Operas can be lusty, busty affairs, with intrigue, skullduggery, sloth, singing and wine. Our topic here goes in a rather different artistic direction than what you might expect to see on the stage or screen. But it is about Figaro, indeed. However, this Figaro is a mover and a shaker of a different ilk, and of a different period in time. Even though it looks to be out of time, or out of this time, it was – and is – timely and and absolutely adored, world-wide. And this Figaro is not from the concert halls of Italy, it hails from the clever and playful artists at Nissan. If you’ve not seen this before, then behold Figaro! We’ll explain later why.
The Nissan Figaro is a two-door car manufactured by Nissan in 1991 for the Japanese market. Based on the original Nissan March/Micra, the Figaro is a fixed-profile convertible with a 2+2 seating arrangement. It shares the March’s front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout. When new it was sold only through Nissan Cherry Stores.
Immediately loveable, the car became a smash hit in the 1990’s when it was easy to import them from Asia. Our understanding was that cars from Japan in the United States who were looking for a unique and reliable vehicle considered importing a used car from Japan under the 25 years old rule. This rule allows vehicles manufactured outside of the United States to be imported if they are over 25 years old. (To add some context to this, when your editor was living in the UK, we purchased a Mitsubishi Shogun under that very same scheme and saved a tremendous amount of money that way. The Shogun stayed as part of he family for almost 20 years: the Figaro could possibly do the same.)
What’s great is that you can still buy them now. We’re in Canada now and were in the UK, so buying them is simple. But, you can import them into other non-UK-realm companies. You can find a vendor here, if you’re interested. The Figaro uses a 1.0-liter (987 cc) turbocharged engine generating 76 PS (56 kW; 75 hp) and 78 lb⋅ft (106 N⋅m) of torque through a three-speed automatic transmission. Being a Nissan, they’re reliable and the parts can be readily sourced. Neat, clean, fun and unique. We’ve driven one and they’re like a slot car on rails.
A total of 20,073 Figaros were produced by Nissan in the convertible’s single year of series production—all with right hand drive; at least several thousands have been grey imported to Britain and Ireland. There are a few examples of left hand drive conversions for those countries that have right hand traffic. And, again, you can still find them in Canada. See here. Global rentals can be found here and here And click here to take a virtual test-drive. Just like the real thing.
Looking for something else that’s unique and a piece of history? Click here for Classic car hire.