You’ve probably never known this car existed, and neither did I up until a few hours ago. Before they were known for their unreliable transmissions and bad PR from Altima drivers, Nissan had some solid bangers in their model lineup. The mid-80s and early 90’s birthed the brand’s most iconic cars, including the Skyline GT-R, Fairlady Z, 240SX, Pathfinder, and so on. A few, however, seem to be forgotten in the sands of time, an example being this funky machine tucked under the I-695 6th Street overpass in the Navy Vard. This, my friends, is a 1986-1990 Nissan EXA Sportbak, a car with enough quirks to make Doug Demuro’s head explode.
Essentially, this is a second-gen Nissan Pulsar, a 2-door hatchback first introduced in 1978. To make this version stand out, Nissan equipped the Pulsar with trendy (at the time) features like pop-up headlights, a striking shade of red that’ll put Ferrari to shame, and most importantly, The Sportbak, known as the Canopy in Japan. See that silver glass casing on the back? Twist off a couple of screws and it’ll pop right off, turning your zesty hatchback into a “totally rad” open-top targa. I dare you to tell me that this isn’t the coolest thing ever.
Sadly, the Sportbak didn’t catch on with consumers, and like many 80’s trends, faded into obscurity. It’s sad that a car with this much style and character is left to rot for eternity. Is it a silly gimmick? Sure, but there’s nothing as unique as this on the road today. Hopefully, Nissan will bring back the fun in entry-level cars again.
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