The Nissan Pao is a retro-styled three-door hatchback manufactured by Nissan for model years 1989–1991, and originally marketed solely in Japan at their Nissan Cherry Stores.
First announced at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 1987, the Pao was available with or without a textile sun roof and was originally marketed without Nissan branding, by reservation only from January 15 through April 14, 1989. Orders were delivered on a first come, first served basis. With 51,657 applications for the vehicle, it sold out in 3 months.[2] The UK's GTR-Registry website provided updated production figures in 2022 with per-colour code quantities, and a total production quantity of 31,352.[3]
Because of its origins at Pike Factory, Nissan's special project group, the Pao – along with the Nissan Figaro, Be-1 and S-Cargo – are known as Nissan's "Pike cars". The promotional campaign for the car included a surreal and futuristic animated video featuring members of the Pike Factory team.[4]
Part of Nissan's "Pike" series, it was designed as a retro fashionable city car in the mould 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 British hatchback car the Austin A40 Farina Countryman.[6][7] 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.[8] The Pao's side strakes evoked the construction of earlier Woodie car body styles.
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 lbf⋅ft) at 3,600 rpm.[9]
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).[citation needed] The tires were of 155/SR12 format. The Pao was offered in four colours: Aqua Gray (#FJ-0), Olive Gray (#DJ-0), Ivory (#EJ-I) and Terracotta (#AJ-0).
The design of the Pao is 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.[8]
‘Serviceable car kit’ comprising polish, brush, wash mitt, silver gloves, chamois and paperwork wallet, supplied in a courier-style bag made of Pao seat fabric
Paoside
Paoside was a range of Pao-specific products featuring the Pao logo which included accessories, clothing, toy cars and other items.
Appearances in media
The Nissan Pao has made at least 30 appearances in films and television series, including the opening scenes of Gareth Edwards’ 2014 film adaptation of Godzilla, myriad Asian films and television and Jeremy Clarkson’s Motorworld, listed at the IMCDb database.[10]
A heavily modified Nissan Pao appeared in Japanese drifter and garage owner Ken Nomura’s DVD Drift Tengoku, featuring the host attempting to drift the car alongside the car's creator, D1 Grand Prix Lights Team driver Kazayuki Akuzawa, with limited success.[11]
^日産 パオ（1989年01月～1989年12月）1.0 キャンバストップ [Nissan Pao (1989.01-1989.12): 1.0 Canvas Top]. Car Sensor Lab Catalog (in Japanese). Recruit Co. Archived from the original on 2011-12-19. Retrieved 2011-07-27.
