Why a Diesel?
Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 8:53 pm
Since I purchased my first Diesel Maxima a couple of weeks ago and have been going through all of the old documents etc., I begin to wonder...what would motivate someone to purchase a light-duty diesel staion wagon in 1981?
Seeing as how I was born in the very same month and year as my car was manufactured, I have no first-hand experience of what times were like then, so I cannot really relate.
All I see are the numbers from the "era". 13% of maxis sold in the us in '81 were diesel - compared to 87% gas. Nissan offered only two diesels (720 and 910) for only a handful of years, as did several other manufacturers. Mercedes and VW seem to have been most succesful in regards to units sold of light-duty passenger diesels.
Then there is the terrible reputaion these (light-duty diesel) cars seem to have earned over this brief period in the late 70s and early 80s.
I am simply curious as to what motivation one would have had to purchase such a vehicle and what advantage they would have perceived during this time. Obviously those that chose the diesel option were in the minority. Dare I ask...why?
My interest in these cars stems first from my love of the G1 maxima (910), but also of compression combustion engines and their flexibility. I would assume that these would not have been the #1 and 2 reasons in 1981.
Please...discuss...
Seeing as how I was born in the very same month and year as my car was manufactured, I have no first-hand experience of what times were like then, so I cannot really relate.
All I see are the numbers from the "era". 13% of maxis sold in the us in '81 were diesel - compared to 87% gas. Nissan offered only two diesels (720 and 910) for only a handful of years, as did several other manufacturers. Mercedes and VW seem to have been most succesful in regards to units sold of light-duty passenger diesels.
Then there is the terrible reputaion these (light-duty diesel) cars seem to have earned over this brief period in the late 70s and early 80s.
I am simply curious as to what motivation one would have had to purchase such a vehicle and what advantage they would have perceived during this time. Obviously those that chose the diesel option were in the minority. Dare I ask...why?
My interest in these cars stems first from my love of the G1 maxima (910), but also of compression combustion engines and their flexibility. I would assume that these would not have been the #1 and 2 reasons in 1981.
Please...discuss...