Nissan Has Restomodded A 23-Year-Old Mid-Engined Micra Concept

Nissan is in need of a bit of good news right now, and if anything’s going to bring it, it’s a renewed spotlight on an insane mid-engined Micra concept car it built 23 years ago.

The Micra 350SR was built by Nissan’s UK division back in 2002 to get a few more eyes on the then-new, extra-bubbly K12 version of the long-running supermini. Since then, it’s been hanging around on Nissan’s UK heritage fleet, occasionally popping up at events or being loaned out to journalists to give them something to write about on quiet news days.

Now, though, to celebrate its 23rd birthday, Nissan has given the 350SR a new lease of life. 23 years might seem like a random anniversary to celebrate, but the Japanese word for ‘two’ is ‘ni’, and ‘three’ is ‘san’. ‘Ni-San’ – geddit?

Anyway, said birthday celebrations involved ‘restomodding’ the car. Yep, even one-off concept cars are being restomodded now, it seems. That means it’s received a new livery, a liquid silver base with blue graphics apparently inspired by the tail lights from the Z32 300ZX. That replaces the extremely early noughties red and silver Nissan racing colours it originally wore.

New LED daytime running lights and a full refurb for the 350Z-sourced RAYS alloys complete the exterior tweaks. On the inside, there are new bucket seats and harnesses, and a 9-inch infotainment screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality.

Thankfully, this isn’t one of those restomods that does away with a lusty petrol engine in favour of electric motors. It still retains the original powerplant, Nissan’s 3.5-litre VQ35 V6, sitting behind the seats.

For the 350SR, that engine was actually sourced from a Murano (remember those?) but augmented with the headers from a 350Z, an induction kit and high-lift cams from Nismo, and a reflashed ECU, all of which took power to around 296bhp. Kerbweight, meanwhile, hovers around the 1200kg mark.

It looks like Nissan’s planning on keeping the refreshed 350SR around for a while, so expect to see it pop up at more events in the future. In the meantime, Nissan, if you’re reading – mind if we have a go?