Wednesday 15th February 2023

Nissan 100NX | Spotted

Relive the long-gone days of compact coupes with this extremely rare curiosity

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Whatever happened to the dinky sports coupe? For decades, car enthusiasts with a hankering for something small and fun had a host of compact two-door coupes, convertibles and targas to choose from. While cars like the Honda CRX, Toyota Paseo and Vauxhall Tigra weren’t especially engaging on a spirited Sunday morning drive, they were the perfect substitute for those wanting a sports car without the financial burden.

The formula was simple and, unfortunately, one we rarely see put to use these days thanks to the unrelenting SUV boom. To keep costs down, manufacturers took the underpinnings of something wholly mundane and, in most cases, drastically restyled it to distance the end result from its humdrum beginnings. Case in point, the Nissan 100NX. Origins? The solidly mediocre Sunny.

Aside from the bonkers GTI-R homologation special, the family of hatchbacks and coupes that comprised the Sunny family all lacked the sort of sporting prowess that typically results in a decent sports car. But the Nissan was intended to be the sporty offering in the Sunny line-up when it launched in 1990 to inject some much-needed style. In complete contrast to the hatchback and outgoing Sunny Coupe, the 100NX featured sleeker lines with rounded edges, suggesting that design wasn’t as far down on Nissan’s priority list as many had come to believe. The two-door configuration with sloping rear roofline could almost be considered elegant, if not quite as edgy as, say, a Mazda MX3. It even came exclusively with a Targa top following a mid-life refresh, which as we all know is worth a few style points.

Unfortunately, the 100NX didn’t back up its sporty looks with a punchy powertrain. UK cars were only equipped with the entry-level 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine, developing a meagre 95hp in launch trim. A welcome upgrade to 102hp came about in 1993, which this ’94 car comes with, but it’s still disappointing that we weren’t offered the 2.0-litre motor with a whopping 143hp that the European market received, nor did Nissan attempt to shoehorn the 240hp engine from the Sunny GTI-R into the 100NX. Shame.

Despite the appetite for pseudo sports cars during the late 80s and throughout the 1990s, the 100NX never really got off the ground over here. When the car released at the turn of the decade, Nissan UK was allegedly at war with the wider Nissan Motor Company over profit margins (if Wikipedia is anything to go by). This prompted Nissan UK to cut all promotional activity around the Sunny range until a new importer, tightly controlled by the parent company, was installed in 1992. Sales weren’t dreadful, with several thousand examples shifted from forecourts over the car’s six-year lifespan, but it was still comfortably beaten by the Vauxhall Tigra – a rare win for the jazzed-up Corsa.

Nissan may have shifted a few 100NXs during the 1990s, but only a hundred or so remain today. Not only does that make this example a rare sight on the classifieds, but this particular car might just be the best 100SX out there. It’s covered fewer than 6,000 miles over the past three decades, having spent a fair chunk of time in the first owner’s garage. Since then, it’s been treated to new tyres, fuel pump, brakes and full service, plus what appears to be a thorough detailing. At £11,950, it’s actually appreciated in value. A true sports car, the 100NX isn’t, but it’s a wonderful reminder of a bygone era.

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SPECIFICATION | NISSAN 100NX

Engine: 1,597cc four-cylinder
Transmission: 5-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 102@6,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 100@4,000rpm
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
Year registered: 1994
Recorded mileage: 6,000
Price new: £11,817
Yours for: £11,950

See the original advert here

[forzaminardi]

Low mileage and almost brand new condition - but 12k? For a car that while relatively rare, lacked performance or character in it's heyday let alone today, and was thoroughly unliked. Although if you look at the first pic and squint the back 3/4 view looks a bit like a contemporary 300ZX.

I suppose it's sad to reflect that back in the day, Nissan offered this, the 200SX and 300ZX as their 'sporty' models. Honda had Civic, Prelude, CRX, Accord coupe, Legend coupe and NSX. Toyota offered the Paseo, MR2, Celica, Supra. You had a decent choice of cars that at least looked like they have a bit of sporting/touring intent back then.

[Lo-Fi]

The ad says 75bhp?

[5lab]

article said:

Whatever happened to the dinky sports coupe

The mini hatch killed.them off in the early 00s. If you wanted a small, cheapish 2+2 it drove better and was arguably more stylish than any of those named above. There was no maker left for another puma

[Fusion777]

The demise of the small, relatively inexpensive coupe has been sad. Uber hatches and SUVs rule, but things are duller for it.

[Jon_S_Rally]

A young lad I knew had one of these when he was about 18. It was black and had a (very buckled) set of 17" wheels, along with the loudest exhaust in the world. He thought it was the best thing ever at the time, but I seem to remember it broke down a lot. A curio for sure, but you'd have to be a dedicated Nissan fan to spend that kind of money on one.

Piston Heads said:

Aside from the bonkers GTI-R homologation special, the family of hatchbacks and coupes that comprised the Sunny family all lacked the sort of sporting prowess that typically results in a decent sports car.

What about the Sunny GTI? It had the same 2.0-litre engine noted above and, unlike rivals from Ford, Vauxhall and others, had multi-link rear suspension. It also gave Alister McRae and Mark Higgins British Rally Championship titles in 1995 and 1997 respectively. Seems like a reasonable amount of sporting prowess to me...

[OPC100]

Shades of Aston Martin V8 Zagato...





Although I hated this thing back in the day and liked the Zagato (coupe anyway) alot.

[Maxus]

Nice curio but the tucked in wheels and ride height always made these look really gawky to me.

The fact that a very strange guy who I reported to on my gap year placement had one probably doesn't help. It sort of suited him.

[bumskins]

A lunchlady at school had a crusty black one of these, couldn't understand the appeal as a child and time has done nothing to highlight their appeal; anonymous, boring box, the sort of car where 1 should be kept in a museum as a cautionary tale that not all 90s Jap cars were cool or 'decent'.

[Beethree]

Cool if it was a £1000 shed due to being so obscure.
Not so cool at £11000. I can’t imagine the market for immaculate, low mileage examples of these is very large!

[dunnoreally]

I toyed with one of these as my first car before I got my Puma. Someone was selling one nearby for, I think £400! I ended up avoiding because the reviews weren’t kind and also it was about another £800 a year above the Puma to insure iirc.

I also really miss small cheap coupes. I hope they make a comeback someday.

[wpa1975]

forzaminardi said:

Low mileage and almost brand new condition - but 12k? For a car that while relatively rare, lacked performance or character in it's heyday let alone today, and was thoroughly unliked.

Agreed

[Turbobanana]

I always looked forward to the sadly never launched follow up, the 100NY, because then the badge would have read "LOONY".

Nissan / Datsun have more motorsport pedigree than many people give them credit for:













Note that's PH favourite Colin McRae in the last pic.

[forzaminardi]

There's some parts of the design that look quite good, and having a targa roof adds something. It'd be interesting if they'd stuck a decent engine in it. The Mazda MX3 was similarly gawky looking, but it had a tiny little gem of a V6 engine.

[Gilhooligan]

Proper deceased spec car, on that side of things.

[anonymous-user]

dunnoreally said:

I also really miss small cheap coupes. I hope they make a comeback someday.

Remember the Toyota Paseo?

[forzaminardi]

Turbobanana said:

I always looked forward to the sadly never launched follow up, the 100NY, because then the badge would have read "LOONY".

Nissan / Datsun have more motorsport pedigree than many people give them credit for:













Note that's PH favourite Colin McRae in the last pic.

Japanese Super GTs, IMSA and some classic (albeit unsuccessful) Le Mans cars in Nissan's back catalogue too.

[FPC]

I'd completely forgotten these existed, what a curio.

Always loved small coupes - owned an Alfa Sprint Green Cloverleaf, Honda CRX 1.6-16i and Ford Puma 1.7 as well as a not so small Opel Manta and an ancient Triumph GT6 MK3.

Hopefully they'll become fashionable again one day?

[anonymous-user]

FPC said:

I'd completely forgotten these existed, what a curio.

Always loved small coupes - owned an Alfa Sprint Green Cloverleaf, Honda CRX 1.6-16i and Ford Puma 1.7 as well as a not so small Opel Manta and an ancient Triumph GT6 MK3.

Hopefully they'll become fashionable again one day?

Always had a soft spot for the Mazda MX3.

[FPC]

pocketspring said:

FPC said:

I'd completely forgotten these existed, what a curio.

Always loved small coupes - owned an Alfa Sprint Green Cloverleaf, Honda CRX 1.6-16i and Ford Puma 1.7 as well as a not so small Opel Manta and an ancient Triumph GT6 MK3.

Hopefully they'll become fashionable again one day?

Always had a soft spot for the Mazda MX3.

Ahhh yes tiny V6 I think. Lovely.

I suppose an MX5 ND FR could count as a current small coupé while the roof is up?

[Evil.soup]

Never liked these, not even when they were new, something wrong with the styling and there is of course the fact it isn't really a sporty car either. 3 to 4k would be enough and I personally still wouldn't want it for that money either if I am honest.