The Nissan Pao
The Nissan Pao is the ultimate quirky car. Developed by Nissan at their Pike factory in the late 80’s this vehicle is the ultimate in retro styling and is a bold design statement the like of which is rarely seen in the automotive industry.
The release of the Nissan Pao in Japan was a riotous success and all available cars (there were only 10,000 planned) were soon taken. In the end the lucky few who actually got to buy the car were chosen by lottery. The very low production run helped the Nissan Pao to become and stay a cult car. People wishing to buy a Nissan Pao are often thwarted by the obvious lack of decent models anywhere, even in their home of Japan.
Similar cars were produced by the Pike factory (and by similar I mean only that they were as individual as one another) and the Figaro is perhaps the most widely recognised symbol of this era.
The Nissan Pao specification - despite its retro looks - was erring on the site of comfortable: the car boasted a modern radio, air conditioning, and even power steering. The Pao came in both manual and automatic transmission models.
The beauty of this particular model of car is not in its individual looks, nor in the ease with which it manages to fuse modern convenience and reliability with retro looks and fashion appeal; the beauty is in the designers’ willingness to break from the norm and to try something truly different. Whatever you want to say about the Nissan Pao - and many will say rather unkind things! - she is a car that oozes character. Whether or not you view the car as a success, the automotive industry needs more independent thinking like this. Long live the Nissan Pao.
