Silvia Varietta

[Jay!]

The Silvia Varietta is Nissan's hardtop convertible version of the current Silvia. I think it's gorgeous. It will probably never come to America though.

Having a car that can remove its own sheet-metal roof is the next best thing to owning a real life Transformer!!!

[R35]

Transformer keeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwllllllll!

Hardtop convertables aren't new, but a Silvia version sounds sweet. Got any pictures?:sun:

Agree we won't see one state side. Did you know that the Honda Del Sol is offered in Japan with a motorized hardtop? Now that thing was very cool. Course we got stuck with the get out and lift shove in truck version

[R35]

Nevermind, found one: HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT WOW.:flamer:

[enzo@af]

blasted non-imported cars! The Silvia is so damn sweet, and they won't bring it over. They would sell SO WELL!!!!

[Morpheus XIII]

Complaint: Only one problem...it's not offered with the DET, but hey, that's only a minor setback since it's still motivated by an SR, and turbocharging a motor designed for pressure is easy as picking your nose.

More Complaints: Why design a convertible (especially a difficult hardtop variation) SOLELY for a country known for not enjoying open-cars? Japan is a foggy/cloudy place, and there isn't much of a market for topless autos, whereas in the States, just about every coupe has a convertible counterpart. Even if we dont get the coupe, even if we dont get the turbo, even if we dont get an SR but the KA instead, SEND IT OVER!!!

Other Complaints: Unlike the new SC430, it seems as if designers didn't spend too much time on the less seen aspects of the Varietta: It looks odd when the top is UP. Oh well that just means the top will always need to stay down :smoker2:

[Jay!]

Originally posted by R35
Did you know that the Honda Del Sol is offered in Japan with a motorized hardtop?

No, I didn't! Thanks!

Here's a peek into the interior:

[i_rebel]

Yeah . . . looks funny with the top up.

That's strange cause I always thought that of the soft top convertibles . . . A hard top should look like an ordinary coupe withouth the quirky lines of the ordinary open air cruisers . . . too bad I don't design them . . .


About the Del Sol:

Yeah, the rear deck/trunk lid raises to be parallel with the roof . . . and the roof is lifted and slidden into the rear deck, which then lowers itself tucking the roof away into the trunk lid.

[Morpheus XIII]

The Silvia is so damn sweet, and they won't bring it over. They would sell SO WELL!!!!

--enzo@af

They would only sell so well to people like you and me. After all, it WAS poor sales that made the Silvia/240SX retreat from the U.S. in the first place. Nissan only sold a couple hundred here in the final production year. To make it work, they would need to BURY the competition, requiring the right powerplant and the right price. Furthermore, it would need its own niche, far away from the other Nissans to maximize sales.

With a sharp new modern look, righteous power, and the advantage of rear wheel-drive, a real-deal S15 in the States could make an impact if set at or below $20,000. But it would be a steep uphill battle due to its soiled name here.

I actually don't mind that the S14 240SXs weren't popular. It remains to be a mysterious automobile, known only true enthusiasts. In my eyes, these cars have always seemed like locked treasure chests. Plain in initial demeanor, they are actually highly valuable--but only after being opened with a special key: the SR20DET. If we ever see the S15 (unlikely) and sales are still damned to hell, I'll gladly buy one even if no one else does. At least this way, I will have a unique work of art, instead of something that everyone and his sister already owns (looking in the direction of Honda).

[Jay!]

igor, this needs to be posted here.



I hope you'll understand.

[R35]

Ya poor sales did kill the 240SX, but the poor performance is what killed sales. Now if they had brought the Varietta over sales would not have been a problem. Drop in the turbo and you can say goodbye to all the mustang convertibles.

It always makes me wonder how the manufactures bring over their crappy base of basement model over to the states and say "We want to see how well these sell before we bring over a serious model". That's like saying "Drive around eating cow dung for a year and if you like it you can have fillet minion".

Subaru is doing it now with the wrx, if sale's of the wrx are good they'll bring over the sti. So everyone who goes out and buy's a wrx now will get pissed when they see the sti available next year. Man I hate that

One more thing, with the new Z at $30K and (GOD PLEASE) a GT-R in the $40+K a new S15 Silvia in the $20K would make for a very nice line-up at the Nissan dealer

[JDMEddie]

madd phat yo!



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[IMG]A:\strwbry240.jpg[/IMG]

[NB8CT]

Originally posted by Morpheus XIII


After all, it WAS poor sales that made the Silvia/240SX retreat from the U.S. in the first place.

But it would be a steep uphill battle due to its soiled name here.

I read that it was mostly thew anticipation of the 350Z, and that the two cars would kill each other, so Nissan took it out.

Just wondering what you mean by "soiled"?

[Morpheus XIII]

I believe both were valid reasons why the 240SX was removed from the line. Not only was the next Z car coming, but people simply didn't want a ~$20,000 car which had far less to offer than its competition. In fact, the only thing the 240SX had going for it was its rear-wheel-drive configuration. In the past decade, Nissan has really had it rough keeping its own cars from eating each other alive. Even today, the Maxima's survivability is questionable, with the introduction of the equally capable (and more cost-effective) Altima.

This is taken from Nissan's corporate sales archive for the final calendar month of 1998:

Nissan's cars also had a banner month in December [1998] with total combined sales of 29,437 units, a 6.7 percent increase over the previous year. The Nissan Altima continued to drive Nissan sales with 11,156 units sold in December. Total calendar year sales for Altima reached 144,451 units, a 1.3 percent increase over the previous calendar year. Maxima reported sales of 11,063 units, a 33.2 percent increase over the previous year. Calendar year sales for Maxima totaled 113,843 units.

Other highlights include: Sentra posted sales of 6,056 units, an increase of 3.8 percent versus last year. Total calendar year sales for Sentra reached 88,363 units. The 200SX had sales of 1,070 units and the 240SX had sales of 91 units.

Compare the numbers between the Maxima (11,063 units) and the 240SX (91 units). People looking for power generally got the best of both worlds by purchasing a Maxima--comfort and power for the same price as a 240SX. For consumers requiring something with two doors still went for the bargain 200SX (1,070 units). Then you've got the rest of the competition: Preludes, Integras, Miatas, even Mustangs all fought for a piece of the sports coupe pie, and the 240SX really couldn't offer anything the others did (we all know speed drove the excellent Silvia sales in Japan, but the mediocre power from the American 240SX was really less than adequate). The 240SX's formula just wasn't working on the mass majority of the U.S. public. God knows how many SR20DET and KA-turbo enthusiasts would kill for a 240SX encore, but we are STILL but a mere fraction of the population. Think, there are plenty of modified Integras out there, but there are even a more overwhelming number of stock Integras for generic consumers. That's why Honda will never drop the Integra/RSX, thereby allowing the enthusiasts to win as well.

A shame, but it's just business.

[Gonthrax]

It does look nice

ALso, didn't Mitsi make a convertable hard top a while back? I forget what it was but I remember seeing the add for it.

[Jay!]

Originally posted by Gonthrax
ALso, didn't Mitsi make a convertable hard top a while back? I forget what it was but I remember seeing the add for it.

The Mitsubishi 3000GT/GTO VR-4 Spyder is a hardtop convertible.