D Car — November 2003

The Silvia’s history goes back to 1965, when it was introduced as an elegant coupe. It disappeared for a time, then returned in 1975 as the S10. It was redesigned as the S110 and S12, but neither was especially popular. The S13, launched in 1988 near the end of the bubble era, finally hit the mark: its stylish body fit perfectly into the coupe boom of the time…

It sparked a huge boom alongside the Honda Prelude. Even after the coupe craze faded, the Silvia remained popular as a drift car. Then the S14 took over: its larger, three-number-class body had grown bulkier and lost some of the earlier styling appeal, so it was unpopular. The S15 arrived with excess mass trimmed away, but poor new-car sales brought production to an end in August 2002.

Production ended in 2002, but among all Silvia generations it has the best handling. The S14 had become oversized, so Nissan deliberately slimmed the S15 back to the five-number width class, giving it sharp, solid handling and earning strong reviews. It retained features such as an SR-series 2.0-liter engine from the S14, while advancing other areas, including the adoption of a six-speed manual transmission.

Perhaps reflecting the last traces of the bubble era, the S14 grew to the three-number width class. It debuted in 1993 and strongly reflected the lavish mood of the times, which hurt sales. Nissan carried out a major facelift in 1996. Until the used-car market began to appreciate it, prices were very low. The early model leaned toward luxury, while the later one had a distinctly sportier look.

Among Japan’s rear-wheel-drive sports cars, the Nissan Silvia is especially popular for its accessible size and price. It became popular as a coupe in the late 1980s and later exploded in popularity as a drift car alongside its sibling, the 180SX. In the U.S. market, it was sold as the 240SX. Production ended last year with the S15, closing the Silvia’s chapter, but the car remains popular as a sport-compact base. Here we take a look at the S13, S14, and S15.