Nissan Primera

The Nissan Primera is a large family car produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan for the domestic and European markets.

Nissan Primera P10

See also Infiniti G20

Since 1986, Nissan had been building Bluebirds—it was essentially a rebadged home-market Auster/Stanza – for the European market at its factory in Washington, Tyne and Wear, England.

In the autumn of 1990, Nissan replaced the UK Bluebird with the Primera. It had a conventional front-wheel drive chassis and five-speed manual gearbox, with some versions getting the option of a four-speed automatic. Power came from 1.6-litre carburetor and 1.8-litre and 2.0-litre injection gasoline engines; a 2.0-litre diesel followed from 1992 onwards. The 1.8-litre version was never sold in Europe. Bodystyles were four- and five-door saloons and five-door estate (the last of which was imported from Japan).

Nissan had deliberately targeted the car at the European market. The Primera saw Nissan's multi-link front suspension applied to front-wheel drive for the first time. The 2.0-litre gasoline engine received a power upgrade in 1992 which gave the then eZX, (later renamed the eGT) 150 bhp from the standard 2.0-litre engine and a top speed of around 219 km/h (or 137 mph).