You may have forgotten that the Nissan Cube ever even existed, although the two-tone paint and color-keyed wheels on today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe candidate will bring the memory back in flash. Let’s see if this car’s whimsical style has a price to match.
Even in non-running condition, yesterday’s 1979 Mazda RX-7 was an intriguing proposition. At $1,500, 80 percent of you felt it was an outright steal too. That earned the car a nice price win even though its tiny twin-rotor Wankel engine had long ago lost its race. Many of you averred that it would be better to say sayonara to that much-maligned Mazda mill and go with something *cough* LT1 *cough* that would not just bring the car back to life but would make it dead reliable too.
That’s the great thing about life—you have the free will to make such choices. Of course, some philosophers call this into question, arguing that determinism—the theory that each and every action has a traceable cause—is what really rules our lives.
To that, I say poppycock. Seriously, what possible root cause could there have been for people to almost universally forget that the Nissan Cube was ever a thing? It’s an especially incredulous concept when you see this 2009 Cube in its highly extroverted two-tone paint and extended body kit. I mean, come on.
The first Cube was introduced by Nissan in 1998 as a rather mundane-looking tall wagon, based off of the March minicar platform. The second generation, introduced in 2002, was much more expressive in its design, establishing the Cube couture. Again based on the March, the second Cube (Cube squared?) featured an asymmetrical design that wrapped one side’s windows around the rear-hatch hatch and tucked the tail lamps into the tiny bumper.
The third generation arrived in 2008 and was designed to meet the requirements of the U.S. and European markets. That meant a bigger size overall and a rear gate that opens to the left rather than the right for those LHD markets.
This generation was built on a jointly-developed Nissan/Renault platform that was shared with cars like the Nissan Note and Renault Twingo. Power comes from a 122 horsepower 1.8-litre MR18DE four and in this car’s case, that’s paired with a CVT automatic that then lets the front wheels do the talking.
Now, many of you stopped reading at CVT. The rest of you who are still with us likely have never experienced one of Nissan’s CVT transmissions. The simple fact is that they’re not all that good. Nissan acknowledged this fact and extended the warranty on the no-gear box to 10-years or 120,000 miles a few years back.
This Cube has just half those miles—62,000 to be exact—but is now old enough that you’re going to be on your own when it comes to dealing with any flaky CVT issues. It’s a good thing then that the car’s seller describes it as being in “Mechanically in 100% perfect condition.”
Aesthetically, it’s got it going on too. The two-tone metallic silver and cherry paint stands out and extends to the geometrically-styled alloy wheels. The bodywork looks to be straight with only some scraping in the front bumper extension as a notable flaw. Tinted sun visors on all four side windows allow for breeze-free ventilation if that’s your thing, and add to the custom aesthetic. Aside from the bumper crack and the weird rear window wiper condom-thing it’s wearing it all seems a very tidy package.
The interior seems likewise well-kept although the aftermarket sunroof seems to be losing its trim and does spoil one of the Cube’s neatest features—the dome light-centered ripple effect headliner—which is interrupted by the big roof hole.
This is a fairly modern car and so you get some modernities to go with your driving. Those include push to start, a Rockford Fosgate stereo system and reverse sensors. There’s also a tilt wheel, power windows and locks, and cruise control so you won’t feel like you’re driving something poverty spec. The seller notes in the ad that the car comes with an accident-free history and a clean title so you could take it on with a clear conscience.
To do that, however, you’re going to need to come up with some cash. Or maybe a check. A money order might suffice as well. Regardless of the method, you’re going to have to pony up some moolah. To that end, the asking price here is $4,990. For that, you get a car that looks crazy different from pretty much anything else on the road, is probably reasonably efficient at doing the things that it does, and is not likely to eat your wallet unless that CVT takes a dump, which they sometimes do.
What do you think, would you dump $4,990 for this fun appearing Cube as it’s described in its ad? Or, does that price make you feel like forgetting the Cube all over again?
You decide!
Chicago, IL Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to William D. for the hookup!
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