Car years are even shorter than dog years, because carmakers change cars so often. But even by canine standards, the N16 Sunny (also known/sold as the Sentra and Bluebird Sylphy elsewhere in the world) was quite old, hitting 11 years on the road.
There was a facelift effected some time before 1999, but we were unsure of the date and the work done because we didn’t know when the aged Sunny would finally bow out. It remained the same honest and straightforward saloon since its introduction here.
The local Sunny catalogue in 1999 described the car as “the sensible choice that thrills the sense.” That read like gibberish, but almost 7000 buyers in Singapore were thrilled enough to get some sunshiny Sunny, and that was just in 1999 alone. So strong was the demand, the unassuming saloon became the best-selling new car in Singapore that year, and it stayed among the top-sellers in the next few years after.
Clearly, Singapore was enamoured with the Sunny’s brand of fuss-free motoring for the masses.
(Click here for our comparison of Nissan Almera, Mitsubishi Attrage and Hyundai Accent.)
(Click here for our comparison of Nissan Elgrand, Honda Odyssey and Toyota Vellfire.)