Talk:Nissan Serena

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[edit] An earlier Serena???

I've just found a picture which I thought was of a Nissan Serena. I took it in France in the mid 1980s (I think ... fairly sure in fact). Trouble is, according to this article, Serenas didn't arrive till the 1990s. And certainly I might have misremembered. Usually in these circs it is possible to refer to another language wiki article and figure out an answer from the dates and spec boxes and pix there, but in this instance that didn't help. With Nissan we have the added complications arising from their practice of using one name for different models in different markets AND of selling one model with different names in different markets. Anyhow, this is a reasonably ok picture and, Serena or not, if you know what it is, please if you have a moment, put it on the right page if there isn't a better pciture there already. (The writing on this one simply explains that it is new and has a three year guarantee: presumably this was a demonstrator and / or courtesy car for the local dealership.)Charles01 10:39, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

Its a quest : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Quest stephane.jourdan gmail —Preceding unsigned comment added by 118.93.76.226 (talk) 05:21, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Thank you. I do not share your conclusion, but I clicked one of the links on the page to which you directed me. I think it is a car that in Europe we knew as the Nissan Prairie. It was sold in Canada with a different name and in the US for one year only with a different name again, according to the wiki entries at Nissan Prairie and at Nissan Prairie auf deutsch. It also has an entry in Japanese wiki where someone has added 'my' picture, which is reassuring, though I don't read Japanese so I don't know what it's called there. Thank you for helping me to these conclusions. Regards Charles01 (talk) 06:34, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, I thought it was a quest, only by visual memory. Looking again at it, I can see the difference. Anyway, they are ugly, ha ha. Please read my questions about the story of the Serena, just under this section. Maybe you have some information about that ? SJ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 118.93.189.81 (talk) 05:36, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] this article does not take in account the fact that

before the first model of Serenas and Largos as we know them now (like on the first photo), Nissan was constructing largos based on the "van" shape (and maybe Serenas also ? or did Serenas emerged as the cheap version of the new designed Largos ?), I mean the "long van" shape, like in the toyota Hiace family. They can be seen here : http://www.cars-directory.net/specs/nissan/largo/ or there http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/Nissan_Vanette_Largo_Umibouzu_001.JPG/800px-Nissan_Vanette_Largo_Umibouzu_001.JPG

At one point the designers of one brand (probably Nissan) wanted to propose the customers vehicles looking more like cars and less like vans : they changed the design in four ways : externaly, they slightly inclined the windscreen, they shortened the overall lenght, they displaced the front wheel forward and finaly they increased the height of the roof to regain the lost space (without increasing the width). The new design is what we can call the "true" Serena design or "High van". The driver is no more seated on the front wheels but usually still seated above the engine.

Eventually, many constructors were building Serena-like vehicles : Nissan, Suzuki (their models are smaller but maybe they began earlier ?), mazda, Honda (Stepwagon, maybe rather Odyssey like ? not really high vans ?) Mitsubishi (who specialized in 4WD Celicas), Toyota (Granvia, Regius, Noah and the smaller Liteace), Ford, etc. some still producing "long van" models at the same time but I think Nissan was the most involved in this "philosophy", producing the more models and "special series" : like the Serenas and Largos "Highway star" (also extended to the Elgrand family !), still continued in the new series and above all the more recognizable design, the true Serena design, prompting the creation of distinctive look and even giving birth to Largo clubs like this one : http://www.largoparts.co.uk/forum/index.php ! In my opinion, the existence of this family of cars, very original, is not correctly aknowlegded in the usual car classification (and the Largo is not even in the list of Nissan models). In New Zealand, the Largos and Serenas are characteristic of Pasifika lifestyle ! stephane.jourdan gmail —Preceding unsigned comment added by 118.93.178.110 (talk) 03:49, 3 June 2008 (UTC)