Nissan Maxima Turns 40, Gets the Birthday Treatment [UPDATED]

Nissan’s Maxima turns 40 this year.

“This year” is a tricky statement, of course, since the year of production isn’t necessarily the same as the model year, but whether you mark it from the beginning of production in 1980 or the first model year in 1981, either way you slice it, the Maxima is hitting the big 4-0.

And Nissan is marking the milestone with a special edition package. Naturally.

The limited-edition package will only be available on top-trim Platinum models, and it will include: two-tone exterior with gray paint and a black roof, 19-inch gloss black aluminum wheels, black exterior finishes and badges, a 40th anniversary badge, black exhaust finishers, red leather seats with 40th anniversary embossing, red interior stitching, dark chrome interior finishes, white gauge faces for the speedometer and tachometer, and heated rear seats.

Otherwise, the car remains powered by the same 300-horsepower, 3.5-liter V6 that mates to a continuously-variable automatic transmission.

Forty candles on the cake. That’s a big number for an automobile model, especially one that now sits in the weird limbo that is the large sedan class. The original four-door sports car marks four decades, but will it make five? The Maxima’s class has shrunk, due in part to the crossover craze.

The future is cloudy and hazy, even for the best-selling models. So that question will be answered in time. For now, the eight-generation car soldiers on.

If you’re a true Nissan buff and you want this car, best hurry. Nissan’s media materials don’t mention a build target, but limited-edition usually does mean just that, despite the old Seinfeld routine of “limited” meaning “limited to how many they can sell.”

Update: We had reached out to Nissan for a production number before publication. They got back to us a bit after the post went live with the planned number: 1,100 units.

Act fast if you feel the need to celebrate four decades of Maxima.

[Image: Nissan]