In the United States you just don’t stumble over Nissan’s Altima, but here in the Netherlands you are more likely to stumble in surprise when you encounter one. This only ten year old copy is therefore worth some attention.
You can take colleague Lars Krijgsman out of work, but not work out of Lars. During his vacation he spotted this Nissan Altima and of course he had to think about it. It may not be a very striking car, but even laymen will probably see that it is a model that does not belong here. The small number plates, among other things, give that away at a glance.
Although in terms of design there may still be something recognizable from Nissans that were available here at the time, the Altima is a strange duck in our country. After all, the Altima was not delivered new here. Large Japanese sedans never really became common here and the Altima was never created with Europe in mind. From the first generation, the Stanza Altima dubbed export version of the Nissan Bluebird that appeared in 1991, Nissan focused on the US with the name Altima. There, of course, they were fond of Japanese-made medium-sized sedans. A generation later, the car was even completely renamed Altima for the US and the car was also adapted a lot more thoroughly for the American market, although the Japanese Nissan Bluebird still remained the basis.
The third generation Altima pictured above, which also appeared in this section, was the first Altima that was really all American. That is, there was no more Japanese twin brother. The appearance was therefore more than ever to be labeled as American and the Altima was clearly drawn by the same man as the one who also put the sixth generation of the American Nissan Maxima on paper. The Altima was the somewhat ‘modest’ choice compared to the Maxima, which was just a bit more robust and luxurious.
The Altima has continued to play that role in the generation that we now have before us. Although it was newly drawn, it still looked quite similar to its predecessor. The Maxima that came two years later, in 2008, was significantly more modern and then it took until 2012 before the Altima was redesigned. This Altima is therefore not necessarily the most valued and also not the best in terms of sales numbers. That’s relative, though, because in the year this black came off the line, Nissan sold 203,000 Altimas in the US and 13,852 in Canada. So this one is one of them.
This Altima made the crossing to the Netherlands only two years ago and has been staying with the same owner ever since. It may be someone who came over from the US or Canada and took his or her trusty sedan with him. The barely five meters long Nissan is, because of its size, impressive in the Dutch streets, but by American standards it has a fairly modest engine in the nose. A 2.5-liter four-cylinder that delivers 175 American horsepower. Of course coupled to a (six-speed) automatic transmission. Furthermore, the weight with more than 1,400 kilos is not too bad. A real loss to the wallet, driving such an Altima here does not necessarily have to be, although it could be a bit thirstier with the also available 3.5 V6.