From the “Good Ideas that Never Took Off” department: the Nissan Pulsar NX Sportbak, a clever coupe with a removable hardtop over the rear-most section. The Pulsar has emerged as a sort of 80s icon, a symbol of the era that often called “rad” owing to the styles and trends that were associated with sunsets, skateboards, and straked taillights. The Pulsar may have been eye catching but a performance car it was not, aside from having improved acceleration when equipped with the optional DOHC 1.8L four-cylinder engine. This example is nicely preserved, but you’ll have to make peace with the automatic transmission. Find it here on craigslist in California and listed for $5,500. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Paul G. for the find.
The Pulsar has been popping up more frequently as the fascination with 1980s vehicles continues. However, many of us can still remember it wasn’t that long ago that vehicles like these littered your local junkyard, as their values were reduced to scrap levels once the next generation econobox became available. Still, the Pulsar was at least a novel take on a fuel-sipping four cylinder, offering commuters a more interesting option than your average Civic. The Pulsar seen here wears fairly conservative colors and rides on standard-issue hubcaps, but the body panels appear to be dent- and rust-free. And, of course, pop up headlights are a must for 1980s import.
The Pulsar NX came with excellent bucket seats and a three-spoke steering wheel like many other Japanese coupes of this era. The preferred configuration is to find one with a manual gearbox, but given these weren’t particularly racy, it’s not surprising to find them saddled with an automatic. The hatchback could be ordered as an XE with a 1.6L SOHC four-cylinder, or a 1.6L / 1.8L DOHC mill in SE guise. This one has the SOHC motor, which should be fine for everyday commuting duties – which, given the relatively low values of the Pulsar NX, I’d feel comfortable using this survivor for, especially in the summer months. The interior is certainly nicely preserved, with no obvious areas of wear and tear.
Mileage isn’t time capsule-grade low, so it’s clearly been used with over 165,000 miles on the clock. The seller reports that the air conditioning works and it passed Arizona smog testing without issue. The seller is correct that the Sportbak is one of the only ones for sale at this time, but this is also a case of scarcity not necessarily driving value. Not surprisingly, the Pulsar NX was designed and conceived in southern California, which seems like the perfect place to own a vehicle with T-tops and a removable rear hatch. The seller may get his asking price eventually, but it’s a fairly small market of potential buyers looking for an 80s oddball like this.
This is what they called a “Smurf Hearse”.
Yea I agree the Pulsar was one of those lifestyle vehicles that looked good on paper but failed to capture the market. I can think of others like the Pontiac Aztec, Nissan Murano cabriolet, the smart car, Ford Freestyle, Isuzu Vehicross, Subaru SVX, fiat 500 current model and others. They may be quirky today but years from now there may be a strong following. Who knows a Aztec might trade for Porsche money some day. Time to squirrel some cars away for future BarnFinds circa 2031!
Make sure your Aztec is fern green with a rear drivers side steel wheel for car shows and WWBrBd plates for your Breaking Bad homage.
I think one of the issues with this car was that the people most likely to be interested were the least likely to have the space to store the hatch or Sportbak when not in use.
Very good point. Also, it was probably more likely to appeal to single people…..who would need a friend to swap out the spare roofs.
I drive by one of these every other day. Parked with junk on it and tilted down on the passenger side. You can’t miss those tail lights.
As far as reliability goes, this car was on or near the top of the list. It´s iconic styling may have been a bit quirky, but it was original. I like it!
I was going to say that this is the ugliest car I’ve ever seen but then I scrolled down and saw that Dodge Dart, or what was left of it.
Nothin sporty about that back. Talk about junk in the trunk…
I thought these were cool when new and still believe that. I like the idea of a modular car where you can change it from sporty driver to practical wagon at will and then change it back. I’ve got too many or I would be interested in this one
Definitely a unique concept back in the day.
I believe it came in three interchangeable versions: standard slanted glass hatch, a notchback, and this wagon.
No full-slant fastback, just this kammback wagon and notchback styles, but both of them were basically just oddly-shaped tailgates.
No surprise that it is GONE.
Listed in North Phoenix
I bought my 1989 Nissan Pulsar when I was still on active duty. I’m proud to say he is still running like a champ! It seems I get stopped fairly often asking if I wanted to sell it. The only thing I am going to have to do is find a new dashboard because of the weather. Besides that, my car runs like a dream after all of these years@
I also had the 89 Pulsar NX
I really loved the car. It was fun to drive.
I had it for just over 5 years and then the car started smoking with 120,000 miles with the original clutch
I just got a job with a company car so the car went bye-bye.