Tag: nissan figaro (Page 1 of 2)

Three Celebrity Nissan Figaros – Down on the Street

January 16, 2024 / banpei / 0 Comments

There is an unusual amount of Nissan Figaros driving in my home country the Netherlands. An even more unusual amount of Nissan Figaros is driving in my hometown. Why is that? That’s because the Nissan Figaro has a Celebrity status in the Netherlands!

Pikes cars: the Figaro

The Nissan Figaro started out as one of the Nissan Pikes cars. It is a retro-inspired car and the last and final of the Be-1, Pao, S-Cargo and Figaro quartet based on the March K10 platform. I know the Rasheen is missing, but I simply discard it for simplicity. With around 30,000 Figaros built, it’s hardly a rare car to come by in Japan. Especially with its retro styling, it will stand out against the crowd.

Japanese Rustoseums: Nissan Rasheen junkyard car

November 27, 2013 / banpei / 1 Comment

After Nissan’s success with the BE-1, the Pao and the Figaro Nissan must have smelled money. So next up for them was retro styling a SUV on top of the Sunny B14 platform and they called it the Nissan Rasheen and sold the car from 1994 to 2000.

For some reason it looks very similar to the Wartburg 353 built in East Germany (DDR) but I don’t think they did that on purpose. I can’t imagine they would do that only that short after the Fall.

Anyway, BANKAKUEMIKO uploaded a video of this marvel at his local junkyard in Japan: Continue reading

Ebay treasures: Mitsuoka’s View on Jaguar

October 1, 2012 / banpei / 2 Comments

Back in the late fifties Jaguar launched the Mark 2 as a medium sized saloon and it was an instant hit! The Mark 2 entry level engine already had an output of 120hp (cars with ten times less horses were still for sale back then!) and its top model, the 3.8 litre XK model, featured an output of 220hp. To put that into contrast: that is about as much as the Lexus IS250 outputs nowadays.

Imagine then the creation of this little lookalike:

Yes from up front it really looks like a Jaguar Mark 2!

But from a different angle… Continue reading

DOTS: bright white Daihatsu Copen

November 6, 2011 / banpei / 0 Comments

Even though the Daihatsu Copen is currently still in the showrooms as a brand new car (available till 31st January 2013) it is actually a very rare sight in the Netherlands. Daihatsu’s mix and match of the VW Beetle and the Nissan Figaro suffers from an image problem that perhaps has something to do with some TV presenter? Or could it be something else?

Only two have been sold in the Netherlands in 2010, but this example is from a far more popular year: 2006 when an astonishing 112 were sold!

I must say that the mini Beetle lookalike looks better from the rear than the front. Continue reading

WTF: love JDM retro styled cars!

September 26, 2011 / banpei / 2 Comments

Do you love Japanese retro styled cars like the Nissan Pao/Figaro or the Subaru Vivio Bistro? Then you will definitely dig this van:

Influenced by the Citroën H van and improved with aircon and powersteering. ;)

Anyone got an idea which kei-van platform this was built on?
Finally found it: it is a Honda Vamos Mooa!

Imported Nissan Figaro in an non-OEM colour

DOTS: Retro imported Nissan Figaro

September 18, 2011 / banpei / 5 Comments

Since the Nissan Figaro (just like the Pao and Be-1) was delivered in Japan only it is very uncommon to see anywhere outside Japan. So I was a bit surprised to see one while I was on my way to the local gardencenter (yes, really I do have a garden!)

I kind of prodded my imaginary passenger to take some pictures while driving behind it, hence the quality is not entirely as it should be…

After a few kilometers I had to say goodbye to it: Continue reading