Ran into this car tonight… which gives me an excuse to link something I’ve already written, for probably the third time.
Without being either falsely modest or unreasonably self-aggrandizing, I have to say that although reading anything I’ve written in the past makes me break out in a rash (IT COULDA BEEN BETTER!) I still like my Infiniti G20 story from way back when. As I’ve been bopping around Europe today, I’ve seen a surprising number of old Primeras still on the road. Good cars, and far more ambitious than what Nissan’s doing now in that segment.
This one almost made me fall out of my seat. Out of my SEAT, get it? This thing’s called the SEAT Exeo. SEAT is the VW Group’s Spanish arm (VW bought them about 20 years ago IIRC) and from 2009 to 2013 they sold the previous-gen Audi A4 at a discount with SEAT badging. I guarantee you that this car would have done huge business in the USA, had it been available. Young people would have loved it — some percentage of them liked that B7 Audi A4 more than the current one anyway.
Last picture of the day: a retired Concorde. As we taxied past it, the two English fellows in the seats behind me went quiet. “That’s a plane, that is, right there.”
“Didn’t realize it was that small.”
“It doesn’t matter how big it was. It meant something.”
Concorde was an enormous achievement that was never eclipsed by the SST or Concordski.
It spoke of a time when France and England realized that they needed each other for more than just mutual security. It was their moon shot or chevy volt in current parlance.
I’m sorry that I never had the chance to fly in her. And yes, she’s tiny by comparison to the things we fly transoceanic in today.
Well now they have the Dyson, that is almost as good.
Concorde represents all that is Great about Great Britain. Every time I wander the streets of London, I can’t escape thinking about the men who walked these streets, and decisions they made, that determined the course of the modern world.
My sister did an exchange program in the UK (adventerous, I know). When her host family came to visit, they brought model Concordes for my boys.
Was that really a Primera? It looks to me like one of the gazillion (non hatch) Pulsar I see down here.
You’re right, this is an Almera sedan (Pulsar elsewhere), but it’s not that hard to mistake it for a Primera sedan since Nissan and the rest of the Japanese never doubted the fact that boring sells. A decent car but it had the common trait of Japanese cars of the 80s and 90s living in rust-friendly climates - the mechanicals could outlive the body several times over, although you may know this already since you’re familiar with the car.
It had Primera badges! Or at least I think it did.
Shows what I know. Sheeeeeeeesh.
The size of the car tells it. Primera/G20 is a bigger car. Think mid 90’s Accord-like in size.
They look very similar, the Pulsar almost looking like a mini Primera.
There are other rebadges. Your Jetta III is called Vento everywhere else.
It’s an Almera pretty sure they were just a rebaged Pulsar for Europe
Okay… from what I can tell, the first-generation G20 in this country was a Primera. The second-generation was an Almera.
That’s why when I saw it and thought G20 — Primera… well that’s my excuse anyway.
Almera was size smaller than Primera, and successor to Sunny, a VW Golf or Honda Civic size car.
Primera (G20 in the US) was Accord or VW Passat competitor. Newer Primeras exist, too.
First of all, greetings from Spain. If you ever drop around Madrid, I’ll be more than happy to show you around town.
Second, that’s as everybody has told you a Nissan Almera Sedan. The Almera and the Primera were actually sold at the same time. Your G20 was our Primera and was sold here from 1995 until 2000. It had really nice engines (specially the 2.0) and really nice handling. The Almera (that Almera shown in the picture anyway) was sold from 1996 until 2000 in its first generation. It was supposed to take over the Nissan Sunny wich I’m not sure if you ever got in the States but that you can find pretty much all around Latin America.
They both had newer versions in 2000 and the newer versions were both quite horrible with Renault engines that sucked (both petrol and gasoline)but still held some of that nice handling.
Anyway, I think the point of the article gets through clear as water.
Best regards.
Ps. The Seat Exeo never got to sell well in Spain and I honestly don’t get it. It’s a great car only doomed by the Audi/Seat reputation regarding dealers and Oficial Services.
Jaime,
Thank you for all the clarification — We had the Sentra which was a Sunny relative.
Interesting comments about the SEAT Exeo. Was a good car and well priced, but in the UK it sunk without trace. Style-conscious Audi wannabes would rather buy a used B7 A4 than a new “fake” A4 (even if it did come with a warranty etc).
The missus got t-boned in her 1990ish Nissan NX-2000. It was a compact hatchback with T-tops, a clutch pedal and the hi output four that Nissan put in the Sentra SE. It was destroyed when she t-boned a Crown Vic cab that ignored a standing red. I found the cousin of your G20, the four door Sentra SE-R Spec V. What a car! Speed, handling, a acceptable back seat and a trunk. Sadly, the wife traded it for a 2001 Mercedes Benz C240 because she couldn’t live without ABS brakes. Sniff.