Nissan Newbird

Nissan, that’s a Japanese car manufacturer, isn’t it? That’s right. But 35 years ago, the brand began producing vehicles in Europe as well. The Bluebird rolled off the production line in Sunderland first, especially for the European market. By 1990, 187,178 units of this model series alone had been built. A total of 10.5 million cars have been produced ever since in Sunderland. The all-electric Leaf compact car is currently being built here. Around 6,000 employees need around ten hours per vehicle. It all started with 430 employees and production times of around 22 hours per car. 19 people from the original workforce are still employed on the assembly line. Now, on the occasion of the company’s 35th anniversary in the UK, Nissan presented itself with a special vehicle. Based on a Bluebird, the all-electric Newbird was created as a restomod one-off. For the conversion, Nissan cooperated with Kinghorn Electric Vehicles, a family business from Durham, a few miles from the Nissan plant.

Using used electric motors and batteries from the Nissan Leaf, this company has been converting classic cars into electric vehicles for some time. This technology transfer has now also taken place in the conversion of the Bluebird to the Newbird. The 40-kWh battery pack found a place in a specially made box in the trunk. They are charged at up to 6.6 kW via a connector relocated behind the fuel filler cap. The original fuel gauge in the dashboard shows the charging status. Nissan assumes a range of around 130 miles. Otherwise, not much has changed visually on the Newbird. Instead of a gearshift lever, there are buttons for the gears on the center tunnel. On the outside, the Newbird received a colorful striped design with an ’80s look and an illuminated Nissan logo at the front. The chassis, power steering, lights and heater were also modified.

Images: Nissan