OK, so the Prairie is neither Italian nor particularly small. So why does it appeal to me? Read on to find out...

The original Prairie (1982-1989, known as the Stanza Wagon in the US, and as the Multi in Canada) interests me for a number of reasons, not least of which is the fact that it was largely overlooked, or written-off as a mis-proportioned behemoth.

Above all, the Prairie is a practical load-carrier, whose square-cut lines make no concession to the modern obsession with organic forms. In a car of this sort, a straight roof-line, near-vertical hatch-back and low floor offer clear advantages.

More interesting, however, is the design itself. The Prairie was presaged in 1978 by Ital Design's "Megagamma" concept (although in a 1982 interview, Nissan's then Chief of Product Development, Tsuneo Shinjo, maintained that the Prairie had been in development for almost 10 years). Giorgetto Giugiaro (head of Ital Design) saw a future for tall, versatile vehicles, and as such, predicted the trend for multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) which Chrysler and Renault were to capitalise on in the early 'Eighties with their respective Voyager and Espace models. Even the Fiat Uno (also designed by Giugiaro) is widely considered to be a sort of "shrink-to-fit" Megagamma, not least by Giugiaro himself.

The Prairie is one of very few cars to feature a pillarless body design; that is to say, there is no pillar between the front and rear doors. Apart from a number of Lancia models produced between the 1940s and 1960s (Ardea, Aurelia and Appia), I can only think of one other production car with this feature - the three-door Saturn SC2 Coupé launched recently in America. (If you're aware of any others, please let me know!)

There are even a few interesting design elements incorporated into its rather boxy body shape. For instance, the door runners for the sliding rear doors are concealed by the trim panels which run along the base of the rear side windows. On most other MPVs with sliding doors, the runners are all-too-evident as a 'scar' running along the bodywork. Some thought also went into the exterior door handles: for operational reasons, the front handles are mounted horizontally and the rear ones vertically; however, the bezels around the handles are square, thus harmonising the overall effect.

A high-roof version proved popular with disabled drivers, as it could be converted to accommodate a wheelchair, with a ramp providing access via the hatchback. Such conversions were mainly undertaken by a company called Brotherwood.

Later incarnations

The Prairie was redesigned in 1989, and the revised model was sold here until 1992. This later model had a more rounded body style, and had the option of a seven-seater configuration. However, it did not have the original Prairie's pillarless body, presumably to improve body strength and facilitate the fitment of central door locking. It also lost the visual link with the Megagamma.

The Prairie was taken off sale in the UK to make way for the larger (and much-derided) Serena MPV. However, Prairies of one description or another are still available in Japan, with daft names like Prairie Joy and Prairie Liberty.

The original mini-MPV?

The fact that the Prairie is significantly smaller and more car-like than most MPVs is also of interest. When Renault (who have since become Nissan's partner in a strategic alliance) launched the Mégane Scenic in 1997, they claimed that they had invented a new type of car, no less - the mini-MPV. However, Nissan can fairly lay claim to having done this some 14 years previously, along with Mitsubishi, who launched their seven-seater SpaceWagon (or Chariot) shortly afterwards.

In recent years, Fiat has been given credit for inventing the MPV, with its 1956 Multipla, a rear-engined, six-seater version of the Fiat 600.

The current mini-MPV scene

Fiat has now launched a new Multipla, based on the Bravo/Brava platform. Like the original Multipla, it has two rows of three seats and a quirky (not to say downright odd) body style. Nevertheless, it has been warmly received by the motoring press for offering a high degree of practicality while breaking the mini-MPV mould.

Mitsubishi have kept their hand in with a succession of revisions to the SpaceWagon over the years and more recently, the smaller SpaceStar. Toyota launched a "Spacio" version of the Corolla in 1995. Nissan have now launched a Scenic-lookalike, somewhat shorter than the Priairie, called the Tino; this may come to the UK (as the "Almera Tino") in due course. Now just about every other manufacturer is jumping on the mini-MPV bandwagon, with the recently-launched Vauxhall Zafira, and models from Ford, Citroën and Škoda in the pipeline.