The Nissan Figaro was the first REAL retro car in the world.
After all, long before the Mini, Beetle, Fiat 500 and PT Cruiser-like models came onto the market, Nissan was way ahead of the rest in 1991!
The Figaro was presented at the 1989 Tokyo Motor Show with the slogan 'Back to the Future'.The reactions at the fair were so overwhelming that Nissan decided to build a small series of 8,000 copies.
The order books for this were full in no time and that made Nissan decide to produce another 12,000.These were sold to those who had purchased a winning ticket in a lottery organized by Nissan.
They were built exclusively for the Japanese market and are therefore all right-hand drive.It's funny for us that in Japan people think in kilometers and not in miles, so it has a normal European speedometer and odometer!
With a design from the fifties, Nissan wanted to show that all modern technologies could ALSO be crammed into a small city car....
With unique options for that time, such as air conditioning, an automatic transmission, turbo engine, electronic multipoint injection, 3-way controlled catalytic converter, power steering, leather interior, electric windows, radio-CD player, electric belt tensioners and a third brake light, it was way ahead of its time. .
Just think about the car you drove in 1991, did it have all the above accessories? Bet not!
Here are a few photos of the Pike Factory where the Figaro in its limited series was largely built by hand.
We used to have 3 pictures of the production of a Figaro on this place, but the maker of those pictures does not allow us to use those anymore, allthough the pictures can be found online EVERYWHERE and we did post his name with the pictures…
how sad can someone become…l
Before that time, modern welding robots that welded the large parts together, but details were welded and applied by hand.
The final production numbers per color are as follows:
Lapis Gray (7K0) – 8,156
Emerald Green (6K8) – 5,632
Pale Aqua (6K9) – 3,989
Topaz Mist (7K1) – 2,279
In addition, 17 were delivered in a custom color, bringing the total production number to 20073.
Production numbers per month:
1991 February – 1,622
1991 March – 2,037
1991 April – 1,905
1991 May – 1,940
1991 June – 1,940
1991 July – 2,211
1991 August – 1,599
1991 September – 2,030
1991 October – 2,079
1991 November – 2,142 + 3
1991 December – 568 + 3
Total 20,073