaced it with a 2003 Camry. Considering she wasn’t big on preventative maintenance (as in, not at all!), it was pretty amazing it survived for 17 years.
The level of Brougham-ness of those seats! Deep into the '80s no less! Beautiful color and condition. And such a beautifully-cohesive '80s design. I can just feel how comfortable it would be going down the road.
Thank you for this one, Tom!
My father, at my request, bought a 1987 SE manual and drove it for two years and about 65,000 miles before swapping it out for a Jaguar XJ6 that he THEN swapped out for a new ES250 after only one miserable (for him, not me) year.
As happy as I was that he got the scary-looking, heavily-spoilered Black Max SE, it was the second choice of what I'd dragged him out to consider; I'd been lobbying heavily for a Peugeot 505 Turbo. That, obviously, would not have been nearly as reliable in use.
I'm going to beat everyone to the comment gallery:
If only it had a manual!
was about to ask if they were even sold like that!
Supposedly they were. I never saw a manual Maxima wagon in this generation.
My father had a manual 1987 SE sedan in black over beige interior.
Be grateful it's not the predecessor 3-speed Jatco.
My wife’s two older sisters had this rivalry thing with my wife. We bought a Sentra. They both bought Maxima wagons: one this color and the other one was blue. Go figure.
Mom gave us her '84 for learning/high school duties (my older brother got it first). She 'upgraded' to an Eagle Premier, which I later inherited when she got the LeBaron convertible. Anyway, that Maxima was a good car, way better than its replacements. It came with Datsun floor mats. The voice warning feature always cracked us up. I got into my fair share of trouble in that thing as a stupid 16 year old and am lucky to be alive.
My 83 280zx was so rotted out and flexy with the t-tops out that when cornering hard the doors would sag enough to trigger the "door ajar" chime from the in-dash computer. It was a great party trick when I had a passenger with me.
"it reminds me of a time, long ago, when most new cars WEREN’T ugly, embarrassing conveyances for dull people, lol!"
I don't like being a hater, but this is that. I see virtually no difference between this and a Rogue in the context of their own times.
I'm sorry, I didn't know you were legally blind...
EDIT: sorry, that was kinda jerky of me. But I just can't compare a Rogue, one of the best anonymous vehicles with which to rob a bank, with one of these Maximas. Now an '87 Sentra, OK. I think I just have affection for 80s cars because I grew up with them.
So did I. That's why I see these as common traffic.
I miss the buttons amd fun lighting old cars had no matter the brand. They wanted you to drive and enjoy it
My mom had a 1985 two-tone Maxima wagon (grey and silver) with a grey interior. The dash was basically the same as this one but with electronic climate controls. For the time, it was a rocketship (and the torque steer was something else). I had a 1985 2.3L 88 horsepower Mustang LX and I took the Maxima whenever I could.
I remember a Car & Driver review from 1985 describing the wagon as "natty". They were right.
Nice car, but is the "upgrade" to LED lights really a good idea?
It most emphatically is not IMO.
The last car my father bought before his passing was a new 1986 Maxima sedan. Silver with dove gray leather. After he died my mother drove it until she replaced it with a 2003 Camry. Considering she wasn’t big on preventative maintenance (as in, not at all!), it was pretty amazing it survived for 17 years.
The level of Brougham-ness of those seats! Deep into the '80s no less! Beautiful color and condition. And such a beautifully-cohesive '80s design. I can just feel how comfortable it would be going down the road.
Smokin’ hot chick in my dorm in college had the sedan version of this car. We could have used the extra room in the wagon.
Could have or would have?
A gentleman never tells.
True, but gentlemen are in short supply these days...
I banged her like one of Jack’s old female auto journos he spoke about on that infamous Smoking Tire podcast in 2013.
I’m through being gentlemanly.
It’s probably a marginal proposition since ladies ceased being ladylike.
What a beautiful example of this era of Nissan, and that engine bay!
Those were nice mills.
And visibility! Remember when cars had *that*?!
but what if it had a vg30dett and a stick
what then
ok but what if it was also brown and diesel #winningcarsandcoffee
A hood you can play pool on.
Very cool except the fuzzy seats!
I wonder if you could have gotten burgundy interior with leather?
I bet yes. I had a 1986 Cressida 5 speed with tufted burgundy leather.
Is America weird or is it Japan's view of America? Discuss, with examples (that's an instruction to Jack, btw).
This was Japan's view of JAPAN. Tufted interiors like this were available in the home market well before AND after we got them here.
In burgundy? Well I never...
You probably could but every Maxima from this era I remember seeing had the velour. Without heated seats I’d rather have it than leather.