And in a puff of smoke they were gone. Tell me about.....

[bustedbucket]

... the old nissan van! The 2nd gen vanette if you will. Totally obscure today even compared to its boxy toyota contemporary legend(a friend's neighbor has a nice running one of those btw), this eightyslicious box of utilitarianism became the first vehicle to be recalled in full and crushed by its maker according to wikipedia. True? This was supposedly due to the propensity of the z24 engine to catch fire in the cramped bay.

So are ANY still left in the U.S.? And do you or someone you know have experience with them? I'm just intrigued by this unicorn. And they are a TRUE unicorn. Just as single horned animals like the narwhale were hunted to near extinction for their horns, the nissan van was hunted for its fire. On that note, maybe the van is more appropriately considered a dragon .

Anyway, tell me about these fire-breathing beasts!

[Chris16vRocco]

There are a few left, but very few. I don't know that I've ever seen one.

It is true that they were recalled due to engine fires though.

[Archaeopteryx]

A teacher at my elementary school owned one of those in metallic red with silver bumpers, around 1997 I believe. I always thought it was intriguing.

[MeineFolks'wagen]

I love those and the old Toyota vans! I'd like to see something like that again - none of today's "mini vans" have anything mini about them. I think I've seen one of those recently (I work in and around a predominantly Hispanic area and they've always got odd vehicles )

[mikegilbert]

A teacher at my elementary school owned one of those in metallic red with silver bumpers, around 1997 I believe. I always thought it was intriguing.

Funny you mention that. I had a teacher in Middle school who drove a maroon one. I it had a fridge in it and needed a new muffler. That's all I can remember.

[robr2]

I believe there is one of these running around my town. One of the athletic trainers at the high school has one. I'll have to snap a pic next time I'm dropping my son off at school.

[Deserion]

My parents had the Toyota Van (yes, that's the model name ) in the '80s, and I remember one family on my street having a Nissan van. It was a dull gray and kind of blah.

[VadGTI]

I've always wondered if the recall is still open and applicable. I see them for sale for peanuts from time to time. The payout (if you didn't elect a down payment on a new Quest instead) was something like $14,000. Buy one for $2k, send it back to Nissan for $14k. Pretty decent for a day's work .

[VadGTI]

Here's one for $2,750.




http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/3169604839.html

[2.0T_Convert]

Looks like something good for hauling 10-20 Mexican day laborers. No thanks.

[bustedbucket]

My parents had the Toyota Van (yes, that's the model name ) in the '80s

How was that? Super reliable? I've heard rumors that they were discontinued due to being too reliable. Of course the veracity of such a rumor is highly questionable, at least in full. The trend towards early 90s gumdropdom really dated these boxes.

"I love what you do for me toooooyyyyyota!"

EDIT- Thanks vadgti. Dragons do still exist! I love and want(but cant have) it!

[Pool Runner]

Wasn't this called the Access van? or was that something else. To lazy to look up right now.

[VadGTI]

Wasn't this called the Access van? or was that something else. To lazy to look up right now.

Nope. It was just called the Van in the US. The Axxess/Prairie was an entirely different van, powered by the KA24 engine and sitting on a Stanza chassis:

[topdawg_mc4]

I've always wondered if the recall is still open and applicable. I see them for sale for peanuts from time to time. The payout (if you didn't elect a down payment on a new Quest instead) was something like $14,000. Buy one for $2k, send it back to Nissan for $14k. Pretty decent for a day's work .

It's probably bad that I thought about the possibilities of that for a few minutes. There's a grey one at a local yard.

[Cubster]

My parents had the Toyota Van (yes, that's the model name ) in the '80s, and I remember one family on my street having a Nissan van. It was a dull gray and kind of blah.

I believe they were called "VanWagon".....my parents bought the first one in Arlington, Texas. Ours was silver with blue at the bottom (Dallas Cowboy colors...ugh), blue interior, dual roofs, built in fridge with cool little ice trays, yop of the line stereo with 20 band equalizer.......and a five-speed...by my mom's choice. That van was a tank....we pulled a boat that was 500lbs over limit, drove all over the south on trips, soccer tournements, and was fun to take out cruising. Only thing I didn't like was the tall/short wheelbase because lane changes weren't your choice on a windy day.

[kimilein]

Came for MKIV coilpacks. Leaving disappointed.

[kamzcab86]

I see one of these, and the Toyota version, every now and then. I saw them all the time back in SoCal in the '80s and early '90s.

I've always wondered if the recall is still open and applicable.

Recalls never expire; however, there is a time-limit for recalls to be honored. Your car must be 10 years old or younger on the date the defect was discovered (in this case, when the fire erupts?); the car's age is calculated from the first date of purchase. Nissan could honor the recall for goodwill purposes, but they are not legally obligated to honor it.

Nope. It was just called the Van in the US.

And it's actually the second generation Vanette.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_...2.80.931994.29

I believe they were called "VanWagon"......

Originally. IIRC, Volkswagen brought suit against Toyota. "Vanagon", as stated in early press material, is a combination of "van" and "station wagon". Toyota then shortened it to just Van, to go along with the creatively-named Nissan Van and Mitsubishi Van. And in Europe it was known as the Space Cruiser.

And, yes, there are Toyota Van enthusiasts out there: http://www.toyotavanpeople.com/ .

[mx5er]

Didn't Nissan was quietly buying them back, back in the day? Something about either catching fire or tipping over too easily. Nissan didn't want to deal with the controversy so they just bought them back and probably crushed them.

[mx5er]

Yep, it was b/c of fires: http://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/04/bu...mini-vans.html

http://articles.latimes.com/1994-02-...minivan-owners

Engine fires is one thing but when you're sitting on it, it's a whole new different ball game.

[Diamond Dave]

Wasn't this called the Access van?

We always called them the "crusher" vans. You don't see them anymore, but when we used to take roadtrips down to LA and we'd see one, we'd all be yelling and screaming out the car window "Crush me!"

[Biff Beltsander]

http://www.productioncars.com/galler...&model=Van1988 Nissan Van Wagon
Price new: $ 14,799 - $ 17,099 (GXE model)
106 horsepower 2.4 litre 4-cylinder engine
Rear-wheel-drive
92.5 inch wheelbase / 178.0 inch length
3,330 pound weight
7 passenger
Built in Japan
5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmission
EPA Mileage: 18/22 mpg
157.6 cubic feet of cargo
1988 was the second year for the Nissan minivan, marketed in the United States simply as Nissan Van. Sales were not as high as expected and later Nissan would sell the Quest minivan; a joint venture between Ford and Nissan. Mitsubishi offered a similar rush-to-market minivan during this period with the same generic name.

Fairly good looking vehicle, interiors were very Maxima esque in a comfortable 80's ultra modern way.
As mentioned before they are a vehicle that Nissan tried to eradicate from the market although a few people held onto them.

[Dawg Dee-Lux]

I remember these, yes, pretty sure the called them Vanura - or similar here in Norway. Complete unobtainum these days.

Edit that: Urvan was the name