Nissan Violet, Auster және Stanza тарихы

The Nissan Violet is a model of car that appeared in Japan in 1973, and was exclusive to Japanese Nissan dealerships called Nissan Cherry Store as a larger companion to the Nissan Cherry. In 1977 the second generation arrived. This was split into two additional lines, the Nissan Auster and the Nissan Stanza. All three models bore the A10 series identifier, and were built in Japan at the Hiratsuka and Yokosuka assembly plants. The Stanza was exclusive to Japanese Nissan dealerships called Nissan Satio Store as a larger companion to the smaller Nissan Sunny, and the Auster triplet was exclusive to Nissan Prince Store locations as a larger companion to the Nissan Langley. A new third generation front wheel drive model was launched in 1981, changing the series name again to T11, and sharing its platform with the Compact MPV Nissan Prairie/Multi/Stanza Wagon. Final versions were Nissan Bluebirds series U12 rebadged for some international markets. In most export markets the car was originally sold as the Datsun 140J or 160J depending on the engine; this name was then gradually changed to Nissan Stanza in most markets in line with Nissan's phasing out of the Datsun brand in its export markets in the early 1980s; in Europe for instance it was sold as the "Datsun Nissan Stanza" for a short time until the Datsun name was dropped completely in 1984. The Stanza/Auster/Violet were discontinued in 1992. The Stanza was replaced by the Nissan Altima in North America; the Stanza was replaced by the Nissan Bluebird in Japan, and by the Primera in Europe.

The previous generation Violet grew more rational and somewhat larger when it was replaced in May 1977. Nissan increased the glass area by ten percent vis à vis its predecessor. It was also joined by two badge engineered versions: the '''[[:ja:日産・オースター went on sale alongside the Violet and was aiming for an air of "quality and youthfulness." The Stanza followed in August and was meant to be more luxurious; it was only offered in the higher equipment levels and was also differentiated by having a different bonnet and single rectangular lights rather than the twin round units seen on the Violet and Auster. Nissan introduced their emissions control technology with this generation, called NAPS, and the cars received a new chassis code of A11. The more luxurious Stanza was never available with the 1.4 litre engine in Japan, only with a 1.6 until larger engines joined the lineup. In November 1978 a 1.8 litre engine was added at the top of the line up, mainly for the domestic Japanese market. The 1800 "NAPS Z" engine was initially only available in the more luxurious Stanza model and received the RA11 chassis code. It was available either carburetted or fuel injected, with at 6,000 rpm respectively. Five body styles were on offer: two and four door saloons, a three door hatchback coupé ("Violet Openback" and "Auster Multi Coupé"), a 5 door hatchback (only introduced in August 1979, quite late in the car's production run) and a five door estate. The five door liftback Stanza was marketed as the "Stanza Resort" in the Japanese domestic market, and given the chassis model code T10. The A10/A11 wagon was not replaced in 1981, with the all new Nissan Prairie or Nissan Vanette instead filling its place for cargo carrying duties in the Japanese market. Transmissions offered were a four speed manual (in all except for the hatchback models), a five speed manual (hatchback models only), and a three speed automatic. This generation was available for sale around the same time as the first generation Toyota Celica Camry and the Honda Accord, which formed direct competitors in the domestic marketplace.

The Stanza was assembled in Australia from 1978 to 1982, in four door 1.6 litre four door saloon form, primarily to fill a gap between the Sunny and 200B. Trims available were "GL", "GX", and sporty "SSS". While popular with buyers, the Australian Stanza was heavily criticized by the motoring journalists of the day (particularly Wheels Magazine), who regarded the car as being "unadventurous", particularly with regard to its styling and conventional drivetrain. In 1979, 120 two door coupé models were assembled in Australia, apparently due to a mix up with Nissan Australia's kit ordering system. They were released into the market anyway with no promotion, and promptly sold out.

The A10 series was sold in limited numbers as the Datsun 160J in New Zealand. A batch of three door hatchbacks were imported when assemblers could not keep up with demand with the locally assembled 120Y Sunny and 180B models.

In the United Kingdom, this generation was marketed as the Datsun Violet, and was sold in 1.4 L "GL" and 1.6 L "GL" engine/trim combinations. No estate models were offered. In the rest of Europe it was usually sold as the 160J (or 140J), a variety of bodystyle and equipment combinations were offered, with a Coupé SSS with twin SU carburetors available at the top of the lineup. Power outputs were for the 140J, for the 160J, and for the 160J SSS. A fuel injected version of the 160J was also available in some European markets, with .

In Thailand it was marketed as the Datsun Stanza (with additional Nissan badges during the transition period) by local assembler Siam Motors. It was only available with SU carburetted 1.6 liter engines, producing SAE in the four door sedan and in the sportier liftback coupé version.

The A10 series Violet was commercialized in the Mexican car market from 1978 to early 1984. Introduced as a 1979 model, it superseded the previous 710 series as the second generation "Datsun 160J". At first, the Mexican A10 Violet range only included the 4 door saloon and the Wagon, being (as previously) respectively marketed as "Datsun Sedan" and "Datsun Guayin" (badged Violet Van in Japan), continuing the former promotion strategy of the Nissan Mexico lineup. For the first time here, the 2 door saloon version was added to the range. From 1979 to 1981, the Mexican produced A10 units had pretty much the same design of the Japanese spec A10 Violets produced between the 1977 1979 lapse. The front grille of the 4 door and wagon featured the same doubled circle headlight set (i. e. two pair of circular lamps), while the 2 door saloon sported a distinctive front grille, with only a set of single circular right and left lamps. For 1982, the Mexican A10 cars sported the same facelift works made on the 1979 1981 Japanese produced Violets, going on a bit with the North American spec A10 units (marketed in the USA as Datsun 510, hinting then the well gained reputation of the former 510 series Bluebird model of the late 60s early 70s). This slight facelift focused majorly on the updated front grille, featuring a singled or doubled set of new squared or rectangular shaped headlights. From here, the commercialization of the Mexican A10 lineup changed to Datsun 180J, referring the more powerful 1.8 liter carbureted engine swap. Also in 1982, the 5 door liftback/hatchback version of the A10 Violet certainly was launched toward the Mexican market, as Datsun Samurai. It intended to be a sleek, sporty while by then modern style saloon in the Nissan Mexico lineup. In 1984, in a context of the Nissan's brand global name unification, the Datsun brand name was phased out off the world's market, in favor of the single Nissan brand name. Thus, the Mexican A10 Violet production was phased out by Nissan Mexico, switching its manufacture to the domestic market production of the B11 Sunny/Sentra range by then, launched as the all new Nissan Tsuru (1st. gen / B11).

In the United States and Canada the Violet was sold as the Datsun 510, to cash in on the popularity of the earlier 510 Bluebird. It was available as a two door sedan, a three door hatchback, a four door sedan, a five door hatchback, or a five door wagon. It was powered by the 2.0 L inline four L20B engine, although in 1980 US spec. cars received the Z20S NAPS Z inline four of the same displacement. For the 1980 and 1981 model years, this was the only engine available to the 510. Power is at 5,200 rpm. The four speed manual was standard in the A10 models while the FS5W63A five speed manual or 3N71B three speed automatic were available as optional upgrades.

South African made Violets were sold as the 1600J or 1800J depending on engine fitment between 1978 and 1980. Four door saloon or station wagon bodywork was available, with the 1800 sedan also available as a sporting SSS model.

The Violet 160J was Nissan's most successful car in the World Rally Championship. It won the Safari Rally in Kenya from 1979 to 1982 consecutively, all with Shekhar Mehta behind the wheel. The 1979 and 1980 winners were powered by an SOHC engine; the 1981 and 1982 winners were Violet GT models with a DOHC engine. These Safari records are only matched by the Toyota Celica GT Four which won the 1992–95 events. Driven by Timo Salonen, the Violet also won the 1980 Rally New Zealand and the 1981 Rallye Côte d'Ivoire.

Nissan renewed the Auster and Stanza lines in 1986 (T12 series), introducing squared off styling. Japan and the US received this model. The US Stanza used the same CA20E engine found in the previous generation. The car was unusually heavy for its class, due to sharing a platform with the contemporary Maxima and as a result of its small engine, underpowered. In part to offset this, some export markets offered turbocharged models, badged "Supremo"; and a cousin, the "Auster XTT". Europe received a version of the Nissan Auster as a Datsun/Nissan Bluebird replacement. These were built in Sunderland, in the United Kingdom, and badged as the Nissan Bluebird. The estate was the only "real" Bluebird in this range, imported from Japan. In the Middle East, the T12 Auster/Stanza T12 was called the Nissan Liberta (not to be confused with the Nissan Liberta Villa), a partial replacement of the Nissan Liberta Violet T11. The Stanza line was not seen in most other export markets after the 1986 model year. The growth of the Sunny and Pulsar models from below meant there was little room for it.

The T12 was introduced in Europe in 1985 as a replacement for the U11 Bluebird. From July 1986, the T12 was imported as a knock down kit from Japan and assembled at Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK. The saloon versions (four door) were available first and the hatchback (five door) became available in January 1987. Using the U11 platform, Bluebird Estates were still sourced from Japan. Although it was not the first Japanese car to be built in Britain (the Honda based Triumph Acclaim predated it by five years), the Bluebird was instrumental in proving that a British factory could produce vehicles to the same quality standards as those built in Japan. The Bluebird proved so popular that in December 1987 Nissan announced the institution of a third shift, in order to bump production from 29,000 to circa 40,000 cars annually. Being built in the United Kingdom, it was possible to sell the Bluebird in markets like Spain and Italy without the quota limitations imposed on Japanese made cars. In Italy, it was the only Nissan available in 1989, alongside the Spanish made Patrol off roader. The later T72 models replaced the T12 during 1987, followed by a facelift around a year later. This is a point to note, as it is a common mistake to class all pre facelift models as T12s. The facelift models had a more modern and European look, with round front and rear bumpers and the corporate slatted grille. These were eventually built entirely in England. In 1990, Nissan replaced the Bluebird with the Primera. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Nissan Bluebirds were very commonly seen as taxis, their drivers racking up phenomenal mileage on just routine servicing and there is one still in daily use as a taxi in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain (October 2018). The bodyshell's resistance to corrosion has become legendary it is not uncommon to see Bluebirds as old as 1987 or 1988 vintage still on British roads with virtually no trace of rust at all. However, the Bluebirds' reliability and all around robustness has ultimately led to its demise – as a banger racers' car of choice. Almost all petrol T12/T72 Bluebirds came with 8 valve versions of Nissan's CA Engine and either a five speed manual or a four speed automatic transmission. The diesel models used the normally aspirated LD20 engine. Performance was average for its class, the 1.6 struggling more with its lower torque characteristics that did not seem suited to the weight of the car. The turbo models used the CA18ET engine with giving a 0 time of 8.6 seconds. This engine used a small turbocharger producing 0.60 bar of boost. This is the same engine used in the European Nissan Silvia S12. Power outputs for the naturally aspirated engines ranged from from the 1.6 through the 2.0 liter version, while the diesel offered The members of the Bluebird Car Club got to meet the employees who built their cars and view the firm's modern manufacturing operations first hand.

In the 1990 model year the American version of the Stanza was replaced by a basic version of the Nissan Bluebird (U12), wearing Stanza badges. In Japan, the Stanza was replaced by the Nissan Cefiro while the Auster was replaced by the Nissan Primera for the 1990 model year. The JDM Bluebird has the rear license plate higher between the tail lights, whereas the Stanza's is mounted on the bumper. The fourth generation Stanza was offered in two trim levels: "XE" and "GXE". The sporty SE model was added for 1992. The 4th Gen Stanza used the 2.4 L inline 4 Nissan KA24E engine, an upgrade from previous generations in displacement (from 1974 cc to 2398 cc), power (from to ), and torque (from to ). The KA engine was not used on Japanese spec Bluebirds. The fourth generation Stanza has EPA estimated fuel economy of city and highway for the 4 speed automatic transmission. For the 5 speed manual transmission the Stanza has EPA estimated fuel economy of city and highway. The Stanza was discontinued after the 1992 model year and replaced by the American built Altima, also Bluebird based. The last American Stanza rolled off the assembly line on 27 March 1992, though its name would live on in the first generation Altima, technically known as the "Nissan Stanza Altima".