Description
In its attempt to compete against the European hatchbacks, Nissan also produced a three-door version for its compact-sized Almera, which was known in other markets as Pulsar.
The Japanese automaker was not in its best financial status when it designed the first generation of the Almera, and it tried to find some solutions to lower the production costs for this vehicle. While some solutions proved to be smart, others showed a lack of imagination, at least from the design point of view.
At the front, the Almera showed a similar front fascia as the Primera P10 generation with horizontal headlights and a small grille between them that sported the Nissan logo on its upper side. The bumper featured an additional center grille crossed by a slat extended from side to side over the fake side air intakes. On the three-door version, the Almera featured the same C-pillar carried over from its five-door sibling and unusually wide rear side windows. In the back, the carmaker installed wide taillights split between the rear quarter panels and the tailgate.
Inside, the bland design continued with a simple, curved dashboard and a low-profiled instrument cluster that hosted two larger dials for the speedometer and tachometer, plus the gauges for the fuel level and the coolant temperature. On the center stack, Nissan placed the audio system above the climate control unit. In the back, the split-folding seatback allowed the owner to increase the trunk size. Thanks to the longer doors and the tumble front seats, the access to the rear seats was decent. Even better than other three-door hatchbacks from the same era.
Under the hood, Nissan offered the Almera a choice of four engines and paired them with a standard five-speed manual transmission. Top of the range version, the GTI, featured a naturally-aspirated 2.0-liter inline-four.
