Amazing 1992 Nissan Figaro Show Car

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Nissan launched a quartet of ultra-stylish, mostly retro-inspired vehicles that used the contemporary Micra as their base. They were the 1960s-evoking Pao, the fashionably BE-1, quirky S-Cargo van, and open-roof Figaro – arguably the coolest of the bunch. Now, the team at Pacific Coast Auto have gotten ahold of one of the wildest modified Figaros imaginable and have started the process of exporting it to the United States.

The original owner ditched this 1992 Figaro's standard retro aesthetic and transformed it into an award-winning show car. The exterior is now metallic orange with Porsche-inspired Figaro designations along the lower portion of the doors. There's now a vented hood and road-scraping front fascia. The shaved door handles create a sleek look, too. The tiny bolt-on fender flares are kind of cute.

The builders didn't do anything to the Figaro's coolest design features – the roof. In profile, it looks like this vehicle should be a convertible. However, the pillars are fixed, and there's a sliding canvas center panel with a plastic rear window.

Inside, there are Recaro sport seats with thick bolsters and multi-colored center sections. A massive stereo now dominates the cabin, but there's isn't currently a head unit for listening to any music.

Where the stock Figaro has a 1.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with 76 horsepower, this one packs a tuned 1.3-liter with individual throttle bodies and tubular exhaust headers. A little oil cooler sits in the front bumper. Rather than the standard three-speed automatic, this one has a five-speed manual. The suspension is manually adjustable in front, and air bags make lifting the tail even easier.

We hope the new owner in the United States gets a lot of enjoyment out of this amazing little car. It needs a little work like smaller, more usable wheels, but this thing would be a hit at any show this summer.