Nissan Celebrate 35 Years In Sunderland With A Modified Electric Bluebird

Nissan decided to celebrate 35 years of being in Sunderland with a modified 1980s Bluebird. The Bluebird was the first car off the new production line in 1986 and has been retrofitted with the drivetrain of the latest vehicle, the LEAF.

The Newbird is a one off project powered by the 100% electric drivetrain of what is essentially the replacement product for the plant.

Connecting 35 years of manufacturing at Sunderland it marries the old and new, without changing the exterior of the Bluebird, with the exception of some bold graphics. Nissan has been positioning itself to move to electrification for Ambition 2030 and produces rather a lot of LEAF models.

Alan Johnson, Vice President, Manufacturing, at Nissan Sunderland Plant, said; “The ‘Newbird’ represents all that is great about our plant – past present and future – as we celebrate 35 years of manufacturing in Sunderland.

“We have a rich heritage of building great cars, right from the original Bluebird model, and our fantastic team is now leading the way as we drive towards an exciting electrified, carbon neutral, future.”

Andrew Humberstone, Managing Director, Nissan Motor GB Ltd., added; “There’s a huge pride in our dealer network that so many of the cars we sell have started life right here in the UK. Nissan’s Sunderland plant has produced ‘home-grown heroes’ for millions of UK customers with models like the Juke, Qashqai and LEAF amongst the country’s best-sellers. This ‘Newbird’ project is a wonderful tribute to the enduring presence of high quality manufacturing that Nissan has enjoyed in the UK for more than three decades.”

The Nissan Bluebird - Newbird

Whilst it might not look like it, the Bluebird was extensively modified to take the drivetrain of the LEAF. The original petrol combustion engine and gearbox were removed and a LEAF motor, inverter and 40 kWh battery pack installed. The battery modules were split between the engine bay and boot to optimise weight distribution.

As the powertrain no longer included the ability to power drive belts at idle, the power steering was converted to an electric unit and the brake servo and water pumps were converted too.

Due to the increased weight the suspension needed to be replaced with a custom set of springs and dampers.

The original fuel flap is retained, providing access to the charging port which has a maximum charge rate of 6.6 kW. The original instrument panel remains and has been connected to the EV system which now allows the fuel gauge to show the amount of charge left in the battery.

One new feature is the bonnet badge, which has an LED backlight for when the car is stationary.

Being a one off the Newbird hasn’t been homologated and the range has been estimated at around 130 miles. Of course, subject to environmental factors and driving style. Performance is somewhat leisurely, without being the performance version you might expect with such a conversion, but suitable enough. 0 – 62 mph takes just under 15 seconds.

The overall conversion was managed by Kinghorn Electric Vehicles, a family business based in Durham, North East England, and only 15 miles from the Sunderland plant. Kinghorn specialise in EV conversions of classic cars using used Nissan LEAF motors, inverters and batteries.

The exterior is the result of Nissan Design Europe, who are based in London. They were inspired by 1980s consumer tech and the resulting graphics are very much of the period. Nice and garish.

George Kinghorn said; “Given our location so close to the Sunderland plant, working on this Bluebird conversion was a great project to be part of. When Nissan opened the Sunderland factory it gave the North East a big economic boost. The Bluebird was first off the line, so it represents the start of that optimism, progress and global industrial footprint that’s continued to this day.”

George continued; “Electric vehicles are not just the future, they’re the now! Converting older vehicles to electric gives you everyday use of these iconic vintage models, but they’re just as enjoyable to drive, they’re more reliable and importantly don’t produce harmful emissions when driving. With this project we think we’ve created a car that captures the soul of the Nissan Bluebird, with the heart of a Nissan LEAF.”

Nissan In Sunderland

Nissan officially opened the plant in 1986 and has operated ever since. The total output is now over 10.5 million cars, the total staff has grown from just 430 at the start to 6,000 today. 19 of the staff started in 1986 when the Bluebird launched and are still working there today building the LEAF.

The first car, named Bluebird 1, is in the care of a local museum commemorating the significance of that first production vehicle.

The total production of Bluebirds on Sunderland was 187,178 from 1986 to 1990. When production hit the peak, one Bluebird took over 22 hours to build. Now, with all the manufacturing technology and improvements, it takes less than 10 hours to build a LEAF. Over 200,000 of those have been manufactured to date.

With the end of internal combustion engine vehicles, Nissan have dedicated the plant to making the new fully electric vehicles for the Ambition 2030 targets.

Maybe they’ll make some more electric Bluebirds, if they’ve still got the tooling. It might make for interesting transport, but I think I’d want a bigger boot.