
Nissan Figaro – Retro-inspired convertible from Japan [video] - CaliforniaKarl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE2dKZ492TA
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ogre_codes
I just wish some of the electric car makers got this memo. A small electric 2
seater convertible that looked like this would be hot. Ok, I would buy it
anyhow. Also one of those mini cargo vans.

~~~
temporaryvector
While not exactly a convertible, the Honda e sounds right up your alley.

It's probably the only electric car I'm looking forward to anymore.

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ogre_codes
Yes, very close.

> The Honda e made its debut in Europe this week, but this scrappy little city
> car is not destined to come to the United States.

Typical. :| Why can't we have nice things here in the US? We're supposed to be
the greatest country in the world, but we make it extremely impractical to
import rad things like this.

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jerrysievert
I absolutely love convertibles, and don't understand how I missed this when it
was new (perhaps because I don't live in Japan? but still).

a couple of things stand out to me:

1) that's a huge amount of space used for storage of the top - a vertical
storage with a little more folding would likely have made better use of the
space

2) I would love to see something like this in an electric, but doubt I ever
will - something of this era and features could likely never pass modern
safety requirements (yeah, I know about the nobe 100, but it's not exactly a
car)

regardless, it's nice to see so much attention to detail that seems to be lost
these days with modern cars.

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russellbeattie
I would love to see a fad in California of small, lightweight, convertible
electric cars. I'd love an electric 1957 Porsche Speedster style car to zip
around town in. No luxuries needed - just enough to meet regulations. Take a
$14,000 Chevy Spark, cut off the roof, swap the engine for an electric motor
and I'd be happy as can be, even with only 100 miles range.

~~~
spike021
It's not that easy, though. Safety regulations are completely different now
compared to 1957, using your Porsche example. Bumper and ride heights, crumple
zones, etc. All these factors would make it very difficult to just recreate
vintage vehicles while still being street-legal.

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jerrysievert
I think they were talking about _converting_ a 1957 corvette. personally, I
think that the closest you'll get will either be a Miata conversion or a z3
conversion. realistically, there's not enough room to convert either of those
to be more than a novelty at the moment

as for something new, I still hold out hope that Mazda will go electric and
come up with a nice new electric Miata, but I'm not holding my breath.

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serf
the Figaro was part of a trend in Japan to bring back style aesthetics from
the 50s and 60s for cars.

See also :

the Nissan Pao, Nissan Be-1, Nissan S-Cargo, Daihatsu Midget, Honda Vamos,
Suzuki Lapin, Suzuki Twin, and Subaru Sumbar.

Most of them are kei cars -- cars with trendy or risky aesthetics in Japan are
usually kei cars because they're cheaper to develop and represent less of a
financial risk for taking such an aesthetic gamble. If the aesthetics work
out, they often incorporate those elements into more expensive lineups.

AFAIK the Honda Element was developed this way -- from characteristics that
were known popular elements from Hondas' kei-car lineups.

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soneca
That guy is entertaining! I loved the video, even though I don't care about
cars at all, never had one, never wanted one, only learned to drive by family
pressure.

That trunk seems unusable, and all for making it a convertible that I don't
think it even feels that much as a convertible with those large bars staying
in place.

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9nGQluzmnq3M
If you like wacky retro cars like this, check out Mitsuoka Motors, which
specializes in them:

[https://www.mitsuoka-motor.com/global/lineup/](https://www.mitsuoka-
motor.com/global/lineup/)

~~~
xvolter
Some of the models look cool, but this website is unchanged since 2014/2015\.
Not sure they’re active.

~~~
lmz
News page has news from late 2018: [https://www.mitsuoka-
motor.com/globalnews/](https://www.mitsuoka-motor.com/globalnews/)

~~~
npunt
That Rock Star car looks fantastic, like a modernized C2 (63-67) corvette

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bichiliad
This video is so good! I truly couldn't care less about cars (I live in New
York and ride a bicycle) but this video had me hooked.

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51Cards
I've been watching Aging Wheels videos for awhile now and it's nice to see him
gaining popularity. I find him refreshingly "unpolished" and just fun to
watch.

~~~
progre
One of my favourite channels. When he did semi-dayly uploads from his
schoolbus coversion he was mostly unscripted but he still had that low-key
understated humor going.

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dragonshed
This car was featured in an episode[1] of Seinfeld's Comedians in Cars Getting
Coffee, with guest Melissa Villaseñor.

[1] [https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-1991-nissan-
figaro-...](https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-1991-nissan-figaro-
driven-by-jerry-seinfeld-in-comedians-in-cars-getting-coffee)

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asadhaider
I just learnt about this car just earlier today actually from one of my
favourite YouTubers, Samcrac, where he bought a used one from Japan [0] and
there's a few followup videos of him repairing it.

[0]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6frb7zrp_o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6frb7zrp_o)

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taveras
Related: This car was driven for Melissa Villaseñor's episode of Comedians in
Cars Getting Coffee.

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDg4cDMw_E4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDg4cDMw_E4)

[2] [https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-1991-nissan-
figaro-...](https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-1991-nissan-figaro-
driven-by-jerry-seinfeld-in-comedians-in-cars-getting-coffee)

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dirktheman
The YouTube channel of this Figaro's owner, Technology Connections, is my
absolute favorite channel! Super interesting stuff about how things like
toasters or VCR actually works, a great series about the format wars, all with
super high production value and a lot of snarky sarcasm. Be sure to watch it
with the subtitles on for some extra snark.

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fortran77
I do like plastic panels on cars. I had a Saturn with them and the doors
remained ding-free for years. Is it a challenge driving a right-hand-drive car
in the United States?

It looks beautiful, but I've soured on Nissan after they bullied Uzi Nissan:
[https://nissan.com/](https://nissan.com/)

~~~
NaOH
I have a family member with an imported Japanese right-hand-drive car. I've
driven it briefly, though not long enough to get accustomed to the
differences. From what I've been told, the key lingering differences are the
blind spots and the inconvenience of things like paying at parking garages or
toll booths if there's no one in the passenger seat.

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Tiktaalik
The biggest danger with these sort of kei cars from Japan is getting into a
collision with the increasingly massive new pick up trucks that are on the
road.

It's wild to me to see photos of these new pick ups with children in front of
them that aren't even close to being taller than the hood or visible to the
driver at all.

Regulators need to step in imo.

~~~
toast0
> Regulators need to step in imo.

Regulators did step in. The Federal MPG standard (CAFE) was reformulated in
2007 so that the targets are based on the footprint of the car (wheel track *
wheel base). As a result, small trucks either got bigger or disappeared from
the market.

Have a look at the current standards; I don't see how you're going to make a
small truck that does the things people want their truck to do and fits in the
mileage requirements.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_average_fuel_economy...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_average_fuel_economy#Agreed_standards_by_model_year,_2012%E2%80%932025)

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jacquesm
There is a guy that collects them, he has 100's of them.

I drove a Daihatsu Copen for a while (another small Kei class car), the Figaro
is a bit more practical, both are super fun cars, if a bit on the small side.

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29athrowaway
Safety features in vintage cars might not be as good as their modern
counterparts.

They are also not designed to absorb impact so they may wreck the cars they
collide with.

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FreakyT
I'd love to see retro styles make a comeback for other industrial designs too.

Wouldn't it be cool to have a transparent iMac-style laptop with modern
internals?

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dharmab
It wouldn't look the same. The largest component of a modern laptop are the
batteries- look up a Macbook Air teardown.

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Doctor_Fegg
There were hundreds of these around London 10 years ago. Lovely little car
(but then I say that as someone who was brought up on 2CVs...).

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RBerenguel
There are still "plenty", or at least, they are distinctive enough you'll spot
them easily. Most of the ones I've seen are (obviously?) around the Hampstead
Heath area, with a few around the Oxford Circus area.

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ehnto
You might also be interested in the Suzuki Cappuccino. Not quite as retro
inspired, but same format.

