Nissan Almera GTI: Spotted
Has the urge to own an Almera GTI suddenly arrived after 20 years? There won't be a better one than this...
Fear not: this Spotted is not some missive on how the Almera GTI is a misunderstood icon, deserving of a complete reassessment in the annals of hot hatch history. Even by the fairly ordinary standards of 1990s' pocket rockets, the Almera was never top of the tree; it was better than it's typically given credit for, though, but more on that later.
Like so many almost interesting cars of not that long ago, the Almera GTI has been nearly wiped out of existence. Of course they were never on every street corner, yet the GTI's demise has been truly savage: more than 2,000 were registered in 2001, a figure that now stands at 71. For some context, a Honda Civic Jordan is still comfortably in triple figures, despite there never being more than 500 in the country.
The Almera's problem was always going to be that it was never deemed worth saving. It wasn't a limited edition (like the Jordan was), and it was neither the fastest not the best to drive hot hatch out there. Nissan didn't have a lot of kudos - Skylines aside - for making fast cars, and so plonking a GTI badge on the Almera was never quite going to hit the spot with UK buyers like it might have from other manufacturers.
Which isn't to say the Almera was terrible - far from it. Auto Express described it as a 'cracking hot hatch' (no, really) and a Performance Car review lauded the GTI as fantastic to drive and 'a triumph of ability over appearance', with both good steering and handling. Bet you weren't expecting that.
Combine those attributes to the people who did know with the Almera's staid appearance, tediously dependable nature and lack of prestige to those who just wanted transport, and Almera GTIs were always going to be used. And used a lot. So discovering an Almera GTI like this 20 years later is a find of such historical significance it probably should have emerged from a tomb.
With just two owners in the logbook and 24,877 miles under its Potenzas, this Almera is seemingly flawless. Every single MOT certificate is there, as is evidence of a Mobil 1 Track Record maintenance programme - a service the first owner had to pay for to ensure only premium oils were used at service time. For an Almera!
You're waiting for the price, aren't you? No point skirting around it any longer: it's £6,495. Given Almeras have only featured as Sheds previously on PH - even without that, in fact - it looks like a lotta cash. But, as the old adage goes, find another - it could well take a while. The Almera won't be to all tastes, of course, though it is an interesting curio from a simpler time. And better than everybody will think.
Furthermore, that's far from the silliest that 90s' hot hatch prices get. This Escort RS2000 has nearly twice the mileage of the Almera and is £12k, and this Golf V6 4Motion is £7k with 85,000 miles - neither will be remembered as an icon of the breed, either.
So although the sensible money will go on a Peugeot 306 of this era, or else on something from the hot hatch's 21st century renaissance, there shall be no apologies for featuring the Almera on PH. As an immaculate example of car with an undeservedly bad rep, it more than anything deserves 15 minutes of fame - the next owner may take some finding, but imagine how chuffed they're going to be.
SPECIFICATION - NISSAN ALMERA GTI
Engine: 1,998cc, 4-cyl
Transmission: 5-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 143@6,400rpm
Torque (lb ft): 131@4,800rpm
MPG: 34.9
CO2: 211g/km
First registered: 1999
Recorded mileage: 24,877
Price new: £14,420
Yours for: £6,495
Great cars.
Image, and the fact they really did like to rust, means they were and are totally under-rated.
It’s priced steep though I think.
I’d happily pay about 5k for it.
I owned one of these from almost new (ex demo car) and have to say it was totally faultless totally reliable, in fact bomb proof! I had mine 6 years and clocked up 84k miles before selling it for £2850 back in 2005. Mine was a 99 model, apart from servicing I only ever needed to fit a battery, and several sets of new tyres (Yokohama as I recall) nothing went wrong with it ever, no rust issues paint was perfect, but then I did look after it, suspect many got used and abused.
Some say how they were not that fast but my mate had a saxo vts, he drove that hard, and it was way lighter and on paper faster, but when we were on it he could never pass me, and we raced about a lot there was nothing in it through the gears either, the Nissan having a 2.0 would pull 10mph more top speed over the saxo easily. but What was clearly better with the Nissan was build quality, and interiors and overall spec the Nissan had A/c and electric roof, Sony cd etc, the mk1 saxo just mega basic, and our cars cost exactly the same as ex demos.
I did some mild mods over the time I had it, nothing mega serious, better discs (Tarox) and ebc pads, full scorpion exhaust, and a K&N 57i kit, lowered it 30mm (they did sit a bit high) and it really made an overall difference, some said the engine was good for 200+ bhp, I never exploited that.
Also had the primera GT as well, a Ltd edition chroma flair painted one, and guess what exactly same bullet proof engine, and reliability, never felt as fast as the GTI though, but had full leather, 6cd etc, very rare cars these days.
Must say these 90’s era nissans may not have the heart strings or image pull of a fast ford but they were way more capable than many knew or cared to admit at the time.
On the price, well is it really that much, given the poorly built 106gti is pulling similar money these days? And fast fords are way off the scale now.
I paid £10k for mine as ex demo, In comparison, whilst a modern hot hatch has 100% more power, they are now 100% more expensive at least, so it’s all relative isn’t it?
Still cracking cars for the era and look back fondly on my ownership of the GTi and the GT, if I had space, and this wasn’t black I’d be tempted to make them an offer, I mean find another this good??
Andy
you can get 250bhp (N/A) out of the engine's, I left mine standard though.
One thing that did start to play up was the central locking, on both versions I had it started to lock the car without warning.
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