Nissan Primera

The Nissan Primera is a mid-sized range of automobiles manufactured at plants in the UK and Japan.

Nissan Primera P10 (Mk I, 1990–6)

Since 1988, Nissan had been building Bluebirds—essentially a rebadged home-market Auster or Stanza—for the European market at its factory in Sunderland. While that car was well-built and reliable, it lacked the all-round competency—particularly flair—needed in the large-medium family car sector there.

In the autumn of 1990, Nissan replaced the UK Bluebird with the Primera. It had a conventional front-wheel drive chassis and five-speed manual gearbox, with some versions getting the option of a four-speed automatic. Power came from 1.6 L carburettor and 2.0 L injection petrol engines; a 2.0 L diesel followed. Bodystyles were four- and five-door saloons and five-door estate (the last of which was imported from Japan). Equipment levels were also good.

What set the Primera apart from its predecessors is that Nissan has deliberately targeted this car at the European market. The result is a car constantly lauded for its ride and handling. The Primera sees Nissan's multi-link front suspension applied to front wheel drive for the first time. The petrol engine received a power upgrade in 1992 which gave the GT version a top speed of around 130 mph.

Some five-door UK Primeras were exported back to Japan.

There is a station wagon version, called the Nissan Avenir in Japan and New Zealand. However, this is really a separate model because it doesn't share the Primera's platform: the Avenir uses struts up front and 5-link axle in the rear.

Nissan Primera P11 (Mk II, 1996–2001)

The second-generation Nissan Primera was launched in the autumn of 1996. It was not an entirely new car, and its styling was unremarkable, but it was still probably the best driver's car in the large-medium sector, a compliment that could even be levelled at the 1.6 L base models.

The interiors were unimaginative but solid and comfortable, keeping in tradition with Nissan's high levels of build quality. Mechanical reliability also proved to be excellent.

As before, the Primera was sold with 1.6 and 2.0 petrol engines and a 2.0 diesel, with hatchback, saloon and estate bodystyles. A 1.8 petrol was offered in Japan and Australasia.

Alongside the original Primera, the Nissan Primera Camino was launched as a badge-engineered model for different dealer networks. The Japanese models also introduced a CVT automatic transmission during the P11 series.

In addition, Nissan began selling the Primera in the United States as a BMW 3-series rival. The Infiniti G20 was an upmarket compact sedan, using the same grille and rear lamp alterations from the Primera Camino.

In the summer of 1999, Nissan gave the Primera a facelift, giving it a more modern, swoopy front end, and improved its specification levels. The new name was P11-144. A 1.8 petrol engine was added to the range, and the 2.0 petrol could now be had with 6-speed sequential semi automatic transmission in the style of a racing car. Essentially, though, the Primera scored high on excellent levels of build quality and reliability. This facelift was not generally applied outside Europe, with Nissan "formalized" the fronts of other Primeras and Caminos instead, bringing them into line with the look of the American Infiniti model, which was different from the rest of the range.

In the UK, this car now has an association with chav culture, which has hurt its image.

Nissan Primera P12 (Mk III, 2001–)

Late in 2001 Nissan introduced the third-generation Nissan Primera, its first all-new car since the collorbation with Renault two years earlier. The new Primera looked similar to the Renault Laguna, but it maintained the old car's hallmarks of comfortable ride, solid build and faultless reliability, even if its handling was tuned more to comfort now. The 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 petrol engines and 2.2 turbo diesel were sourced from the Renault Laguna. No Infiniti equivalent was released, the Nissan Skyline-based Infiniti G35 replacing it Stateside.

New Zealand Primeras were all equipped with CVT transmission, with no manual option, which might have hurt the range's chances there.

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