A beautiful Nissan Pike car

The Yaho Tenmangu Shrine Old Car Festival, organized by Automobile Club Japan on 10 December 2023 in Kunitachi, Tokyo, attracted around 190 famous cars from pre-war cars to supercars. From this event, we would like to introduce the Nissan Figaro, which is in beautiful condition and shows the love of its owner very well.

My first car, bought in 2018, is also used for everyday shopping

An amazingly beautiful Nissan Figaro was near the main shrine of the Taniho Tenmangu Shrine, so I approached the couple who seemed to be the owners, and found that the wife was the owner.

The owner, “Sante”, who bought his first car in 2018, a 1991 Figaro, says he uses this chic and elegant two-door personal coupe for everyday shopping.

“There was a neighbor at home who owned a Figaro and I fell in love at first sight. The fact that it is almost stock is what I am particular about. When I get old and can no longer drive the car, I want to pass it on to someone nice.”

The Figaro, which was launched in 1991 as the fourth in Nissan’s Pike Car series following the Be-1, Pao, and S-Cargo, is also famous as the car that Ukyo Sugishita, a member of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Special Assignment Section, drives as his private car in the popular detective drama ‘Aibo’. The Figaro has gained enthusiastic fans in Japan and abroad, and it is said that there used to be a used car shop in London specializing in Figaros.

When we asked Sante about his most memorable episode with his car, he told us that he had taken British Figaro owners visiting Japan for a ride and showed them around various places, so there was no doubt that the car is indeed very popular overseas (mainly in the UK).

She also added a Nissan Pao and has two Pike cars

As already mentioned, Sante’s Figaro was surprisingly clean, and we asked him why.

“This Figaro has been stored indoors for many years. It was in Hiroshima and I went there for a day trip and bought it on the spot. It was a car full of genuine options.”

The car was equipped with factory-optional drink holders and corner poles, and I wondered if the passenger rack was the same, but this one was made by the husband himself.

By the way, he also got a 1989 Pao in 2020. After all this time, I’d like to see more Be-1s and Escargos, and a full complement of Nissan’s Pike Car series.

translated by DeepL