For motorists of a certain age, ‘SR’ is as potent a badge as ‘GTI’. You want some examples? Manta SR, Astra SR, Nova SR…
Ah yes, the Vauxhall Nova 1.3 SR. Its blistered wheel arches, rear spoiler, grey chequered sports seats and pinstriped bumpers won it plenty of admirers when it was on sale during the 1980s. The engine made 69bhp, but in a car weighing just 675kg, that was enough for 0-60mph in a shade over 10sec.
We’re talking about it now because around 15 years later, in 2005, Nissan revived the SR moniker for the Micra 160SR, on sale from 2005 to 2008. In fact, midway through the car’s life, the company renamed it the Sport SR, which kind of overegged things a bit, before, in 2007,…