Of the more recent car designs in the last 20 or so years, there are only a handful or so that have been produced that stick out in my mind from their primary exterior styling. I am referring to commonly accessible vehicles in production including the ever-increasing in size North American trucks, minivans, retro-themed muscle cars, and SUVs. It’s a short list that comes to my mind; the PT Cruiser, The Prius, The 2002-05 Thunderbird, and of course the Nissan Cube.
The 2009-2014 Z12 Nissan cube is a funky design that I appreciate. It’s one of the few cars that I can think of that has some asymmetrical bits on the tailgate. The boxy design also ties into its model name with a witty poke of fun at the design.
This example takes the play on the model name even further with a Rubik’s cube wrap on the front end.
I am not sure if this is a running example or not. By the leafy evidence, it has been sitting around under a tree. It’s a witty take on the model name yet again from the owner of this Cube. It made me chuckle, and I hope it makes you smile too!
The first and second generation of the cube (the Z10, and Z11) were not sold in the US market, but this third generation is a very close example of a JDM kei car sold stateside for a few years. Of course, kei cars are truly JDM, and this is a close relative.
Related CC reading:
CC Capsule: Cube Squared, and Squares Cubed – A Look At The Near-Forgotten Nissan Cube
This is undeniably cool, though I’m not seeing a Rubik’s Cube so much as a dance floor from a 1975 discotheque. But given the car’s name is “Cube”, it does seem likely that Ernő Rubik’s addictive little puzzle provided the inspiration.
Oddly enough one of those other asymmetric tailgates is the Nissan Xterra which sort of copies the Landrover Discovery.
Ahh Good point. I should have paid more attention to those!
Very clever – definitely made me chuckle.
Just last week I saw a Cube sitting up on blocks in front of a rural house – it struck me as odd from a few perspectives. For one, it’s not the kind of car I envision sitting up on blocks in front of someone’s house. But for other, the car looked neglected (i.e., not just that someone was replacing the tires), which surprised me, since I’d assumed these Cubes were still fairly sought-after. But seeing this one in an unused state as well makes me wonder if that’s really the case.
The CVT in these frequently takes them out before their time.
Eric, I wonder if this, and the one you saw, were a victim of CVT failure?
I hadn’t thought of that, but it makes sense. I guess I’m still stuck way back in the early 2000s when transmissions were considered durable goods.
I only thought of it because I was stranded in a friend’s small Nissan when the CVT died.
The Cube is WAY WAY WAY too big to be even considered related to kei class cars. Its based on the Versa chassis.
And they are pieces of junk from what Ive read. Or at least the ones with Nissan’s CVT, which is like 90% of them in the usa(other trans option was a manual) Most of them have been junked in my neck of the woods due to the CVT going out. I kinda wonder if Nissan specced the same cvt from the much lighter Versa, thus the high failure rate
And I live 10 miles from the Smyrna Nissan factory, so they were EVERYWHERE until about the last 3 or 4 years or so. See a lot more Elements and Kia Souls around now days.
Still though the rubix cube wrap is pretty trick. And I do think its an interesting piece of design, the funky asymetrical rear being my favorite. Also they are pretty comfy/roomy, a much nicer car than a Versa or Sentra. Shame the mechanical bits are typical shoddy Nissan
I took a freind to look at Cubes to replace her very unreliable Toyota Funcargo we managed to find one with a regular automatic and did test drive the CVT version it was horrible the auto she preferred and offer 1k less than asking price the vendor took it gratefully.
I like this. The Rubik’s wrap is like a literal interpretation of this Nissan’s model name.
Vaguely, reminded me of the Partridge Family bus. As the abstract pattern, still looks fresh today.
One of my favorite economy car designs of the last 30 years.
I would be driving one right now if only it came with a manual transmission. If I recall correctly the CVT was universally decried in reviews. I drive past one parked a block away from me and just love it.
Here’s an interesting shot in a fantastic two tone orange to yellow fade.
I loved the Cube which was briefly sold in the UK. But in a car supermarket when I pointed one out as ‘our next family car’ the reaction was to say the least negative. My kids refused pointblank to even go near it. What would their friends say?
Surprised to hear of the Nissan CVT problems. I ran a CVT Nissan Micra as a daily commute car for 150k miles and gave it to someone who I believe notched up another 10k before she gave it to someone. Never an issue, but the Sunderland Micra’s were bulletproof.
I never Knew that these suffered from a common CVT Issue.. next time I see and Idle Cube around, I will have to wonder to myself if it is a perfect candidate for that 5 speed swap.