Why the Nissan Micra was a special newcomer

What did the Micra’s start-up track look like?

Small cars were booming in the 1980s. Spurred on by the oil crisis from 1974 and the success of the original Mini, everyone was suddenly interested in a small, hip and economical means of transport. Nissan also wanted to get a piece of that market, but it didn’t have its image. The Japanese brand – then known as Datsun – built fine cars, but was otherwise a bit boring and stale. That is why young buyers were more likely to look to Toyota’s Japanese colleagues with their Starlet, or Honda’s Jazz. In Europe, brands such as Ford, Peugeot, Citroën and Volkswagen did not know how quickly to market their own variations on this theme. You didn’t have to learn anything about Fiat in the field of small cars. The Italians were busy with the successor to their 127, but thought Giugiaro’s first sketches were a bit tame. Nissan saw and seized the opportunity.
It is rumored that Fiat found the design for the 127 successor a bit too tame and that Nissan took it for the first Micra.

How revolutionary was he really?

The Micra looked nice, square, but nice and square and confident without shouting it from the rooftops. It also drove very well, with silky smooth and confident handling. The most striking aspect of the Micra was under the hood: a small four-cylinder, specially developed for the Micra, that was completely made of aluminum and weighed just over 100 kilos. Such a lightweight engine made the Micra nice and spicy, without consuming much petrol. The Micra would always remain a wallflower, only those who drove it knew that it was a very nice driving car. But really revolutionary? No, that was not the nature of the beast.

The Nissan Micra got an engine that weighed just over 100 kilograms.

What did the press and the public think?

There was no fuss when Nissan unveiled the NX-018 at the 1981 Tokyo Motor Show. Yes, nice, next, that’s how you could summarize the reactions of the press and the public. So Nissan organized a contest to give the new model a sexier name. That became ‘Nissan March’, but in Europe Nissan decided to call the car Micra. Even after he was at the dealers, you hardly heard a bad word about the Micra from the press and the public. Everyone thought it was fine, but a bit anonymous. True petrolheads soon forgot the Micra existed, and the people who did buy one—those looking for cheap, reliable, and practical transportation—forgot to tell others that their Micra was actually pretty awesome. It paved the way for a life in the lee, which was therefore no less successful.

The Nissan Micra at its debut.

What were his competitors?

Nissan wanted to compete with its compatriots with the Micra. So the Honda Jazz, and especially the Starlet sales cannon from arch-rival Toyota. When the Micra entered the market, it did so almost simultaneously with heavy artillery from its European colleagues. The Corsa from Opel, the 205 from Peugeot and the second generation of the Volkswagen Polo and the Ford Fiesta. Not a small beer, but the Micra stood its ground in that tough battle.

The Opel Corsa, also one of the 1982 batch.

What were the choices at the market launch?

At Nissan, a small one in the range also meant a small palette of choices. At its introduction, the Micra was only available as a three-door hatchback, with a one-litre engine under the hood. You could get a bare DX, or a more luxurious SDX or GL, if you had a few more guilders to spend. For those guilders you got, among other things, wipers with interval, a tachometer, a trip meter or a split-folding rear seat as an extra. Later you could even get a 1.2-litre engine in the front of your Micra, but it never became spectacular. Times were simple in 1982, and Nissan didn’t like to make things more difficult than necessary.

The DX, the bareest Nissan Micra.

How was the Nissan Micra received?

Lukewarm, but that was more the fault of the reception committee than the Micra itself. Nissan aimed at the young target group – and partly managed to reach it – but mainly found the traditional, own target group in the showroom. Buyers who see a car as a means of transport that should do its job, should not cost too much and, above all, should not stand out too much. Motoring journalists looked at the Micra through their petrolhead glasses and wrote about it with a bit of condescension, while many of the Micra’s no-dicks-but-cleaners-buyers learned about the joys of good driving through their little Nissan.

Were there any details during his life?

With us, the Micra always stayed a bit in the background. The introduction of the five-door in 1987 went almost as unnoticed as the facelift of 1989, where a fresh nose was the most notable change. The second generation of the Micra appeared in 1992, and although it looked radically different – ​​round rather than angular – the second Micra also remained an unobtrusive, faithful companion for the practical. In its further life, the Micra evolved into a kind of frog with round eyes, of which even a convertible appeared and back to a neat, but inconspicuous hatchback. The last, completely new Micra appeared in 2016. And damn, we still think it’s quite hip even six years later. So that life cycle does not seem to be over yet, and that is a good thing, after forty years.

Which version appeals most to the imagination?

Speaking to the imagination? A Micra can’t do that at all, can it? Yes, as a sober Dutchman you might think that, but don’t forget that the Micra was born in Japan. You may not always see it in the design of their cars, but the Japanese have quite a rich imagination, which they regularly express in bizarre creative excesses. A turbo variant of the K10, which is the very first Micra, appeared in Japan and we are the last to say it wasn’t fun. But do you remember the Nissan Figaro, that mischievous retro convertible from the 90s? That’s a Micra under the skin. And the Mitsuoka Viewt? You know, that not-quite-failed remake of the Jaguar MKII? That too is a Micra under the skin.

Yes, it was also available with a turbo engine. In Japan, and there the Micra was always called March.

What has been the impact of the car?

Has the Nissan Micra had an impact? Well and or, but we don’t think about it enough. That impact is not even in the fact that the Micra has been able to teach people who had nothing to do with it about ‘driving pleasure’. What matters most is that he has transported hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people from A to B without being noticed, without murmuring and without excessive costs. Marry like a dog that is always ready for the master. Thanks to their Micra, people have been able to do their jobs, pursue their hobbies, visit their family and see their friends. That impact is of course not unique to the Micra, but it is more important than the impact of a beautiful design, a revolutionary engine, a bizarre top speed or a sound that makes you cry with emotion. Like all cars, the Micra deserves kudos for its loyal service.

How many are left?

It is not known how many copies of the first Nissan Micra were built, but we were able to find out how many are left in the Netherlands.

1.0 1.2

• 1983 8
• 1984 7
• 1985 23
• 1986 47
• 1987 37
• 1988 23
• 1989 3 37
• 1990 8 51
• 1991 3 71
• 1992 2 87
• 1993 – 3

Total 411 Source CarTalk International