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The 'Nissan Prairie' was introduced in Japan in 1981 and Europe in 1982 and was the first production multi-purpose vehicle, if the Fiat 600 Multipla of the 1950s is not counted. It was also known as the 'Multi' in Canada and the 'Stanza Wagon' in the United States. The Prairie and the 1983 Mitsubishi Chariot predated current European compact MPVs by some 15 years.
The Prairie was one of the first "crossover" cars, resembling a tall station wagon with sliding doors. It was commonly ordered with five seats, though seven were available. It was the size of one of today's compact SUV.
The concept was inspired by the Lancia Megagamma show car from Giorgetto Giugiaro and ItalDesign, shown in 1979. Italian design arguably also inspired the Nissan March, which is considered by some to be too close to the Fiat Uno in its "tall" concept and execution. Nissan, at the time, was very keen to have "European" styling for its cars.
It was originally launched with a 1.5 L I4 engine and a 1.8 L engine followed later in the car's life, as did a four wheel drive version.
The first generation Prairies, while innovative, had very poor handling, due to the removal of the B-pillar.

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Nissan Multi

Nissan Axxess

Nissan Multi

The 1986 thru 1988 Nissan Multi (Canada) / Stanza Wagon (U.S.A.) was equipped with a 2.0 Litre in-line 4 cylinder engine, with available Manual or Automatic Transmission. Available as a Front wheel drive, or Four wheel drive .The vehicle had rear passenger sliding doors on both sides of the vehicle, and a "fold down" rear seat, designed to increase the carrying capacity of the passenger compartment. The rear tailgate opened "upwards" as one complete unit, in a similar fashion to a hatchback.

Nissan Axxess

The second generation of the Prairie was called the 'Nissan Axxess' when sold in North America. The vehicle sold for six years (1990-1995) in Canada and in the United States for 1990 only.
The Axxess was not the export success that Nissan had expected. As such, Nissan would not market another Minivan until the Nissan Quest in 1993, and the Nissan Serena in Europe. Even then, the first generation of the Quest was manufactured by Ford Motor Company in the United States.
The band named an album ''Axxess and Ace'', a reference to the car.