The Designers
We have to thank two very special designers who were responsible for the car
Shoji Takahashi
Shoji also designed the Nissan Pao which like the Figaro had a low volume production run of just 10,000. Also like the Figaro, the Nissan Pao was an instant hit. Nissan had to run a lottery to decide who the lucky buyers of the cars would be. It was manufactured between 1989 and 1991.
The Japanese are very good at spotting classic design signatures and incorporating them into their own modern cars.The Figaro is a combination of classic cars like the 60’s Mini, the Renault 4, the Citroen 2CV and the Austin A40.
Naoki Sakai
Naoki is a designer whose revolutionary ideas have made him an industry powerhouse. After designing Nissan’s Be-1, the vehicle that in the late 1980s started the round-and-cute car boom, Sakai came up with concepts for three more popular cars from Nissan — the Pao, Figaro and Rasheen — as well as the SW-1 motorbike for Suzuki and the model for Toyota’s Will concept car.
Naoki helped develop Olympus’ O-Product, the camera that made the aluminium body a world standard and mobile phones
Read more about Naoki Sakai – Click here
Related posts:
Concept & Design Brief
1991 – Figaro Lottery Application Process and Example Of A Winning Ticket
1991 – How the Figaro was born
1988 – A look at the original clay Nissan Figaro model
2018 – Nissan Figaro Designer Naoki Sakai Interview
1991 – Nissan Figaro Official Press Release 14th February
Production Numbers & Model Codes
FIGARO – Retro, rare and reliable
