New Nissan 200SX still a chance

Nissan’s global product boss says he remains keen for a potential return of the fabled Nissan Silvia coupe – sold in Australia as the 180SX and then the 200SX until 2002 – as a future budget-friendly sports car positioned below the Nissan Z coupe and discontinued GT-R supercar.

In a recent interview with Top Gear, Nissan’s global product strategy vice-president Ivan Espinosa said the chances of an affordable new performance model from the Japanese auto brand depends on a successful business case for a model that can be sold worldwide.

“A far-fetched idea would be something like a new Silvia positioned [beneath the Z and GT-R] with good enough power at the right price that customers find attractive,” he said when asked directly about the prospects of a new mainstream sports car in the ilk of the Subaru BRZ and upcoming Honda Prelude.

“And there’s a lot of Silvia fans everywhere. As soon as I say the name, people start nodding. This is my dream.

“The chances are there, but in the end it’s a business, so I need to find ways to make this sort of proposal interesting to the company.

“Sometimes cars like this do struggle a bit because the audience isn’t that big, but it can work if we find the right idea that can be run everywhere in the world.

“We cannot do these products regionally or as one-offs because it just doesn’t make sense. But there is a chance.

“It’ll be a challenge, but it’s my job to find ways to do stuff like this because I think it’ll be great for customers and the brand, and if I can put the right formula in place we could make it work.”

Rumours of the Silvia nameplate making a triumphant return on an attainable new sports coupe have been swirling for decades now, most recently in the form of an inexpensive rear-drive electric coupe.

Espinosa himself said last year that Nissan needed to re-engage with younger buyers who lack the same passion for cars and driving as previous generations.

In 2021, Nissan Design Europe vice-president Matthew Weaver released a series of renders of what such a vehicle could look like, borrowing design elements from the very first Silvias and even adorning his concept car with illuminated Silvia badges.

Former global design boss Shiro Nakamura also spoke wishfully of the return of a Silvia way back in 2012, describing the re-establishment of a small, light and affordable sports car as “a very important issue” for the Japanese car-maker to discuss and address.

Also called the Datsun 1600 Coupe, the original Nissan Silvia was produced between 1965-1968, but the more modern Silvia was offered over five generations between 1975-2002.

These include the S12 coupe and hatch sold in Australia as the Gazelle from 1985, the S13 (1988-93) and S14 (1994-2000) coupes sold as the 180SX, and the final S15 coupe sold here as the 200SX between 2000-2002.

The final S15 ‘Silvia’ was only officially sold new in Japan, New Zealand and Australia, which accounted for more than 10 per cent of production with almost 3900 sales.

With Honda reviving the Prelude, Toyota hinting at a return of the Celica, Mazda still expected to release a new flagship coupe positioned above the MX-5 and the rampant success of the ‘Toyobaru’ GR86/BRZ twins, there are more reasons than ever for Nissan to release a born-again Silvia.

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