The Nissan Pulsar NX was this oddball mutant from the 80s that could be configured as a coupe, hatchback/wagon or open top...and that was all in the same vehicle. The only thing constant about the Pulsar is its radical tailights and the fact that you don't see them on the road anymore. Shame. I miss those lights. Find this 1988 Nissan Pulsar NX offered for $7500 in the Santa Ynez Valley, CA via craigslist.
You might not love one, but you cannot hate the Nissan Pulsar. From those funky psychedelic tail lights to the 3-way sports-car/wagon/convertible roof setup...how can you not like this thing!?!?! You want a time machine...forget the Delorean -- get one of these, it'll be 1985 before you know it. Find this 1988 Nissan Pulsar NX offered for $3700 in Douglasville, GA via craigslist. Tip from Rock On!
Imagine if 6-year-old-you were to put together a list of your vehicular requirements, e.g. popup headlights, T-tops, diagonal tail lights, wedge shaped body, and the ability to be two different cars. It would appear that Nissan was courting the elementary school demographic in the late 1980's. Find this 1988 Nissan Pulsar NX for sale in Bath, ON, Canada for $CAD1,000 ($USD804.26 at time of writing) via kijiji.
We continue the day of the living 3500 by focusing on cars that cost around 35 benjamins and this next car falls closer to the cool piece of crap than the crappy cool car. But, how often do you find a mint condition for this cheap? Find this 1983 Nissan Pulsar Sedan offered here on craigslist for $3450 in Nashville, TN.
The Nissan Pulsar GTI-R was a homologation special street version of the N14 generation Pulsar/Sunny that allowed Nissan to race WRC Group A. They were only sold in Japan (as the Pulsar GTI-R) and Europe as the Sunny GTI-R, so finding one in the USA is a strange sight and makes me tingly with excitement. Actually, those shivers up your spine are because it has some title issues and is two years shy of the 25 year exemption rule. Find this 1991 Nissan Pulsar GTI-R
bidding for $6,500 with a few hours to go on eBay, located in Council Bluffs, IA.
The worst part about custom cars is that those with the means aren't the ones who become the owners. Not that this 220-horsepower Pulsar (that is, without the 55-horsepower dry shot of nitrous) necessitates a blank check to Nissan or Pininfarina or some obscure coach-building machine shop. Any red-blooded Joe with a blue-collar paycheck could acquire, complete, and maintain this project with no problem. But a bottle-fed, Yamaha-engined, front-drive, open-bed compact with t-tops only has the formula for sheer absurdity. An open budget and an unchecked imagination would completely furnish it with the ostentation it deserves. Find this 1988 Nissan Pulsar with SHO V6 swap in Fort Wayne, IN for $2,300 ($2,000 sans nitrous) via craigslist.
The homologation-satisfying GTI-R treatment tarted up Nissan's dopey Pulsar with revealing bodywork that left little to the imagination, ATTESA all-wheel drive, and the famous SR20DET. Weighing 2,690 pounds with 83% of the horsepower of an R32 GT-R, it's as fast as it is flashy on the rally circuit. The U.S. never got one, but a few wash up on our shores to fulfill the American dream of hill jumping and mud spraying. Find this 1993 Nissan Pulsar GTI-R in Washington, D.C. for $7,000 via craigslist. 