Bodywork

Nissan did a good job with the styling of the N15 model, well in my eyes at least, the European motoring press had a different view, describing it as bland, and even ugly. I personally find the clean, unobstructed lines give the Almera a nice image. It is aggressive, without being ugly. The front end is not too far removed from teh N14 Sunny/Pulsat (dependent on your geographical location) model, a car that in it's GTi-R guise was aggressive to the point of ugliness. Well, I think so anyway, sorry to all those GTi-R owners out there, it's not that I dislike the car (how could I dislike a 2.0 turbo powerplant and 4WD?), it's just that it looks, well, like a Pulsar... The vent and the headlights give the car, too much of an angry scowl.

Anyway, this little part of cyberspace is about MY car, and as much as I wish I had a GTi-R, the sad truth is that I don't. so back to the world of 1400s it is...

The Almera has nice big arches, just aching to be filled with big wheels and rubber. What's more, the arches flow nicely, and look like they should be there. They flare out, without being obtrusive. Unlike most cars on the planet, the Almera sports derivative, the GTi, has the same arches as the base models. This is a modifiers dream. Unfortunately, only a few people have seen that Almeras can be modified. There have only ever been two magazine featured modified Almeras, both in Fast Car magazine in the UK. Both, were ICE cars too, meaning nothing had been majorly done to the bodywork. One had a Nissan Aggressor kit, a standard option in the early days of the GTi model, the other a GTi kit with a few badges. And although there are loads of Almeras in my area, most are five door family workhorses, not sorted cruisers like mine shall hopefully be. There's a nice N15, five door unfortunately, in my area with a Lancer EVO style front bumper, a front bumper that I want desperately. It is shown here on a Belgian Almera at a European car show:

Amazingly, for a manufacturer that only produces 16 valve engines, Nissan seems embarassed to let anyone know. There wasn't a single reference to the powerplant anywhere! Thus, in order, to keep my street prowess, I just HAD to brag that the car was packing 4 valves a cylinder!! An added bonus of the badge was that it makes people think it's a GTi, and they tend to shy away from putting their foot down for fear of embarrassment. In fact, most people tend to be surprised when I tell them it's only a 1.4!!
To carry on the 16 valve idea, I have placed chrome 16v badges from a Vauxhall Corsa/Tigra/Astra//Vectra on the B-Pillars of the car. They are a nice subtle mod, purposeful but unobtrusive. It was an idea stolen, well borrowed (I'm too nice to steal :o) ), from a car I saw parked in the outside area of Max Power Live 2000 at the Birmingham NEC. There was a nice Vauxhall Nova GSI, with the badges placed on the B-Pillars, chrome agaainst the dark paint. I say dark, 'cause I can't remember whether it was a dark blue or a black car!!
Another minor mod, which looks really good, is the clear side indicators. I waited over a year for them, I first made enquiries about them when I picked the car up, and eventually fitted them in August 2000! They come from ABC Design's extensive line up, and cannot be recommended highly enough, no problems in fitting them. With clear side indicators appearing white against the bodywork, they really fit in well with the red and white colour scheme that I am building up on the car!
Also fitted badgewise, is some 1999 spec Renault Sport badges, taken from the Megane. They were very reasonable, only Ł10 for the pair (The VTS badge was Ł17!), and they break up the lines on the front panels.

So what do I have planned next?