The Bluebird was the first Nissan built in the U.K. and changed the brand’s image on the market, and with the station wagon version, it proved to be a great family companion.

In the ’80s, the media praised the reliability and useful features inside Japanese cars but slammed them in terms of performance against European cars. But that was changed for Nissan when it introduced the T12, 1986 generation of the Bluebird.

The wedged-shaped Nissan Bluebird received a backpack and the Traveller name along with it. To cut costs, Nissan’s designers kept the same doors and changed only the back of the vehicle. They put a longer roof over the trunk, a pair of side windows above the rear quarter panels, and closed the deal with a tailgate that provided a tall and wide opening to access the luggage area.

Inside, the squared-looking style continued on the dash with straight lines. Even the vents were squared with straight slats. The only rounded shape was on the inboard side of the instrument cluster. It was the era o electronic watches, and Casio was the king of the new generation. Nissan noticed that and introduced an LCD on the instrument panel’s bottom for, you guessed it, the clock.
The Japanese carmaker continued to load its cars with tons of features, usually available only for the premium segment, such as four power-windows, power mirrors, sunroof, and a radio-cassette player on the dash.

Under the hood, Nissan played safe with a choice of three 2.0-liter engines; two gasoline and one diesel. While the gasoline units were live enough to embarrass other cars, the diesel was sluggish but shined with its impressive fuel efficiency.