Practically Classics Forum

tractorman wrote:

rich. wrote:did nissan build the bluebird in the uk?

Indeed; and, according to some friends who worked there, they were exporting British-built Bluebirds to Japan as they were better built than the Japanese ones!

And so they should be, the employees at the Washington Datsun plant are better paid than pretty much anyone else in the UK engineering industry, their paintwork is all finished manually as no robots can match the job you get from trained Mackems, they have a canteen that serves better food than many a Michelin starred eaterie and - best bit - the factory has its own Classic Car Club or did, since it grew and Spread east to Sunderland where it now prospers as the club behind many of the biggest shows in the south of the region, Ryhope (x2) and Seaburn among those. This suggests (I would say "proves" but some card would only dig out an archaic law that forbids that sort of thing so we'll stick at "suggests") that the payroll includes many pukka enthusiasts which explains why they care about what they do. That, and the way in which they're sacked if any vehicle coming out of the place has so much as a micron's deviance in its panel gaps from the preceding one.

So explain just one thing then: What exactly did Datsun put in the water supply to force the ordinarily proud folk of Washington to build the godawful POS that is the Juke?


Answering the OP's question; the 1970s, definitely. Because it saw the rise of the unions which demonstrated beautifully that old saying about giving people enough rope....

could someone explain the nissan juke? one of my clients has had 2 & seems to like them.. im unable to mock him as i need the work

I'd love to, but I'm afraid I can't, other than yet another pointless SUV to appease school run mummies, apart from that, I can think of no other reason for the Puke and its ilk.

are they 4x4?

Only the top spec ones, so your common or garden ones are all 2wd

are they fitted with anna friel as standard??

I must admit that I fail to see why anyone would want to buy a Datsun Joke or a Range Rover Handbag but then I'm not influenced by fashion. Things don't have to be good to sell or bad to not sell; they just have to be marketed in the right way (Let's be fair, we usually vote in a right bunch of numpties and what is electioneering, if not marketing?).

A friend's parents have recently sold their Jazz and bought a Joke. My friend corrects me every time I mention the car - just in case I say that in front of his parents (who love the hideous thing!). There are a few cash cows about these parts too. I can't see the point in them either - but their owners do!

Don't forget the Japanese ethics and methods though: didn't Nissan expect the workers to sing the company song before starting work when they opened the plant? One thing that was noticeable when they started was that the managers and supervisors all wore the same coloured overalls - none of this "White is for management, blue is for workers" stuff and there were very few other "perks" for management either!

Back on topic: my vote goes to the 1970s

We still had those 1960s carry-over models (Mini, ADO16, MGB, Spitfire, mk1 Escort, Viva HB, FD Victor, Rootes Arrow range etc) and then many sharper, newer models such as the Princess, mk2 Escort, mk3 and 4 Cortina etc

Add the Lotus Elite (wedge), Esprit, SD1, Dolomite Sprint, TR6 and 7, Reliant Scimitar SE6, XJ6 and XJS and many others and you get a huge variety to choose from - something for every taste and more so than any other decade.

So, for sheer "something for everyone" value, the 1970s gets it.

not forgetting the awful build quality