Nissan Stanza - A10 Series (1977–1981)

A10 Series (1977–1981)

The Stanza, as it was known in some markets, was first introduced in the 1977 model year as a rebadged Japanese-market Nissan Violet A10 and a companion to the Japanese: Nissan Violet Auster, which was sold at Nissan Japan dealership network called Nissan Prince Store. The Stanza, which is Italian for "room" or "apartment", was introduced as an affordable family car one level below the Nissan Laurel, with the companion Nissan Auster as a similar vehicle below the Nissan Skyline sedan, with the Stanza sold at Nissan Japan dealerships Nissan Bluebird Store that sold the top level car Cedric. Originally it was only sold with the 1.4 litre A-series engine and the 1.6 litre L, although North American market cars received a two-litre version. In October 1978 the car underwent a facelift, becoming the A11 in the process. At the same time, the L16 engines were replaced by the cross-flow Z16, to meet newer stricter emissions rules. In November 1978 a 1.8 litre engine was added at the top of the line-up, mainly for the domestic Japanese market.

According to the companion article at Japanese Wikipedia, "Auster" is derived from "Worster" which means "south wind". The Stanza was sold at dealerships that sold the Cedric and Laurel; the Auster was sold at dealerships that sold the Gloria and Skyline. The Violet was sold at dealerships that sold the Nissan Sunny called Nissan Satio Store.

In Australia, it was called the Datsun Stanza, and in Canada and the United States as the Datsun 510, a name which recalled the successes of the previous Datsun 510. It was powered (in 1977-79 models) by the 2.0 L I4 L20B and in 1980-81 by the 2.0 L I4 Z20 series of engines.

Five body styles were on offer: two- and four-door saloons, a three-door hatchback coupé ("Violet Openback" and "Auster Multi-Coupé"), a 5-door hatchback (only introduced in August 1979, quite late in the car's production run) and a five-door estate. The five-door liftback Stanza was marketed as the "Stanza Resort" in the Japanese domestic market. The five-door bodywork only became available in the Auster and Violet versions as of April 1980, meaning that they were only built for fourteen months as the car was replaced by the T11 generation in June 1981. The A10/A11 wagon was not replaced in 1981, with the somewhat smaller AD Wagon instead taking its place in the Japanese market.

Transmissions offered were a four-speed manual (in all except for the hatchback models), a five-speed manual (hatchback models only), and a three-speed automatic. This generation was available for sale around the same time as the first generation Toyota Celica Camry and the Honda Accord, which formed direct competitors in the domestic marketplace.