In December 1988, the C33 Laurel was announced. A month later (January 1989) the C33 went on sale, originally only available as a hardtop four-door. The base engine offering again was a 1.8-litre four, the available options consisted of a 2-litre six (SOHC, DOHC or DOHC Turbo) and a 2.8-litre diesel inline-six. Early in 1991 a DOHC 2.5-litre inline-six coupled to a five-speed automatic became available.
The Nissan Laurel used a rear-wheel drive layout, making it a popular car to modify and for drifting use, particularly Laurels of this generation. The C33 has the same floor plan as the Nissan A31 Cefiro and the four-door Nissan Skyline R32. They have many interchangeable parts which makes them ideal for modification. Suspension parts are identical to the Nissan Silvia S13 model.
Rear HICAS suspension is used, being of the improved HICAS-II configuration.