The term southpaw can be traced back to the 1880s when Chicago Daily News sports reporter Finley Peter Dunne coined the term when covering the then-named Chicago White Stockings games. Dunne was known for giving colorful play-by-play and when a left-handed pitcher came on the field, he described him as a southpaw..
First Generation (1993-1997) The name Altima originally referred to a trim line of the Nissan Laurel mid-size car sold in Central America and the Caribbean before 1992. In 1993, Nissan discontinued the Stanza line, replacing it with the U.S.-made Altima. The very first Altima rolled off the assembly line in Smyrna, Tenn., in June 1992, as a 1993 model. All Altimas were built in Smyrna until June 2004, when Nissan's Canton, Miss., plant began producing additional Altimas to meet high demand.
A new coupe body style--slightly smaller in size and lighter in weight, with unique styling inside and out--joins the Nissan Altima line for 2008.