History
Part of Nissan's "Pike" series, it was designed as a retro fashionable city car in the mold of the Be-1. It included external door hinges like the original 1960s Austin Mini which had become fashionable in Japan, 'flap-up' windows like those of a Citroën 2CV, and a split rear tailgate of the first hatchback car the Austin A40 Farina Countryman. The Be-1, Pao, Figaro, and S-Cargo were attempts to create cars with designs as desirable as those of Panasonic, Sony, and other personal electronics products.
The engine was the March/Micra's 1.0 L (987 cc) MA10S, coupled with a three-speed automatic transmission or a five-speed manual transmission, the manual being the more sought after. The engine produced 52 PS (38 kW; 51 hp) at 6,000 rpm and 7.6 kg·m (75 N·m; 55 lb·ft) at 3,600 rpm.
The chassis included rack and pinion steering, independent suspension with struts in front and 4-links and coil springs in back. Brakes were discs up front and drums in the rear. It has a clamshell hatch in back, meaning the glass section swings up and the bottom portion opens down to create a tailgate. The compact Pao requires just 4.4 m (14.4 ft) to turn and delivers up to 51 mpg (5.5 L/100 km) in the city and 79 mpg (3.4 L/100 km) at a steady 60 km/h (37 mph). The tires were of 155/SR12 format.
The designs of the Pike cars (excepting the Figaro) are usually credited to Naoki Sakai, who also worked for Olympus, where he brought back "the brushed aluminium look". Sakai also helped design Toyota's later WiLL cars, which echo the Pike series.
Read more about this topic: Nissan Pao
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“To a surprising extent the war-lords in shining armour, the apostles of the martial virtues, tend not to die fighting when the time comes. History is full of ignominious getaways by the great and famous.”
—George Orwell (1903–1950)
“Anything in history or nature that can be described as changing steadily can be seen as heading toward catastrophe.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)
“... that there is no other way,
That the history of creation proceeds according to
Stringent laws, and that things
Do get done in this way, but never the things
We set out to accomplish and wanted so desperately
To see come into being.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)