HN Theater @HNTheaterMonth

⬐ jerrysievert

I absolutely love convertibles, and don't understand how I missed this when it was new (perhaps because I don't live in Japan? but still).

a couple of things stand out to me:

1) that's a huge amount of space used for storage of the top - a vertical storage with a little more folding would likely have made better use of the space

2) I would love to see something like this in an electric, but doubt I ever will - something of this era and features could likely never pass modern safety requirements (yeah, I know about the nobe 100, but it's not exactly a car)

regardless, it's nice to see so much attention to detail that seems to be lost these days with modern cars.

⬐ mikekchar

A Japanese car that has similar charm (to me anyway) is the Daihatsu Copen. The original looks suspiciously similar to the Figaro :-) Lately I haven't been so impressed with the styling, but it still has a European roadster look going for it. It's a ridiculously cheap car as well :-)

⬐ russellbeattie

I would love to see a fad in California of small, lightweight, convertible electric cars. I'd love an electric 1957 Porsche Speedster style car to zip around town in. No luxuries needed - just enough to meet regulations. Take a $14,000 Chevy Spark, cut off the roof, swap the engine for an electric motor and I'd be happy as can be, even with only 100 miles range.

⬐ bolotye

Check out the Fiat 500e. The 2021 will be Fiat’s own design, but older ones are basically Bosch internals stuffed into a Fiat 500 shell. Cheap off lease ones are available and so far (6 months in) dead reliable. And a very fun ride.

⬐ PaulWaldman

Smart sells an electric convertable, just not in the US.

⬐ ofcrpls

I'd buy a Suzuki Swift in a heartbeat if it were available.

⬐ thisisnico

Definitely would get a Suzuki Jimny, a jeep on a budget.

⬐ spike021

It's not that easy, though. Safety regulations are completely different now compared to 1957, using your Porsche example. Bumper and ride heights, crumple zones, etc. All these factors would make it very difficult to just recreate vintage vehicles while still being street-legal.

⬐ russellbeattie

That's why I also used a hypothetical electric convertible Chevy Spark as an example, as it's being sold today, has minimum frills, but still meets regulations.

⬐ jerrysievert

I think they were talking about converting a 1957 corvette. personally, I think that the closest you'll get will either be a Miata conversion or a z3 conversion. realistically, there's not enough room to convert either of those to be more than a novelty at the moment

as for something new, I still hold out hope that Mazda will go electric and come up with a nice new electric Miata, but I'm not holding my breath.

⬐ serf

the Figaro was part of a trend in Japan to bring back style aesthetics from the 50s and 60s for cars.

See also :

the Nissan Pao, Nissan Be-1, Nissan S-Cargo, Daihatsu Midget, Honda Vamos, Suzuki Lapin, Suzuki Twin, and Subaru Sumbar.

Most of them are kei cars -- cars with trendy or risky aesthetics in Japan are usually kei cars because they're cheaper to develop and represent less of a financial risk for taking such an aesthetic gamble. If the aesthetics work out, they often incorporate those elements into more expensive lineups.

AFAIK the Honda Element was developed this way -- from characteristics that were known popular elements from Hondas' kei-car lineups.

⬐ soneca

That guy is entertaining! I loved the video, even though I don't care about cars at all, never had one, never wanted one, only learned to drive by family pressure.

That trunk seems unusable, and all for making it a convertible that I don't think it even feels that much as a convertible with those large bars staying in place.

⬐ protomyth

Given the absolutely low top speed on the thing, it is probably big enough to carry a presentation or brief case which would be good enough. It strikes me as the wrong car to go road tripping. Although, it certainly would frustrate a golfer, but that is a real difference between American and Japanese cars of the era.

⬐ 9nGQluzmnq3M

If you like wacky retro cars like this, check out Mitsuoka Motors, which specializes in them:

https://www.mitsuoka-motor.com/global/lineup/

⬐ xvolter

Some of the models look cool, but this website is unchanged since 2014/2015. Not sure they’re active.

⬐ lmz

News page has news from late 2018: https://www.mitsuoka-motor.com/globalnews/

⬐ npunt

That Rock Star car looks fantastic, like a modernized C2 (63-67) corvette

⬐ ehnto

If I remember correctly, the Le-Seyde is a Nissan Silvia S13 that's gone under the knife. You can see that the door is unchanged from the Silvia. Really fascinating that they can make money with such strange cars to be frank!

⬐ bichiliad

This video is so good! I truly couldn't care less about cars (I live in New York and ride a bicycle) but this video had me hooked.

⬐ 51Cards

I've been watching Aging Wheels videos for awhile now and it's nice to see him gaining popularity. I find him refreshingly "unpolished" and just fun to watch.

⬐ progre

One of my favourite channels. When he did semi-dayly uploads from his schoolbus coversion he was mostly unscripted but he still had that low-key understated humor going.

⬐ dragonshed

This car was featured in an episode[1] of Seinfeld's Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, with guest Melissa Villaseñor.

[1] https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-1991-nissan-figaro-...

⬐ asadhaider

I just learnt about this car just earlier today actually from one of my favourite YouTubers, Samcrac, where he bought a used one from Japan [0] and there's a few followup videos of him repairing it.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6frb7zrp_o

⬐ taveras

Related: This car was driven for Melissa Villaseñor's episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDg4cDMw_E4

[2] https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-1991-nissan-figaro-...

⬐ dirktheman

The YouTube channel of this Figaro's owner, Technology Connections, is my absolute favorite channel! Super interesting stuff about how things like toasters or VCR actually works, a great series about the format wars, all with super high production value and a lot of snarky sarcasm. Be sure to watch it with the subtitles on for some extra snark.

⬐ fortran77

I do like plastic panels on cars. I had a Saturn with them and the doors remained ding-free for years. Is it a challenge driving a right-hand-drive car in the United States?

It looks beautiful, but I've soured on Nissan after they bullied Uzi Nissan: https://nissan.com/

⬐ NaOH

I have a family member with an imported Japanese right-hand-drive car. I've driven it briefly, though not long enough to get accustomed to the differences. From what I've been told, the key lingering differences are the blind spots and the inconvenience of things like paying at parking garages or toll booths if there's no one in the passenger seat.

⬐ Tiktaalik

The biggest danger with these sort of kei cars from Japan is getting into a collision with the increasingly massive new pick up trucks that are on the road.

It's wild to me to see photos of these new pick ups with children in front of them that aren't even close to being taller than the hood or visible to the driver at all.

Regulators need to step in imo.

⬐ thisisnico

They won't do anything to change the truck economy, it's pretty much what's keeping the big 3 alive and profitable. They get murdered by Toyota and Honda on small cars.

⬐ nradov

Higher hoods are caused at least partially by pedestrian crash safety regulations. There has to be empty space under the hood to act as a cushion.

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15118822/taking-the-h...

⬐ toast0

> Regulators need to step in imo.

Regulators did step in. The Federal MPG standard (CAFE) was reformulated in 2007 so that the targets are based on the footprint of the car (wheel track * wheel base). As a result, small trucks either got bigger or disappeared from the market.

Have a look at the current standards; I don't see how you're going to make a small truck that does the things people want their truck to do and fits in the mileage requirements.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_average_fuel_economy...

⬐ jacquesm

There is a guy that collects them, he has 100's of them.

I drove a Daihatsu Copen for a while (another small Kei class car), the Figaro is a bit more practical, both are super fun cars, if a bit on the small side.

⬐ 29athrowaway

Safety features in vintage cars might not be as good as their modern counterparts.

They are also not designed to absorb impact so they may wreck the cars they collide with.

⬐ FreakyT

I'd love to see retro styles make a comeback for other industrial designs too.

Wouldn't it be cool to have a transparent iMac-style laptop with modern internals?

⬐ dharmab

It wouldn't look the same. The largest component of a modern laptop are the batteries- look up a Macbook Air teardown.

⬐ Doctor_Fegg

There were hundreds of these around London 10 years ago. Lovely little car (but then I say that as someone who was brought up on 2CVs...).

⬐ RBerenguel

There are still "plenty", or at least, they are distinctive enough you'll spot them easily. Most of the ones I've seen are (obviously?) around the Hampstead Heath area, with a few around the Oxford Circus area.

⬐ ehnto

You might also be interested in the Suzuki Cappuccino. Not quite as retro inspired, but same format.

⬐ ogre_codes

I just wish some of the electric car makers got this memo. A small electric 2 seater convertible that looked like this would be hot. Ok, I would buy it anyhow. Also one of those mini cargo vans.

⬐ xtiansimon

How about the Citroen AMI? (https://youtu.be/ALFSHP6RnHk) and (https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/28/21157346/citroen-ami-elec...)

⬐ ogre_codes

I should have said "In the US" because frustratingly there are often cars overseas which look rad and are priced well but never make an appearance here.

This one looks neat and the price/ speeds would work fine for me.

⬐ xtiansimon

You and me both! haha.

⬐ donavanm

The general reason you can’t get them first party in eu & na is due to crash safety regulations. The cute little kei cars are horribly dangerous in any meaningful collision. The Japanese cab over vans in particular are wonderful leg amputation devices. I don’t think electric drive train fundamentally changes the issues around wheel base, mass, and structural integrity.

⬐ Supernaut

I always roll my eyes when I see people enthusing about this thing. Yes, it looks lovely. But underneath the pretty shell lurks the chassis of a late-80s Micra. My sister owned one of those Micras thirty years ago, and the one time I borrowed it remains one of the most unpleasant motoring experiences I've ever had. An absolute dog of a car. She eventually wrote hers off by driving into a wall, and I don't blame her.

⬐ donavanm

I have to admit Ive been tempted by a figaro hobby car for 15 years. Replacement suspension, power steering, rear discs, swapped powertrain, low profile roll bars. Itd make no sense from performance, safety, utility, effort, or cost perspective. But I already own a bunch of 70-90s japanese vehicles... and a fun to drive pretty looking micra would be a blast.

⬐ temporaryvector

While not exactly a convertible, the Honda e sounds right up your alley.

It's probably the only electric car I'm looking forward to anymore.

⬐ ogre_codes

Yes, very close.

> The Honda e made its debut in Europe this week, but this scrappy little city car is not destined to come to the United States.

Typical. :| Why can't we have nice things here in the US? We're supposed to be the greatest country in the world, but we make it extremely impractical to import rad things like this.