Nissan Stagea

Nissan Stagea: the Skyline you can put a dog in

The Stagea is Nissan's answer to a question nobody was really asking at the time: what if the Skyline came as a wagon? Built from 1996, it took the Skyline's straight-six engines and its ATTESA all-wheel-drive hardware, then wrapped them in a practical estate body. For years it was the quiet achiever of the import scene. Now people have worked out what it actually is, and prices have woken up.

The 260RS Autech Version: the GT-R wagon

This is the unicorn. Autech, Nissan's in-house tuning arm, took the four-wheel-drive C34 (the WGNC34 shell) and dropped in the RB26DETT from the R33 GT-R, backed by the same ATTESA E-TS AWD and a five-speed manual. No automatic was ever offered. Officially it made 206 kW (280 PS), the same gentleman's-agreement figure as every other RB26 of the era, and like the rest it usually made a fair bit more than the sticker claimed. Roughly 1,734 were built between late 1997 and early 2001, so finding a clean one is a genuine event. If you want a GT-R that can also do the weekly shop, this is the only factory-blessed way to get there.

The regular C34 (1996 to 2001)

Most Stageas you will meet are the ordinary ones, and they make lovely daily drivers. The entry engine is the 2.0-litre RB20DE, which is fine but a touch gutless in a car this size. The sweet spot is the RB25: the naturally aspirated RB25DE for something relaxed, or the single-turbo RB25DET when you want proper shove. That turbo motor is the same broad family as the R33 and R34 GTS-t, so parts are everywhere and a set of injectors with a bigger exhaust wakes it right up. A 1998 "NEO" update sharpened the RB25 heads and lifted outputs. Rear-drive cars wear the WGC34 code, all-wheel-drive cars get WGNC34. For a wet-road daily I would take the AWD every time.

The M35 (2001 to 2007): the V6 chapter

The second-gen M35 moved onto Nissan's FM platform, shared with the V35 Skyline sedan, and swapped the beloved straight-sixes for VQ V6 power. You get the 2.5 VQ25DD, the turbo VQ25DET, a 3.0 VQ30DD, or the 3.5 VQ35DE. The turbo grade to hunt down is the 250t RS Four, with ATTESA AWD and around 280 PS. It is quieter and more modern than the C34, and it rides better, though every M35 is an automatic, so the die-hards tend to sniff at it. Nissan built roughly 58,000 of them, which makes them cheaper and easier to find than a good C34.

Whichever you chase, buy on history, not colour. The turbo RB25 cars want their oil changes done and their cooling kept honest. The VQ autos live or die on transmission fluid that has actually been serviced. And on any of them, check the tailgate seam and rear arches, because rust is what quietly kills these wagons. Get one up on a hoist before you hand over a cent.