Ellen and Daphne about their retro roadster
The Japanese car culture is one to enjoy. The good Corollas, Qashqais, 626s and Civics that we know in the Netherlands are just the tip of a huge iceberg. The icing on that cake – or the flag on that ice cream – are the retro cars that have been a trend in Japan for a few years. Often the Nissan Micra served as a basis, sometimes not, but they are always very cute. Kawaii, they call it there. The best known is the Nissan Figaro, which you sometimes see driving in the Netherlands. We spoke to two ladies who absolutely love it.
You can say a lot about the Japanese, but they are by no means boring. The bustling cities, the rich culture, the hunger for the most modern technology and the most extreme gadgets, the sometimes completely absurd game shows on TV, the almost religious devotion to Formula 1: all of this often exceeds our European imagination, but boring? Not that. Except for the cars, because Japanese car design was the superlative of that for years.
The Japanese car manufacturers themselves also saw that things could be done differently and better. Technically, no one could criticize their products, but the discerning European car buyer of the 1980s expected more than a rock-solid angular box. Nissan took note and presented the Be-1 at the 1985 Tokyo Motor Show. A hip and – with today’s knowledge – timeless car, with all kinds of nods to, for example, the Fiat 127 and the Renault 5. That wink, that was pleasing. Fast-forward a few years, and Nissan brought the Figaro to the world. A roadster based on the Nissan Micra. When the Figaro immediately gained cult status, the entire Japanese car industry went wild: retro became a thing. We gathered a group of Japanese retro rascals from the nineties and noughties and got to know them a little better, with the help of their owners.
Nissan Figaro is spiritual satisfaction
Speaking of winks, the Nissan Figaro hands out a very fat one. That wink was intended for the Fairlady roadsters from a distant past in which Nissan was still called Datsun, but the Ford Thunderbird also feels addressed, just like the Austin Healey and some other English stuff. Nissan itself spoke of a unique design that should convey a sense of “spiritual satisfaction” and exude a “light-hearted elegance”. The Figaro, according to Nissan, was supposed to help satisfy its lucky owner’s “ardent desire for fun.” So this is not for everyone. All the more so because Nissan only built 20,000 Figaros.
The Figaro may be based on the oh-so-average Nissan Micra, it had to be and remain exclusive. Although the Figaro only had to cost the equivalent of about 23,000 guilders – a whopping €11,000 – it was not a question of paying and driving away. None of that: because demand was high, Nissan organized a real lottery to distribute its Figaros to the people who wanted them so much. The chosen ones who managed to get their hands on one got a car that differed little under the skin from the Nissan Micra K10, which we had already come to know as an oh-so-average wallflower. However, the Figaro received a turbo, which made it just a bit livelier than a Micra. But a sports car? No, that’s not the Figaro.
Driving a Figaro is about the wind in your hair and the sunlight in the beautiful white retro interior. By the way, the exterior was only available in four colors, which referred to the seasons. You could choose from the autumnal Topaz Mist, the chilly and wintry Lapis Grey, Emerald Green that is reminiscent of the budding spring and the azure blue Pale Aqua that would not look out of place on the Mediterranean coast. The Nissan Figaro was only sold in Japan, but over time a mass of copies found its way to England, and also the Netherlands. There are even some companies in our country that specialize in the small Nissan. They know: this is the classic of the future. Perhaps that future has already begun.
Figaro owner: Daphne Kuiper (23)
The red Figaro, that’s Daphne’s. It’s her first car, and she’s already certain it’s the most fun she’ll own in her life. Daphne, an avid Instagram user, saw a picture of a nice little car on her favorite social medium one fine day. “I asked my friend Tieme, who knows a lot about cars, what that was,” says Daphne. So a Figaro, and Daphne immediately started following all Instagram accounts about her new favorite.
Marktplaats became her new best friend. “I was madly in love,” she says, “I just had to have one.” Daphne got what she wanted: in Friesland she found her dream car, with a private individual, and that for ‘very cheap’. It was wrapped red and the roof had to be replaced, but other than that there was no problem. The Figaro came whistling through the next MOT. Then the great enjoyment could begin, says Daphne. “I love how vintage it is. Usually a car that looks like this doesn’t have air-conditioning and stuff, but this one has it all. And yes, the steering wheel is on the right, but you can drive away with it in no time. Only sometimes I turn on the windshield wipers when I want to indicate direction. I don’t have to drive much, but if I have the chance, I will. It is especially enjoyable when the sun is shining. And he’s pretty fast too. Also nice is that everyone is watching and hardly anyone knows what kind of car this is. Recently I was standing at the traffic light next to another oldtimer. The driver was so staring at my car that he forgot the light turned green. In the car field, this Figaro is the love of my life. I already know for sure that I will keep him until the end.”
Owner Ellen van der Smissen (73) bought Figaro with her daughter
“It’s a little lady,” says Ellen van der Smissen about her spring-green Nissan Figaro. “The Figaro is really a feminine car, I don’t think many men buy one.” Ellen did, together with her daughter Annemarie, who also found the Nissan an absolute treat.
Ellen saw a Figaro for the first time when she walked the evening four days with her daughter and grandson. “I was drawn to it,” says Ellen. “I took a picture and went searching on the internet in the evening. My daughter and I immediately fell in love with it.” Annemarie was looking for another car at that time. She thought of a Fiat 500, but decided to go for a Figaro. Together with her mother. “We lived close to each other at the time,” says Ellen. “We didn’t know how to get such a car, but after a short search we found a trader who could fulfill our Figaro dream wish. That’s how we bought the spring-green Figaro we wanted.”
Together Annemarie and Ellen had a lot of fun with the Nissan. So much so that Ellen decided to take over Annemarie’s Nissan when she moved and moved a lot further away. “The best thing about this little car? Those are the encounters. With people who don’t know him and who like him, or with other Figaro drivers. If you see another Figaro, wave to each other, just like bikers do. Picking up my grandson from school was always a party. Whatever you do, and whatever happens, sitting in a Figaro with a grumpy face is just not possible.” It didn’t even work when Ellen’s friend de Figaro recently parked – softly – against a tree. The damage was repaired, although a decorative strip had to be specially made to measure.
Even maintenance was never a problem. “But”, says Ellen, “this is a real fair-weather car. He doesn’t go outside in the winter, and that becomes a problem. Soon I will move to a house where I no longer have a garage. So maybe now is the time to say goodbye. I just don’t know if I can do it yet.”
.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl