The Rare Rides series has explored once before what happens when a Japanese manufacturer designs a modern car with retro appeal, when we covered the little-known Toyota Origin. Today we take a look at something else in the new-but-retro category. It’s a Nissan Pao, from 1990.
In the late 1980s, Nissan planned a special project for four new cars. All the cars would be small and visually interesting, with unique designs that packed as much style as possible onto a small platform. The platform chosen to underpin these new cars was from Nissan’s successful March (aka Micra). All four cars were produced at a plant in Oppama, Japan known as the Pike Factory, which donated its name to the series of “Pike cars.” Other cars produced by the Pike Factory included the Figaro you’ve probably heard of before, and the less well-known Be-1 and S-Cargo.
The Pao was introduced in 1987 at the Tokyo Motor Show. The public immediately became fans of the design, and in 1989 the Pao went on sale in earnest. Keen to have the Pao seen as a standalone car, the company ensured it didn’t wear typical Nissan badges, nor was the Nissan name used in any advertising.
Similarly secretive, the Pao was purchased via reservation only, and never set a tire on a dealer lot. The reservation period was just short of three months in length, and the full run of 51,657 Paos sold out. Deliveries occurred between 1989 and 1991, so some customers awaited their Pao for quite some time.
The hatchback was bold and retro in its design, and took cues from various European cars of the 1960s. Unlike most cars its size, the Pao’s rear hatch utilized a two-piece clamshell setup. Under hood was the 1.0-liter Micra engine. Mated to a three-speed automatic or five-speed manual, a total of 51 horsepower was routed through the front wheels.
Interior design on the Pao took the car’s retro theme very seriously. Every switch, lever, and dial look like they’re from the Sixties, and everything’s about as minimal as possible. The color pallet keeps things cool — no modern 1980s colors here.
The Pao and its Pike siblings are starting to show up in the United States these days, as they’re all old enough to qualify under 25-year importation rules. This light green example in Virginia has the automatic transmission, and with 66,000 miles on the odometer asks $9,990.
[Images: seller]
51 Hp with an automatic? Ooh, 0-60 in three days
Does the quarter mile in a fortnight.
“My car gets forty rods to the hogshead, and that’s the way I likes it!” – Grandpa Simpson
One of these (in the same color) appeared on the show “JDM Legends”. It was owned by a woman who was a friend of the shop, and just needed a minor tuneup and carb adjustment to awaken its full 51 screaming horsepower (the 51 horsepower number was mentioned a couple of times).
Now you need to find a Figaro, and an S-Cargo.
Here is an s-cargo due in sometime in December. http://sodo-moto.com/listings/1990-nissan-scargo/
I like it.
Figaros are easy:
http://www.duncanimports.com/shop-the-nissan-figaro.htm
Someone used to street-park a Figaro near my company’s London office. Pretty neat cars in person, IMO, and apparently very livable and reliable because of the Micra DNA.
Don’t forget the forgotten member of the Pike family, the Be-1!
My wife would go nuts for that car.
I remember when these cars were new. While I appreciate the nostalgia value and the simplicity of these cars, I also thought these were the best-built copies of Comecon cars (think UAZ or Yugo) you could buy.
I almost want to become a mail carrier so I’d have a legitimate excuse to buy a quirky RHD JDM like this. 51 hp would be plenty. The S-Cargo would be a better fit, though.
See the link in my reply above. $6k and it gives you an excuse to visit Seattle.
Meh, I’ll probably come up next summer. My buddy is doing real good, he got a job at Boeing and he and his girlfriend just got them a nice apartment, and he wants me to visit and finally meet her.
I’ll probably find me something eclectic and old to take back with me. Maybe an old 1970s Honda.
I recognize Gary Duncan’s warehouse bay door there. I work about a quarter mile away.
This is a collection well worth seeing. There are about 800 interesting, bizarre, and just generally fascinating cars under roof here in southwestern Virginia, and a bunch more outside. Pretty much everything is for sale. He specializes in low-mile collector cars, low-mile USDM Japanese and German imports, and all sorts of JDM weirdness. Entire fleets of Centurys, Presidents, microvans, and an appreciable percentage of all of the Nissan Figaros ever built.
800? I’d love to see that
You and me both. I’d be like a 10 year old kid at an animal shelter: “I just want to take them all home! I’d take such good care, and we’d play everyday!”
I promise I will!!! Please!
With its utilitarian looks and paint color , it looks like it could have oome out of the book 1984 or the movie Brazil. Really cool little car.
Did this car originally come with a radio? I can’t tell if what’s there replaced an OEM unit of some kind of whether the whole under-dash assembly is an aftermarket add-on.
Looks as if a rather nice OEM unit has gone missing:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jtVe9c4lpIg/U9wDWALoklI/AAAAAAAAASs/NeqB4I-s1bI/s1600/pao+tape+deck.jpg