Vintage (Looking?) Car - Acorn Logo

Loopy_Rach

Hi everyone

Alot of people around my local area in Leeds are driving around in these vintage looking cars, they have an acorn for their logo and all seem to come in 2 tone colour (some are half cream and half beige, some have half green and half cream, others half blue and half cream) and I have been google-ing so many different key words to try and find out what car brand this is but cant get anywhere! Does anyone know what they may be called? My friend seems to think they're imported from India and are actually brand new and just look vintage, but I don't know much about cars at all so it's not helping me pin point it!

Thank you! Rachel

benham3160

Loopy_Rach wrote: »

Hi everyone

Alot of people around my local area in Leeds are driving around in these vintage looking cars, they have an acorn for their logo and all seem to come in 2 tone colour (some are half cream and half beige, some have half green and half cream, others half blue and half cream) and I have been google-ing so many different key words to try and find out what car brand this is but cant get anywhere! Does anyone know what they may be called? My friend seems to think they're imported from India and are actually brand new and just look vintage, but I don't know much about cars at all so it's not helping me pin point it!

Thank you! Rachel

Not one of these is it?



Regards,
Andy

Loopy_Rach

Thats it!!! Thanks Andy. Was my friend right in saying its new and from India? (I have no idea!). Whats the name/brand?

benham3160

It's a Nissan Figaro.

All were made in 1989/1990. It has a 1.0 turbo engine, and is infact a Nissan Micra underneath. I remember there was such a demand for them they changed hands for well over their retail value when they were nearly new, and they were only sold as a limited edition.

Very "funny" cars, nobody owns them for more than a year (always have a crazy number of owners on the log-book) they're pretty slow, and getting parts is a nightmare.

They're erm.... Just odd little vehicles.

Not Indian though, well made little Nissans.

Regards,
Andy
Still very popular though

Loopy_Rach

Thanks again for the info, you've solved the mystery - my friend was talking rubbish! There's so many of them popping up around here seems to be a bit of a fad at the moment (or maybe I've started noticing them more).

Lum

These are all Japanese Imports. Most of the non-bodywork parts are straight off the Micra, or at least Micra ones will fit, however the way Nissan's parts system works is the same part has a different part number if it's for a different car, eg. a Figaro brake pad will have a different part number to a Micra one even though they are the same. Then when you go to order one from Nissan they insist on shipping it from Japan for ££££

If you can find a decent independent specialist who knows which parts can be substituted with Micra ones they shouldn't be too costly to run, so long as you don't need glass or panels.

jd82

Only a few 1000 were ever made and most of them seem to have ended up in the UK. It was never officialy sold here. I always assumed it was based on the Micra MK2 but if those dates are correct then it must be the mk1?

Lum

I think it was about 2500 made. They were one of the Nissan "pike factory" range of limited edition cars, along with the S-Cargo (Micra based van that looks a bit like a snail) and the much less common Pao, which I'm not sure what it's supposed to look like but it looks like a car built in a communist-era eastern European country, though presumably it's more reliable.

There's a few places that specialise in importing these. I used a company in Bristol called Algy's Autos to bring over my car (not any of these, just one I happened to find on a used car website in Japan) and was happy with the service provided. They basically charge £350 agency fee and then pass you all the other bills (purchase, shipping, duty etc.) directly and at cost. They also claim to save you more than £350 on the shipping and certainly my shipping was £730 when the cheapest price I could get organising it myself was £1200.

When I went to collecy my car, they had about 4 Figaros and 1 Pao in the workshop, apparently they undergo a full restoration when they arrive, and they also offer a very silly option where the car ends up painted pink, with white leather seats and pink stitching. Not to my taste but a popular choice apparently.

Since you're in Leeds there is probably a more local imports place you can use, just avoid Keighley Trade Centre and any garage affiliated with it.