Today I’ll feature the Impul March and Impul March Classic variants of the Nissan March K11. As I mentioned in the previous post about the March-athon, I would step away from the factory variants like the Tango, Rumba, Bolero and Polka and move on to another variant. As the title suggests, we’re moving towards a company called Impul.
But before we dive into Impul and the March, I’ve asked ChatGPT if it could make a joke about the Impul March as well:
Why did the Impul March challenge the Nissan March White Limited to a race?
Because it wanted to see if its “impulsive” modifications could outpace the pure, pristine white beauty – but it quickly realized that even with all its upgrades, it couldn’t “march” past that classic elegance!
It’s scary it remembers that I asked it to make a joke about the Nissan March White Limited well over a month ago. At the same time it’s amazing how capable ChatGPT is in understanding what a Impul March is and how to incorporate this into a joke.
Hoshino Impul Co. Ltd.
For those less familiar with the Impul brand. Hoshino Impul Co. Ltd. was founded by racing driver Kazuyoshi Hoshino in 1980 and is often shortened to Impul. Hoshino was a famous Nissan works driver and he decided to hop on the aftermarket parts bandwagon.
The first product by Impul was the Hoshino Impul D-01 wheel that was featured on his Silvia S12 race car. This wheel became an instant hit and has been one of the Japanese most iconic wheels ever since.
Impul 630R
Impul moved on from aftermarket parts manufacturing and started building a racing team to promote their parts. In 1987 Impul offered “its” first car, the Impul 630R. The 630 is basically a tuned Nissan Gloria/Cedric Y30 and was sold through the Nissan dealer network. According to a magazine article from 1987, the 6 in 630R refers to the V6 engine in the car and the R stands for Glorious Replica. I can understand the Glorious pun, but Replica? Replica of what? But I digress…let’s move on to the subject of today…
The Impul Marches
Tokyo Auto Salon 1993
At the Tokyo Auto Salon of 1993, Impul announced both the Impul March K11 and its sister model called the Impul March Classic. Allegedly, the Impul March K11 won the Grand Prix in the 1993 Auto Salon Dress Up category. As the Impul March Classic had the tag line Neo-Retro Sport, it could have easily won the Grand Prix in the 1993 Auto Salon longest car names category.
Impul March K11
In July 1993, Impul released the Impul March K11. Impul replaced the bumpers, wheels, brakes, springs, rollbars, shocks, fenders, exhaust, cams, ECU and many more parts. That’s a lot of parts, maybe even more than half the car that got replaced. Impul also developed and produced most of their aftermarket parts themselves. For instance the unique Impul RS wheels were only available for the March. Therefore branding it an Impul only would have made sense.
It’s clear that the Impul March K11 is more than just some areo. This is a car that can be proud of its Impul name. It’s a car that can compete on the circuit. The Impul is better than an Autech!
According to the brochure, the Impul March would set you back 1,760,000 yen, which is adjusted for inflation just shy of 2,000,000 yen (about 13,000 dollars). This may sound like a hefty price compared to the 873,000 yen price for the most basic March, but you basically would buy a racing-prepped Nissan March K11. Also, the highest grade March already costs 1,453,000 yen. In that sense, it sounds like a pretty good deal to me!
Impul March Classic Neo-Retro Sport
The name Impul March Classic Neo-Retro Sport has way too many marketing terms in it. Nowadays we would call this car clickbait as it features the words Classic, Neo, Retro and Sport. But who cares? As long as it sells!
The Impul March Classic Neo-Retro Sport was basically a retro-inspired car based on the Nissan March K11. Instead of the regular Impul March, it would feature a set of retro-inspired bumpers and some Fiat 500-like tail lights.
The triangular front grill that splits the bumper in half seems to be inspired by the 1954 Alfa Romeo 1900 Super Sprint. With its design, it’s a car that would polarize the buying public: you love it or you hate it.
The Classic Neo-Retro Sport would be offered in two variants: Stage 1 and Stage 2. Stage 1 would only include the front bumper, grill, rear bumper, and bumper over-riders and set you back 1,198,000 yen (1,300,000 yen adjusted / 8,700 dollars). Stage 2 would, in addition, include a set of fog lamps, 8 spoke wheels, aluminium shift knob and a set of sporty pedals and set you back 1,348,000 yen (1,500,000 yen adjusted / 10,000 dollars). Optionally you could dress the car up with some same performance parts as the regular Impul March K11.
Now the idea of a retro-inspired car wasn’t new. Especially not on the March platform. And since there was demand, Impul must have thought they could hop on the retro car bandwagon and fill the gap of the lack of a performance variant. Even in the Tokyo Auto Salon brochure, it mentions this. Compared to the Tango, Bolero, Rumba and Polka, the Classic Neo-Retro Sport absolutely looks like a pocket rocket from the late-1950s/early-1960s. Like what would happen if an Alfa Romeo 1900 were fused with the Fiat 500. The biggest question would be whether the buying public actually would be interested in buying one.
Conclusion
There is no proof Impul actually built the Classic Neo-Retro Sport, except for that hideous Tokyo Auto Salon prototype. I have not been able to find a single one of them, while I was able to find dozens of the Impul March K11. Either only a handful were produced or nobody actually bothered to buy a retro-inspired car from a tuning house.
It’s not impossible to find an Impul March K11 for sale. The price however is a different story. However, these cars have an asking price, even when adjusted for inflation, that exceeds the original price.
Except for the Alfa Romeo 1900 Super Sprint, Impul 630R brochure and the Impul March for sale on Goo-net, all images are taken from the Impul 1993 Tokyo Auto Salon leaflets and brochures
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