This would make a cool summer trip.... I would like to also visit the Engine Plant that would be very interesting as well.

Nissan North America, Inc. Tours


Watch the parts become a whole...a whole lot of cars and trucks!
Tour the Nissan North America manufacturing plant in Smyrna where five Nissan brand cars and trucks roll off the lines.

• Maxima
• Altima
• Xterra compact SUV
• Frontier truck
• Pathfinder SUV

The massive $2.1 billion facility covers 5.4 million square feet on 884 acres. More than one-half million vehicles roll off the line every year and you are welcome to watch!
Hours:
Tours are offered Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Visitors view a video about the company and then ride the tram on a guided tour of the plant. No children under the age of ten are allowed on the tour. Cameras, including camera phones, are not allowed in the plant. Advance reservations are required.
Admission:
No admission charged.
Location:
983 Nissan Dr, Smyrna, TN 37167
Directions:
From Murfreesboro and East: Take I-24 West toward Nashville. Exit at #70, Almaville Rd. and turn right toward Smyrna, Drive three miles, Nissan is on the right.

From Nashville and West: Take I-24 West toward Chattanooga, Exit at #70, Almaville Rd. and turn left toward Smyrna. Drive three miles. Nissan is on the right.
For more information and to make reservations, please call (615) 459-1444

 

That would be an amazing trip to go on. To bad i live all the way out in CT

 

That would be a pretty awesome road trip, just 2100 miles further then I would like to drive

 

yeah that would be an awesome road trip!....very interesting!...

 

I'm smelling a Maxima meet in the making....

 

Great place to go if you can swing it. My wife and I made this tour the last week of March a year ago, when the first Maximas were coming off the assembly line. For me, that was more exciting than going to the top of the Empire State Building, touring the Arch in St Louis, or crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. If you drive a Nissan product, you get to park closer to the plant. Non-Nissans are restricted to the far reaches of the parking lot.

The only downer for me was having to check my phone and camera at the door. I had counted on getting some great shots of the new Maxima. I found it interesting that a huge area of the assembly line was totally dark, with nothing but the sparks of lots of automated welding machines glowing theorgh the darkness. The tour guide said simply: 'Robots can see in the dark.'

We stayed in a Sleep Inn just off I-24 in Smyrna for a week. That was a very nice motel. There are so many things to do in the Nashville area - Hermitage, Grand Ole Opry, Operyland, Rymon Auditorium, old southern mansions galore, etc. But having owned nothing but Maximas since Oct '84, and driving a Datsun before that, the Nissan tour was easily my favorite.

When I used to spend time with relatives in Smyrna during the 1950s and 1960s, the town had a tiny business district, and one traffic light. Nissan sure changed all that.

I hope someday to tour the Nissan engine plant in Decherd, which is on U.S #64, about 8 miles off I-24, about 50 miles southeast of Smyrna.

I have to admit I am pleased my Maxima was made in the U.S. by Americans using over 80% American-made parts.

 

And still getting that expceted reliability, plus a 5 -star crash rating all around!(My favorite part)

 

My favorite part as well.

 

Besides traveling to Dechard and Smryna, consider taking a trip to the Lane Auto Museum in Nashville as well. It's a small museum, but when Nissan moved from S. Cal to Nashville, many of the historic Datsun/Nissan vehicles wound up there. When I visited, they had some very early Nissan cars and trucks on display. Downstairs, where they do the restorations, they had a host of racecars, including the all-conquering GTP twin turbo ZX-T, Daytona 24-hour winning 300ZX, Trans Am winning Datsun 510 and much more! Just another attraction that is a 'must see' for Nissan fans everywhere.

 

yall can take a trip there, IM NOT! I had to be there 6 days a week for a year, i walked everywhere in that plant. Cool the first time you go, but when you got to be there everyday the MASSIVE amount of walking gets old. A mile to work, 0.5 to the cafeteria, 0.5 back from the cafeteria, then a mile back to your car. it got old, REAL OLD

 

Thanks dkmura nice to know I think I'll be visiting sometime this summer.

 

dkmura - Thanks for the info! I will definitely be visiting the Lane Auto Museum on my next trip to Nashville.

I had seen ads for that museum, but sort of assumed (incorrectly) that it would either be an array of American cars used for things like outrunning law enforcement while hauling bootleg corn likker back in the 1930s and 1940s (remember the movie 'Thunder Road'?), or another of the endless 'tribute' exhibitions dedicated primarily to NASCAR.

I saw a little Datsun pickup from around 50 years ago in the front lobby at the Nissan plant, and found it fascinating. I would probably need lots of time for my Lane Auto Museum visit. I look forward to doing that.

 

the lane motor museum is mainly older cars from europe. when i went they only had 4 nissans on display

 

tigersharkdude is correct in that they rotate the Nissan display from time-to-time. The Nissan vehicles on display encompass only a small section of the museum. The trick is to call ahead and see if you can get permission to see the other cars housed in the basement. Two years ago they had 12-15 historic Datsuns and Nissans, with some restoration work proceeding.

Those "older cars from europe" were interesting and cool. Be sure to see the Messeserschmidt (sp?) propellor car and video. The museum owner took it for a drive up and down the street!