There’s a renaissance going on at Nissan.
After teetering on the brink of obliteration in the late 1990s, the company is coming back in a big way with amazing cars like the 350Z and impressive trucks like the Titan and Armada. The change couldn’t have been more dramatic.
And now the turnaround is showing more than ever in a variation on Nissan’s venerable, bread-and-butter Altima, a four-door sedan that has played second fiddle for years to the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. Read more…
When it came time to design a new Pathfinder, Nissan had to satisfy two camps.
On one side were the loyalists who surely wanted the Pathfinder to be a Japanese Jeep, the kind of truck that’s reliable, affordable, rugged and capable of driving just about anywhere. They’re the kind of buyers who don’t give a rip about comfort, so long as they can traverse Death Valley without breaking a sweat. Read more…
It was only a few years ago when Nissan teetered on the brink of bankruptcy, nearly committing corporate suicide with a lineup of stale, flavorless sedans and generally unimpressive trucks. It was a sad sight, indeed.
Nissan knew it needed a miracle to stay alive as a company, and that’s what it appears to be getting today. Over the last two years it managed to muster a pair of home runs — no, more like grand slams — with the redesigned Altima and sporty 350Z, both of which are leaving dealer lots faster than a cheetah on steroids.
Read more…
The Spanish were an ambitious bunch, at least in the 16th century.
That’s when King Phillip II ordered 30,000 people onto 130 warships to create what he called an “invincible armada,” the most powerful naval fleet in the world. It set sail in 1588 to invade and conquer England.
Read more…
Let’s face it. Minivans have gotten a bad rap.
Despite their undeniable practicality and family-friendly features, it’s just not chic to drive one because they’re seen as mind numbingly boring. And ugly. And slow. And soccer-momish.
Read more…
When you grow up in rural East Texas, you know what loyalty is. It’s what a man feels for his pickup truck.
As a boy, it wasn’t uncommon for me to hear someone say, “My daddy drove a Ford ’til he died, and I’m gonna drive a Ford ’til I die,” or some variation with either Dodge or Chevy. Texas men are more devoted to their trucks than to their wives. Read more…
How’s this for a novel idea: an SUV that acts like an SUV. Read more…
They say money can’t buy happiness. Well, “they” never drove the ragtop Z. Read more…