The nice thing about Nissan's alliance with Renault is that they've gained access to all the cheap vehicles developed for the Dacia brand. Already, we've seen how they turned the Duster into the Terrano for markets such as India and Russia. But we've found another carryover that's even more interesting, this time coming from South Africa.
This is the Nissan NP200. Based purely on its name, you'd think that it's a member of the NV200 family of LCVs, but it's not. It's actually a Dacia Logan Pick-Up, which the Romania car brand launched all the way back in 2007.
Back in 2012, Renault ditched the Logan Pick-Up like a pair of old socks because there simply wasn't enough demand. In its place, a version of the Dokker van is offered in some markets, but the South Africans still have it on sale to this.
A slightly more rugged and posh version called the MP200 "Loaded". Two engines are available, the 1.6 with 8 valves and another one with more power and 16 valves. Both are connected to the 5-speed cog swapper. Ventilated disks are installed at the front and drums at the back. Base models don't come with air conditioning, but you can have it as an option, along with ABS, electric windows and a CD player.
The Dacia Logan has made it to many different markets under the Nissan brand. In South Africa, only the pick-up version was manufactured, at the Nissan factory in Rosslyn since 2009.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News