1991 Nissan Stanza XE (U12 Bluebird)

Prologue -
Some people may not know it, but the Nissan Stanza that has been released in North America is a descendant of the Nissan Bluebird. In Japan, underneath the U12 Nissan Bluebird 2000SSS Attesa (Advanced Total Traction Engineering System for All) bonnet housed the SR20DET 'Plasma' engine. The car featured a top-mounted intercooler and a turbocharged 2.0 liter inline-4 engine. It was also four-wheel-drive, unlike the Stanza in North America and the Pintara in Australia.

The car was originally intended as a rally car, thus being that the car is rock solid. If you take a glimpse at the under body of the Stanza, you can see that in the middle of the car, running longitudinally down the car is a center channel. In the U12 Bluebird SSS Attesa, this is where the driveshaft sending power to the rear wheels would be.

Other model Bluebirds featured the CA18DET, CA18S, and CA20E engines. The CA18S is SOHC and is carbureted. The others being electronically control fuel injected. The CA20E is the SOHC 2.0 liter, while the CA18DET is a DOHC 1.8 liter turbochared engine.

It is very fortunate that there are people out there like the members of TeamNSE (Nissan Stanza Enthusiast), ANTRX.com, and Club U12 from Japan who treasure and preserve these amazing cars.

An Excerpt from Car Parts Wholesale -
Most car buyers may consider the Nissan Stanza as just another vehicle that Nissan used to manufacture in the past. The name of the car doesn't sound like any popular vehicle, and its appearance is virtually unknown to most of us today. And even during its time, the Nissan Stanza wasn't very popular, with a style that is considered old even during its time. But despite being unpopular, the Nissan Stanza surprised the world with a level of performance and ride quality not expected from it.

The Nissan Stanza was a front-wheel drive, compact car manufactured and sold by Nissan from the 1970s up to the early 1990s. It was first introduced in Japan in 1977 as the third of three similar vehicle models, which also includes the Nissan Auster and Nissan Violet, although some minor styling differences are evident among the three. That original Stanza was also sold in the U.S. but as the Datsun 510.

After 1982, Nissan decided to stop using the Datsun brand name for their vehicles and use the Nissan brand name instead. At that same period, Nissan also decided to standardize the Stanza nameplate for their export versions of the car. For the 1982 model year then, the car was called the Nissan Stanza and with it was sold the Nissan Stanza wagon, a rebadged version of the Nissan Praire.

Several changes were made to the Nissan Stanza from the period of 1982 until its demise in 1992. In 1986, the Nissan Stanza featured a squared-off styling, something different from the then emerging trend of rounded vehicle body styles. For its last three years, however, the Nissan Stanza adopted a rounder body style. For its final year, which is in 1992, the car came standard with a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine and was available with either a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic transmission.

For a modest vehicle equipped only with a 4-cylinder engine, the Nissan Stanza surprised the world with its commendable performance, to be credited mostly to the high quality and high performance Nissan Stanza parts it is equipped with. The car won't zoom fast from 0 to 60 mph, but once it is running, expect it to overtake any vehicle on its way. A well designed chassis and suspension also provides it with superior handling and road holding. People would complain though about its noise level and its cramped rear-seating area.

North America's Stanza housed the KA24E, a 2.4 liter naturally aspirated engine found on pre-1990 USDM 240SXs and the Nissan King Cab and Hard Body. It is originally intended as a truck engine, so it doesn't have that good of an acceleration, but once up to speed, it can accelerate briskly and does a very good job of reaching its top speed.

Thats an Infiniti G35 XMODS car sitting on the bumper

XMODS car sitting on the bumper again

The heart of the Stanza, the almighty KA24E

Very agressive

Simple, yet nice wheels

You can see the 1999 Mazda Protege Touring Edition in the back. The touring suspension and sway bars are lush.

Such an agressive looking headlight. I wonder if I can swap in triple projectors from the PS13 Silvia?

Yes, its automatic...

I like this angle of the wheels

Angle isn't as nice as the previous photo, but the wheel is still nice, nonetheless

This is after the power steering punp and reservoir was placed back in with new hoses. No more leaks! FYI, that 'dirt' is actually rust proofing

Self-explanatory. If you need more clarification, that's the BACK of the car. The part you would see most, as you can't keep up to this car once its up to speed ;)

Do I need to say it again?

The place where it was sold

Photoshop filtering

Anyway, there are no modifications on the car. The powersteering hoses were just replaced, the oil an had just been fixed, as there was a hole on it. Fixed with a screw and LePage's Epoxy Steel. All the belts have been replaces as well.

So Long, Old Friend...
Hmm... Well, its the car I first learned to drive on. This car was a world of firsts for me. I'm quite sad to see her go. This Saturday her new owners are coming by to pick up my Stanza. It was the first time I had changed the hoses and replaced the power steering pump, first time I had to seal a leak in the oil pan with a steel screw and LePage's Epoxy Steel. First time I learned to drive. First time I got one of those really expensive model cars. It came from that car. My dad came home and it was in the trunk. It could've came from the Mazda's trunk, or even the van's, but it came from the Stanza. I have a lot of plans for the car. Sure, she may be rusty, and only get about 6km per liter. But it was my car. My first car. I used Armor-All in the interior every week, and I wash the car every week as well. I can only hope the new owners would treasure her as much as I did. I remember when my dad put her up for sale a few days ago, that moment, we drove it and it gave us the best ride it had ever gave. It usually didn't feel as good, but, may be the Stanza wanted to give us her best and final ride?

I was lucky enough to visit a local place near me that has a Stanza parked there almost all the time. I've taken a few pics to show some of you the rare bodykit offered for the Stanza. Enjoy the pics!

The factory option front bumper. Its kinda banged up...

The rear valence

The clean skirt. Overseas driver-side front fender... See the hole? That's where they have the amber parking lights in the EuDM, AuDM, NZDM, and JDM markets. Look at the bumper (its USDM), see the amber parking lights? Oversea Domestic Markets don't have the parking lights there, therefore having a cleaner looking bumper overall

Flash came in and ruined it, but you can make out the skirt

Here's a link to a guy named Justin on CarDomain who also has the body kit installed to his U12. He has far better photos. View the bodykit from his U12 here.

I hope that one day when I have enough money saved, I'm going to try importing the U12 Bluebird. The original. Hopefully the same hint of green as this one. In 5spd, 2.0L turbo. An SSS Attesa LTD with those nice wrap-around tail lights and the smooth down-slope of the rear window.

If only Nissan kept with the U12 and U13 Attesa cars and worked for it in rally, it would've been able to compete with the Lan Evo! Unfortunately, at the time when the Attesa Bluebird cars came around, it would've been too much hassle for Nissan to support the rally class, specifically with the difficulty of on-spot-repair of the Attesa systems of the time, which utilized the traverse mounted engine format unlike the Attesa-ETS (Electronic Torque Split) and Attesa-ETS PRO (Electronic Torque Split Pro) of today which utilize longitudinal engine formats.

JDM SSS grill, bottom being the earlier CA U12s while the top being SR U12s.

U12 meet in Japan for Club-U12 members

Japanese U12 resprayed with Bay Side Blue (R34 Skyline color option)

ANTRX user Budgie's U12 Attesa with fog lights

U12 and U13 Attesa front drivetrain differences

U12 Attesa - Photo of rear sub-frame

JDM U12 Recaro seats (very nice)

TeamNSE
ANTRX
Club U12 - Bluebird Owners Club
Nissan Motoring Club (Malaysia)
Nissan Stanza on Wikipedia
ATTESA on Wikipedia
ATTESA-ETS/-ETS PRO on Wikipedia
Infiniti M30/Nissan Leopard F31 - Stanza Coupe? You decide!
ClearCorners.com Lighting Solutions
Hella Inc. Lighting, Electronics & Accessories
August 13 2006 - Unfortunately, the Stanza had been sold...

'99 Protege 1.8L LX Touring Edition. Its all great, until you remember that its only 1.8 and automatic... Overall, its a great car, with LOTS of potential. But it will NEVER be a replacement for the Stanz

R.I.P. Colin McRae MBE, 1968-2007
(MBE = Member of the Order of the British Empire)