What is it About the Nissan Cube?
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I get to spend my time in a wide range of vehicles, but I’ve never been in one quite like the Nissan Cube. Make no mistake about it, the Cube produces polarizing feedback. With the Cube still new to American streets, the range of emotions exhibited by passers-by runs the gamut, from one extreme to the other.
While my 2009 Nissan Cube review sticks to the usual game plan, there were some interesting social observations over the week long test drive. The Cube is not a car that you can drive anonymously. Folks often had remarkably strong reactions to the little vehicle’s unconventional and asymmetric design … from squeals of delight to looks of repulsion.
We test in the real world and roll up the miles over a prescribed course, as well as in daily errands. The funniest comment was at a retirement community.
I pulled up to a parking space near the entryway and as I got out of the Cube, one of the retirees asked (from her rocking chair on the front porch), “excuse me sir, is that an electric car?”
“It sure looks like it should be, doesn’t it?” I replied with a grin.
Although the Cube looks like it should be an electric car, it isn’t … not just yet. Nissan has shown an electric variant (the Denki Cube) and with the upcoming release of the Nissan Leaf EV, an electric Cube might not be all that far behind.
4 Comments
daverave
August 27th, 2009
at 8:48am
What I find most interesting about driving cars like the Cube is this: Why do other people care so much about what people other than themselves drive? these critics should worry about their own car, not somebody else’s car.
I drive an ancient, beater Toyota, and my neighbors are continually harassing me about upgrading to a more upscale, more modern car, or at least fixing the dents, getting it painted, etc. But I don’t care that much about what my car looks like as long as it gets me to where I need to be; yet other people DO care about what MY car is and what it looks like. Why?
leftystrat
September 1st, 2009
at 4:24pm
I think they need to work on a new ad slogan:
Ugly cars for ugly people.
If that fails,
Ugly cars for attractive people.
Jeremy Newton
September 15th, 2009
at 7:08pm
@daverave.. They are probably more worried about your beater driving their property value into the ground than about what you are driving. Don’t take it so personal :D
Scott
November 3rd, 2009
at 3:47pm
There is something to be said for truly ugly vehicles, I used to drive a 74 suburban 350,000 plus miles when I got rid of it .it was rust and pearlmoss green (chevy speak for putrid )driving it on the freeway was like parting the red sea. I aimed where I wanted to go and traffic parted. The one wreck I had A vw bug tailended me at 40 miles an hour didnt even wake my son in the car seat up totaled the bug didnt even paint transfer on the chevy