RETRO CAR DESIGN FOR AN IDEALISTIC FUTURE
Retro-futuristic design, irresistible looks, and lines of eager buyers trying to be the first to get one. It’s not the latest smartphone – though they could be accused of being pocket-sized – but the vehicles produced at Nissan’s Pike Factory. And while these cars aren’t hitting the market today, their legend has been enduring since 1985.
Buoyed by a booming economy and an optimistic view of the future, Japanese design began pushing the envelope – from packaging to consumer electronics and more. It was in this climate that Nissan sought to create an innovative vehicle and brought the challenge to a special design team of in-house and independent designers at its newly created Nissan Pike Factory.
EXCITING MODERN DESIGN WITH A TOUCH OF NOSTALGIA
The Pike Factory team decided to break away from the more conservative designs being produced by the industry as a whole. Instead, the team further developed the concept of “Nostalgic Modern”, which would be the guiding principle in the development of the Be-1 as well as the other Pike cars.
The Be-1 would emphasise playfulness and excitement – a departure from the average vehicle design of the era. The Pike team believed it had a vehicle that could be an immediate hit with the public, but first it had to prove that the design was worth taking a chance on bringing a concept car into full production.
THE PUBLIC SAYS HELLO TO THE NISSAN Be-1
Introduced to the world at the 26th Tokyo Motor Show in 1985, the Nissan Be-1 made a huge splash. Instead of following more common, boxier design cues, the Be-1 looked to the rounder, more compact vehicles of the past. It was small, sleek, curvy, and – let’s face it – kind of cute. Japanese car buyers went crazy for it, and the immediate public response was so positive that Nissan could not ignore it.
When the Be-1 was brought into production in 1987, it was limited to a run of 10,000. Nissan was so inundated with pre-orders that all potential buyers were put into a lottery system. To help satiate demand, a canvas top version was introduced later that year, and it, too, immediately sold out.
SPEARHEADING A NEW MOVEMENT IN CAR DESIGN
Nissan had a winning concept on its hands and commissioned more designs from the Pike Factory. In fact, the name “Pike” was chosen after the medieval spear to evoke the idea of spearheading new, cutting-edge design. And so, the Pike Factory went on to create the Nissan Pao, Figaro, and S-Cargo.
