Wagon Wednesday: This is The Box Your Volvo Came In

You think a Volvo wagon is boxy?  I’ve got news for you, Jack.  The Japanese were doing boxy long before about the same time as the Swedes.  Here’s your proof – a pristine 1986 Nissan Maxima for sale today in Salt Lake.  Designed entirely without the assistance of a french curve, the mid-80s Maxima was about as square as square can be – with perhaps the only concession to style being a jauntily-angled rear light.  But even then, just an angle – no curve.  Let’s not get crazy here.

That said, let’s not dismiss the Maxima to the round file of history.  The interesting stuff was happening underneath the oh-so-straight sheet metal.  Mainly under the hood, where this resided…

That’s a 3.0 liter V6, folks – and if Wikipedia is to be believed, it’s the first V6 engine to be mass produced in Japan.  What’s not up for debate is that this engine also powered the contemporary 300ZX.  It produced an impressive-for-the-time 157 horses and was mated in this case to a 4-speed auto (a 5-speed manual was also available).  The combination of the Z engine in a four door body created almost a type of 4-door sports car… what a great marketing campaign that would have been…

All those cylinders lurked under the hood while the competition made do with four-cylinders that were barely switching over to fuel injection.  This engine was a revelation in the imported mid-size four-door market and was the opening salvo in today’s horsepower wars that now features 270-horsepower Toyota Camrys.

As an aside, let that Camry number roll around in your head for a minute and consider that the 1985 Chevy Corvette’s standard engine put out 230. 

Also lurking unseen in the 86 Maxima was a disembodied voice that would politely remind you that your door was a jar.  Or something like that.  In any case, it was actually a tiny record player programmed to play one of several messages at the appropriate time.  Fortunately, you can turn this nifty feature off, lest you decide one day that the car was getting a bit too lippy.

Then again, the comfort of the tufted velour seats would likely have you thinking?  “Lippy?  No way!  I want to hear more!”  Just hit the “repeat” feature, amigo – and converse with your straightedged car from the future!

All this can be yours for the low price of just $8,495 (and you get a free iPad with purchase!).  This example has just over 50,000 miles under its surprisingly round tires and looks to be in nearly perfect condition.  So if you just can’t live without the bizarre love-child of grandma’s sofa and Uncle Joe’s t-top sports coupe, check out this ad and make a deal! 

Hooniverse is presenting this for-sale car because the author thinks it’s cool and a good candidate for a Wagon Wednesday post.  We were not compensated for posting this here in any way, though the author really would have liked to have exercised that powerful V6 tiny record player. 

Ray Lindenburg is an Associate Editor with Hooniverse.com, but he also contributes to his own site Hatchtopia.com.  Head over there for all things hatchback. 

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Original: Hooniverse

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