You Need This: Nissan Pulsar NX with Rad-tastic Erebuni bodykit| Grassroots Motorsports forum |

Colin Wood Associate Editor
10/15/24 12:49 p.m.

Is it a coupe? A wagon? A convertible? A targa-style sports car? The Nissan Pulsar could be all of the above thanks to its unique modular design.

This example from 1987 is billed as an SE model fitted with the five-speed manual gearbox and its original CA16DE inline-four engine.

The Rad-era points don’t end there, though, as this Pulsar also features an …

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Colin Wood Associate Editor
10/15/24 12:59 p.m.

I can't totally explain it, but the NX just scratches an itch.

The bodykit is just the icing on the cake.

David S. Wallens Editorial Director
10/15/24 1:42 p.m.

Back in the day, Erebuni had the raddest body kits: Testarossa slats, side scoops, giant fog lights.

I wonder if I have a catalog somewhere....

David S. Wallens Editorial Director
10/15/24 1:43 p.m.

To be period-correct, though, this Pulsar really needs 14- or 15-inch wheels–ideally something chrome and from the Prime or Ultra catalog.

David S. Wallens Editorial Director
10/15/24 1:51 p.m.

Wrong bolt pattern, but these Ultra alloys would work:

Colin Wood Associate Editor
10/15/24 1:59 p.m.

In reply to David S. Wallens :

Oh yeah, those would be perfect.

J.A. Ackley Senior Editor
10/15/24 3:14 p.m.

In reply to David S. Wallens :

I'd like some white wheels, please.

Tom1200 PowerDork
10/15/24 3:41 p.m.

My wife owned one of these when we were dating; it was the standard hatch with some BBS knock off wheels.

Her favorite memory was a guy in a 911 getting his car wobbly trying to follow here around an off-ramp. These cars actually handled really well and were fun to drive.

Hers was a 5 speed as well.

Colin Wood Associate Editor
10/15/24 3:50 p.m.

In reply to Tom1200 :

So what I'm hearing:

The Nissan Pulsar NX handles better than a Porsche 911

Sounds like a great reason to buy one.

Tom1200 PowerDork
10/15/24 3:59 p.m.

Colin Wood said:
In reply to Tom1200 :

So what I'm hearing:

The Nissan Pulsar NX handles better than a Porsche 911

Sounds like a great reason to buy one.

Yes..............with my wife behind the wheel.

DavyZ Reader
10/15/24 4:42 p.m.

I was (and still am) a Datsun/Nissan guy, but the styling of the Pulsar never did interest me much. I do confess to being wowed by the modular capability of the NX, though. But it didn't really take off, did it? Too bad.

dculberson MegaDork
10/15/24 5:27 p.m.

I love it. It needs much wider wheels to fill out that body kit, though. One thing that ad taught me is that the whole sport bak assembly lifts as one piece; I thought just the glass lifted. I wonder what the squeaks and rattles from that are like? The price seems reasonable if the condition is as claimed.

Pete. (l33t FS) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
10/15/24 7:13 p.m.

Tom1200 said:
Colin Wood said:
In reply to Tom1200 :

So what I'm hearing:

The Nissan Pulsar NX handles better than a Porsche 911

Sounds like a great reason to buy one.

Yes..............with my wife behind the wheel.

I'm not going to say that most cars handled better than 911s, but Porsche had some of the best chassis people in the world for a long time because they were trying to get good handling from a car with a heavy rear engine And a whole driver school of thought was built up around driving around the chassis' idiosyncrasies while exploiting its benefits. (So much so that GRM published an article about it )

As one former Porsche engineer put it, rear engine and air cooling were handed down from Ferdinand-on-High and so any talk of changing that was verboten. He described his time there as having to constantly "put out fires" while ignoring the two biggest "fires". Meanwhile, he also pointed out that in the executive motor pool, the 928s always went first and the stragglers had to drive 911s.

(None of this dissuades me from wanting a 911SC, mind)

Tony Sestito UltimaDork
10/15/24 9:17 p.m.

Man, a Sportbak-equipped NX with that body kit? That's the stuff right there. Definitely needs the sawblade wheels to complete the look.

Colin Wood Associate Editor
10/16/24 9:23 a.m.

In reply to Tony Sestito :

I'd be down for just an NX with the Sportbak, but the body kit definitely adds some style.

Paris Van Gorder Associate editor
10/16/24 10:37 a.m.

This car is wacky to look at and I can see it drawing attention wherever you go. The rarity of the body kit is icing on the cake.

David S. Wallens Editorial Director
10/17/24 9:34 a.m.

There’s a website for everything, right? Just found a collection of vintage wheel catalogs.

Yeah, anything from the Ultra catalog would work.

J.A. Ackley Senior Editor
10/17/24 1:58 p.m.

David S. Wallens said:
There’s a website for everything, right? Just found a collection of vintage wheel catalogs.

Yeah, anything from the Ultra catalog would work.

Now this is what the Internet was intended for, right?

David S. Wallens Editorial Director
10/17/24 2:13 p.m.

In reply to J.A. Ackley :

Yup.

And I had these back in the day–but not to be stylish.

When I started autocrossing my Sentra SE-R, I need a second set of wheels. And I didn’t have any money.

I got these from a shop in Atlanta. Can’t recall what name was on the center caps, though. I’m guessing either Ultra or Prime.

At some point, they wound up on my GTI. I think just for a track day or two. Wouldn’t mind having them today, of course.

te72 HalfDork
10/19/24 8:19 p.m.

I love that, thanks to the posting of this article, someone is seeing a Pulsar NX for the first time. There used to be one locally but I haven't seen it in years. Shame too, while I would never have called it a pretty car, it was quirky enough to get my attention, and I like quirky.