I started this morning with a message from a friend, Miles Wenzel, asking if I had seen the JDM Nissan President that SODO-Moto has yet. My immediate reaction was “No. Fuck I need to hit up Adam to shoot it!” A few messages to Adam Chovanak, owner of SODO-Moto, and I was on the way to Seattle with camera gear in hand and picked up Johnny C Kwan along the way because carpool.
I used to want a third-generation Nissan President a decade ago, which the US kind of got as the first-generation Infiniti Q45, albeit more … presidential looking. It never dawned on me that there were many generations before that, as the President was essentially Nissan’s competitor to the Toyota Century.
What Is a Nissan President?
The Nissan President series was developed as a vehicle bid for the Japanese Imperial Household Agency and was the official vehicle for Prime Minister Eisaku Sato. This second-generation Nissan President debuted in 1973 and ran until 1990.
These are extremely rare vehicles that were lavishly appointed for the wealthiest persons. The Y44E fuel-injected, push-rod 4.0-liter V8 made 197hp with 253 lb-ft of torque. It was paired with a 3-speed automatic transmission.
This was not a cheap car to register in Japan. The annual taxes for it in 1973 cost ¥54,000 ($345 USD) at a time when the average salary for a recent university grad was ¥57,000 ($364 USD). Taking inflation into account, that’s ¥152K ($971 USD) in 2024 dollars. That is more than most cars in Seattle area with RTA taxes!
This 1987 Nissan President
This particular 1987 model was produced near the end of its run. It had some niceties that earlier models didn’t have. This includes the rectangle headlights (early models had round), updated interior, and suspension upgrades. Specific to the Sovereign VIP trim is an adjustable air-sprung rear seat and supposedly other features that I couldn’t find through quick Google-fu.
It isn’t completely original, unfortunately. The factory radio was swapped out for an aftermarket unit, a LCD rear view mirror was attached, and a backup camera was added as well. The stock rear cassette deck no longer works, likely because it relies on the factory radio. However, the factory Nissan-branded earphones for the back seat are still in box and have never been used. They’re OEM’ed by Clarion.
Nevertheless, it’s a super neat car and there are a total of 8 window switches for the driver. Each of the main windows roll down, but the front and rear doors each have a powered vent window. There’s even an ashtray and cigarette lighter in each rear door, too. Like other ultra-luxury vehicles, the passenger-side front seat has a fold-down so you can stretch out while sitting in the adjustable heated backseat.
The ride is extremely smooth and floats like a Cadillac. It’s a car meant to be chauffeured around by a driver, which Adam Chovanak gladly demonstrated.
Thanks for showing us the car and letting me take pics Adam! This Nissan President is available for sale for $16,500. This is a bargain compared to the supposed $50k USD MSRP it carried back in the day. That equates to about $138K USD in 2025 dollars.
All photos by tuanies. Looking for more photos? Check out tuanies’ Facebook post.