Call It Ishmael: 1987 Nissan Van
Picking the right tool for the right job is tantamount when striving for excellence. Those worthless little Costco wet wipes aren’t any good after all-you-can-eat Indian food, and a proper full sized sewer clogging wet wipe might get the job done. However, any owner of this next car must be prepared to wipe with swiffer wet mop pad because EXTREME is the new cool. Find this 1987 Nissan Van offered for $10,000 in Chattanooga, TN via craigslist. Tip from Matt C.
If you’ve ever driven a Nissan Van, you are probably expecting the weeble on wheels experience with a furious screaming squirrel power under your seat…but here the handling experience is slightly less nautical, but the engine power is much more speed boat than love boat.
Under that center console lives a boosted SR20DET inline-4 that is shifted with a 5-speed manual gearbox and mated to a spool rear differential. If you don’t know what a spool is — just picture terrible noises and understeer at parking lot speeds, but drifffftttttttttttooooo when you goose the throttle.
POWER! tips@dailyturismo.com
Why do I like this so much? This is my new favorite vehicle for lugging around my families bicycles and gear.
Isn't this the van that lights itself on fire?
Yes, but only with original motor. Very few of these survived the Nissan buy-back and subsequent crushing. I've seen this one before but can't remember if is was a for sale ad or simply a write up?
Yes, the original engine was a KA24 of some sort and was shoehorned in for the US market. A turbo four might have been a better idea…
Perhaps the ugliest and least aerodynamic boxmobile EVER made……so now it will cut the wind like Spinal Tap!