Nissan's Serena was a seven-seater MPV dressed in a modern and very car-like body. Its commercial vehicle look was camouflaged by the deep windows, a very car-like cabin and driving position.
The Serena came with a Pulsar-based, 96kW/172Nm, 2.0-litre twin-cam 16-valve four-cylinder engine. It was available in many models: LX, GX 16V, SLX, SGX, and Excursion. It had a fair amount of equipment; dual air-conditioning, an auto-sliding side door, alloy wheels and a sunroof. The base models had power steering, central locking, power windows, electric mirrors and limited slip differential.
The second sliding door is a useful feature, particularly if you're unloading children or passengers. The rearmost seats are easily accessed through the middle row. The interiors are quite comfortable. In fact, legroom for all rear passengers is very good. A variety of seating, bedding and luggage solutions are possible in the vehicle.
Handling is well controlled with the Serena. The engine is positioned under the front seats instead of the bonnet, giving the Serena better all-round balance. The narrow design provides a real advantage in congested cities. The clutch, gearbox and steering are all as light as you could want. The brakes are powerful, with anti-lock on the SLX and Excursion models.
The Serena takes up a minimum of space in the garage, and costs a lot less to run than most of its rivals. It is definitely good value for money. However, it just could not match Toyota’s revolutionary 1990s Tarago. As a result, its production was discontinued in 1995.
