mining and shipbuilding had all been declining
and the prospect of a major car maker investing
in the area was eagerly welcomed.
Since ceasing military operations in the late
’50s the former RAF Usworth had been operated
by the local authority as Sunderland Airport and
it provided an ideal location. To sweeten the deal,
the UK government allowed Nissan to acquire
the land at agricultural value – at the time just
£1800 per acre.
The groundbreaking ceremony took place in
1984 and by November the excavators had started
work. Contractor McAlpine didn’t waste time and
by December 1985 Nissan was able to take
possession of the completed factory building. The
process of fi nally fi tting it out could then begin, with
the production equipment itself installed by Nissan.
This included 20 robots in the body shop but by
today’s standards it was a pretty basic operation:
parts were shipped from Japan in wooden crates
for the early cars, which were assembled by just
470 workers – a fi gure which has now grown to
7000 and some 700 robots.
The plant, by then known as Nissan
Washington, produced its fi rst car, ‘Job 1’ in July
1986 in the shape of a white Bluebird which was
put on display at the Sunderland Museum and
Winter Gardens where it still remains. The formal
opening was carried out on September 8, 1986
by Margaret Thatcher.
Production was rapidly ramped up and by the
spring of 1987 the site was producing 29,000
Bluebirds a year. At this point the plant was
satisfying local demand to the point where imports
of the Bluebird from Japan could be ceased.
Signifi cant amounts of componentry were still
being supplied from Japan though, so the following
year saw the development enter its second phase
with the establishment of the plastic trim and
engine manufacturing operations.
This would be completed in May 1990, just
in time for the Bluebird to be replaced by the
Primera which could take advantage of the newly
extended plant to become a wholly British-
produced vehicle.
This allowed the Nissan plant to gain formal
recognition as a British manufacturer from the
SMMT and the same year it turned its fi rst profi t.
The summer of 1992 saw Nissan’s UK
operation hit its stride when the production of
the second-generation ‘K11’ Micra was allocated
to the plant. The Sunderland operation was the
sole factory outside Japan to produce the Micra
and both Micras and Primeras from the UK were
exported to mainland Europe and beyond.
By 1989 the plant was employing more than
4000 and was turning out almost 183,000 vehicles
which were exported to 36 world markets. By
the end of the decade the plant had produced
its millionth car and had been named the most
productive in Europe within the Nissan empire.
Part of the reason for this has been attributed
to Nissan’s controversial insistence from the
start that the operation be a single-union
operation. An agreement was reached with the
Amalgamated Engineering Union and the result
Ground work for the Washington assembly plant offi cally got underway on the former airfi eld in 1984.
The fi rst Nissan Bluebird rolled off the brand new assembly line at Nissan Washington in July 1986.
Prime Minister Margarat Thatcher was instrumental in persuading Nissan to base its new plant in the UK.
38 Classic Car Mart Spring 2016