Serena and me. My (almost) recycled Nissan Serena camper van

Back in the nineties, the guys at Top Gear reckoned the Nissan Serena was the worst car ever made. So when a scrap dealer friend of mine was sending a 1995 model to the crusher, I rescued it to see what the fuss was about. I converted it into a camper. Now I can get out into the bush and follow my hobby of photographing wildflowers. I'm based in Central Victoria, Australia so that seems like a good place to start. I hope you enjoy the ride.
Music by Cobbers
The Ballad of Ben Hall (intro: St Patrick's Day). Trad. arr. Cobbers
Stir the wallaby stew (intro) Trad. arr. Cobbers
Foxhunter's Jig from Strip the Willow/Stringybark and Greenhide. Trad. arr Cobbers
Bushland Dreaming. Composer: J.J. Armstrong
Cobbers catalogue is handled by Green South Records.

[@cedricm7350]

Great to see this car, my parents had one when I was a little man. We travelled trough Europe with that thing. They still had it when i was a real man and I learned driving with it. I loved it, it drove (and sounded) like a tank, sluggish as hell. But so reliable. Have fun with your Serena, I understand!

[@valentinanagy4008]

I love this! I grew up with a serena and sadly, my mum had it trashed last year. Now I got into campervans and I want to honor our old bus by getting a relative and turning that one into my perfect first campervan. The flowers are so beautiful and interesting, it was surreal to see those kangaroos just hopping across, I am from Germany. Great video, great camper, I hope you are living well :)

[@nomaneme]

Cool van! I was thinking of getting a petrol 4wd version and ran into your video. Thanks!

[@2ES_]

i totally appreciate and love your video, your images and music. i was searchin for some Serena video as i am almost captivated to buy a 4wd model i found....still not 100% decided .... love from ITaly

[@malkusguitarmusic1267]

Its inspiring to watch your vid about this not so popular van, the serena c23. I bought one last 2020 and unti now im still working in its restoration.

[@FromMetayou]

I'm just finishing my conversion to a basic camper

[@user-xs6wd7er5h]

Very good nessan

[@00833827]

great job!

[@stevehapp]

very good video, :)

[@ognjenradulovic5533]

Hi. Was a great pleasure to see this video. What was tyre dimension on your great van?

[@FromMetayou]

I've just acquired an old ldv cub basicly a rebadged Nissan vannette same as Serena bloody hell they are noisy and lumpy but reliable

[@riactiva-escolawindsurfeki1943]

Great video, thanks so much for the upload and detaisl.....it makes me wonder why we love these cars :D .....hang loose mate

[@masonholder69]

I had one of these and it was great to drive but my sister crashed it and her friend (passenger seat) broke her nose and got whiplash and my sister broke her kneecap

[@FromMetayou]

Is it still running and doing well ,

[@serenaandme6712]

Unfortunately she isn't. The damage to the motor was too much so at the moment, she's sitting out in the paddock waiting for me to decide what to do with her. One idea is to perhaps rebuild her as electric if I can find a powerful enough motor and the money to put it all together. Another thought was to lift the entire body off and set it onto a four wheel drive base. I had so many great times over the years with Serena, I don't want to simply scrap her now but I also have too many other projects on the go so time will tell, I suppose.

[@mikeh.473]

hey ! cool , you did very well ! nice job , Look i need help. i also have a Nissan Serena (( C23W - 1998 ccm - 2000´ )) and i CANT find anywhere the Roofbox Holder ? thoose Mounts holding the Box.... i asked few mechanics and car shops .... no one can help me. i found this video and saw you have them on. can you tell me which ones they are ? PLEASE ! :-) Thanks a lot for helping ! & keep driving !! Cheers Mike

[@MinaaLovesHim]

Hi Mike, ich glaube du bist auch Deutscher, oder? Wir haben unseren originalen Dachträger auf eBay Kleinanzeigen gefunden (das war bestimmt der einzige der jemals dort angeboten worden ist 😂), ansonsten habe ich grade aber bei eBay auch noch einen gesehen :) Der Träger wird auf jeden Fall zwischen Schiebetür und Regenrinne eingehakt.. da gibt es bestimmt auch so Universaldinger, vielleicht einfach mal ausprobieren :) Viel Glück! LG

[@mikeh.473]

@@MinaaLovesHim Hey cool danke ! Kannst du mir vielleicht dennoch das model sagen ? modelnummer oder irgendeine bezeichnung name etc. ? danke !

[@serenaandme6712]

Hi Mike There are no bars listed for the Serena but you can adapt the ones that exist. I'll show how it fitted in the next video I do, but basically the front bar is bolted above the door so I had to cut a groove in the door rubber. It still stays waterproof though. The rear bar is bolted into the grooves on the roof. All the bolts are locked with superglue. I did a couple of thousand kilometers of highway driving as well as a lot of dirt roads and it is still as solid as a rock.

[@mikeh.473]

@@serenaandme6712 cool thanks!!! Cant wait to see the Video... i ve ordered now something and I wait for it ... Let's see .. more fun with serena ;-)

[@jessenieters3921]

@@MinaaLovesHim Hey ist es moglich in kontakt zu kommen? Ich brauch namelich info uber wie man die dachtrager zum wagen verbindet. Liebe grusse.

[@speedlanka407]

Or good .