A press delivery driver revealed a cunning car coverup recently, exposing a famous Nissan to be not quite what it seemed.

Remember the pink Nissan Micra C+Cs? A brace of which Nissan ran between 2005-2006, both to turn heads and worry motoring journos who were given one from the press fleet in equal measure? And also, as you’ll see below, famously featured on Top Gear with Richard Hammond wearing a bag on his head?

Well, here’s something. It turns out they weren’t actually pink.

They were blue.

Yes, the pink colouring was a wrap – technology then still in its infancy and thus relatively unknown – and applied to one of the more popular colours available on the Micra C+C, the launch metallic blue seen in the brochures and press launch shots.

Obvious, innit? Not so at the time though, particularly for those serious motoring journalists stuck behind the wheel of one for a week (unless they looked up close, and spotted the bits not covered by the wrap). Their only solace being that it was all in a good cause…

Lot of good work for charidee, mate

Nissan put four pink Micra C+C them on the press fleet between November 2005 and January 2006. For every motoring journo that booked one out and put 250 miles on the clock, Nissan donated £250 to Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

It was £250 for every 250 miles, too. As my weekly commute, back then, was around 1200 miles, Nissan could’ve been very charitable indeed. Alas, I didn’t manage to get one out.

Rich Tuckwell of topgayer.com did, though – and put on an amazing 1400 miles in just there days.

(Incidentally, the Micra C+C was in its (ahem) purple period back then, which meant Nissan had several more besides the pinks ones on the fleet, too. If journos didn’t manage to bag a pink one, then, Nissan also donated £10 to the charity for each normal one booked out.)

How much was raised? A hefty £8000, the total boosted further by some journos rallying friends and family to make additional donations.

The journo campaign tied with a broader Nissan GB campaign. The pink Micra C+Cs toured the UK to launch the Breakthrough ‘TLC’ campaign (Touch, Look, Check). Nissan visited city centres in the cars to hand out promo leaflets, and also held a competition, Text to Win, with the prize being a pink C+C.

All admirable stuff. But what happened to that car now? And, more importantly, is both it and the four press cars still pink? Or, has the secret of the delivery driver spread..?

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I don’t remember when car launches were for real men. Wish I had been about, though, back in 1983, when Peugeot launched the sacred 205.

A small airfield in the middle of bleakest Morocco, reported Car Magazine from the scene. Throwing it down with rain, it was. Within a Spartan hangar, PSA bosses were telling our man all about the 205.

Before sending him out to, over two days, drive 650 miles of the world’s worst roads. Now that’s a launch drive.

So, what were his surely slightly daunted first impressions? Well, he loved the looks, even if the rear end did look like an Austin Allegro (aye, what, etc).

He reckoned the heating and ventilation were ‘excellent’ (so wasn’t fazed by supermini air con being 15 years away – like I say, hardy souls), and deemed the ‘sufficiently precise’ four-speed gearbox passable.

His favourite model was the 60bhp 1124cc engine finding it the nicest and most well balanced of the lot. He didn’t like the GL trim, mind, finding it austere, and grumbled the GT had overly hard suspension, plus a noisy and relatively uncivilised 1360cc engine. Which wasn’t that fast, anyway.

The balance of typically French soft ride and near-Teutonic firmness of handling and roadholding made him happy. He wasn’t’ wrong there, either – the 205 was exceptional in both regards. The steering was also light and precise, brakes were progressive and the ride, he reinforced, could only be described as tres bon. Pity the soft seats spoiled his 650-mile epic.

Sure, it rolled. It also understeered a fair bit. But, by the end, our man nevertheless seemed to like it, even if he didn’t realise what an icon it in fact was. Maybe he was knackered from his 1000km epic across Moroccan deserts? Makes the 120km I’ve just done in a BMW 760Li seem like small beer…

Mind you, bet he didn’t have my 18-minute deadline for copy at the end, either.

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