The Nissan S-Cargo is a small retro-styled van manufactured by the Japanese automaker Nissan from 1989 to 1991, and originally marketed solely in Japan at their '' Nissan Cherry Stores''. The exterior styling of the S-Cargo was inspired by the

Citroën 2CV The Citroën 2CV (french: link=no, deux chevaux(-vapeur), , lit. "two steam horse(power)s", meaning "two ''taxable'' horsepower") is an air-cooled front-engine, front-wheel-drive, economy family car, introduced at the 1948 Paris Mondial d ...

''Fourgonnette'' delivery van, and interior styling borrowed a Citroën-style single-spoke steering wheel. The name was a

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially ...

, standing for "Small Cargo" and sounding like "

escargot Snails are considered edible in many areas such as the Mediterranean region, Africa, or Southeast Asia, while in other cultures, snails are seen as a taboo food. In American English, edible land snails are also called escargot, taken from the Fre ...

", the French word for ''snail'', which in turn is a nickname for the Citroën 2CV. The S-Cargo was introduced at the

Tokyo Motor Show The is a biennial auto show held in October–November at the Tokyo Big Sight, Tokyo, Japan for cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles. Hosted by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), it is a recognized international show ...

in 1989, was originally marketed without Nissan branding and was available by reservation only. Over its two-year production run, 8,000 were produced (variously reported as 12,000). Because of its origins at Pike Factory, (Nissan's special project group), the S-Cargo—along with the

Nissan Figaro The Nissan Figaro is a front-engine, front-wheel drive, two-door, 2+2, fixed-profile convertible manufactured by Nissan for model year 1991, and marketed in Japan at Nissan Cherry Stores. A total of 20,073 Figaros were produced by Nissan in ...

, Be-1 and Pao—are known as Nissan's "Pike cars." In 2011, noted design critic Phil Patton, writing for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', called the Pike cars "the height of postmodernism" and "unabashedly retro, promiscuously combining elements of the Citroën 2CV,

Renault 4 The Renault 4, also known as the 4L (pronounced "Quatrelle" in French), is a small economy car produced by the French automaker Renault between 1961 and 1994. Although the Renault 4 was marketed as a short station wagon, its minimal rear overhang ...

Mini The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

Fiat 500 The Fiat 500 ( it, Cinquecento, ) is a rear-engined, four-seat, small city car that was manufactured and marketed by Fiat Automobiles from 1957 until 1975 over a single generation in two-door saloon and two-door station wagon bodystyles. Launc ...

Specification

The S-Cargo was equipped with a 1.5 L E15S 4-cylinder petrol/gasoline engine, a 3-speed automatic transmission, and

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

. It was based on the B11 Station

Nissan Sunny The is an automobile built by the Japanese automaker Nissan from 1966 to 2006. In the early 1980s, the brand changed from Datsun to Nissan in line with other models by the company. Although production of the Sunny in Japan ended in 2006, the na ...

. Optional items included: *An oval-shaped portal window installed on each side panel of the van. *An electric canvas

sunroof A sunroof is a movable panel that opens to uncover a window in an automobile roof, allowing light and fresh air to enter the passenger compartment. Sunroofs can be manually operated or motor driven, and are available in many shapes, sizes and styl ...

References

External links

Import Driver Review
(archived link) * {{Nissan S-Cargo Vans Retro-style automobiles Front-wheel-drive vehicles Cars introduced in 1989 1990s cars