were also typical. The Prairie design was strongly inspired by the Lancia Megagamma concept by Giorgetto Giugiaro and ItalDesign, shown in 1979, and offered Japanese buyers a spacious, flexible passenger/cargo arrangement that complied with Japanese Government dimension regulations and used small displacement engines that offered Japanese buyers options with regards to annual road tax obligations. The first generation Prairies were innovative vehicles - featuring no B-pillar between the front and rear doors (instead the interlocking front and sliding rear doors locked onto both the floor and roof of the vehicle); front seatbelts mounted on the doors (excluding the US versions) that facilitated a totally unimpeded side entrance; front seats that could be slid all the way to the front of the passenger compartment and fully reclined; rear seats that could not only be folded away conventionally, but could also be reclined fully to make a double bed (in combination with the front seats); rear window winders that folded into themselves (to prevent catching when the doors were slid open); tailgate that opened past the floor of the very low and flat luggage compartment (the center section of the rear bumper was mounted on the tailgate); optional front-facing third row of seats. This type of entry was later introduced on the Toyota Isis, but only on the passenger side. It was originally launched in Japan with a 1.5- or 1.8-litre Inline-four engine mated to a five-speed gearbox. Another notable addition to the Japanese market's models was an optional column shifted manual. A four-wheel drive version followed later in the car's life. An extensive accessories and options list was available in the Japanese Domestic Market, including a kit that effectively turned the vehicle into a campervan. In January 1985 a facelifted version was introduced, with slightly modified engines. These later cars received a new grille treatment and an entirely redesigned rear end: the bumper was now mounted separately to provide more stability after earlier versions had come under criticism for being much too flexible. This redesign also included taller, flush-fit rear side windows. In September 1985 the 4WD model finally appeared, using a larger 2-litre engine and the rear axle from the Nissan Sunny 4WD (B12). A 4WD model had been planned from the beginning, but the original bodyshell's lack of rigidity made Nissan rethink the concept. The vehicle was launched as the Datsun Prairie in Europe and was rebranded to Nissan