The Nissan Cube sold very well in its Japanese homeland, but struggled to find many North American buyers during its 2009-2014 sales run over here. As was the case with its boxy Scion xB competitor, the target demographic of youthful Americans looking for a “mobile hub” (Nissan’s term) seemed unimpressed with the Cube, and plenty of Cube haters saw its asymmetrical design as the visual equivalent of fingernails-on-the-chalkboard. Here’s a 2010 Cube in a Denver self-service yard with the exceedingly rare six-speed manual transmission.

Junkyard Gem: 2010 Nissan Cube with 6-Speed Manual Transmission 2 Rice Tire

The six-speed manual was mandatory in the base trim level and optional in the second-from-the-bottom Cube S. All the higher levels got the CVT, and that’s the transmission you’ll find in just about every Cube on the road today.

Junkyard Gem: 2010 Nissan Cube with 6-Speed Manual Transmission 3 Rice Tire

Getting a manual Cube saved the buyer plenty of money; a six-speed entry-level 2010 Cube cost just $13,990 (that’s about $16,780 in 2020 bucks), while the cheapest possible CVT Cube started at $16,030 ($19,225 today). Few felt willing to go for the cheaper transmission, of course, not when they had to spend hours in stop-and-go traffic every week, juggling a phone and coffee and steering with their elbows. Who’s got a hand free for a gearshift? 

Junkyard Gem: 2010 Nissan Cube with 6-Speed Manual Transmission 4 Rice Tire

The idea was that youthful drivers would go crazy for the color-changing LED interior lighting and futuristic-looking controls, and perhaps some did.

Junkyard Gem: 2010 Nissan Cube with 6-Speed Manual Transmission 5 Rice Tire

The Cube offered an amazing amount of interior space for its small footprint, and the rear door swung open sideways for easy cargo loading from the sidewalk (right-hand-drive cars had the rear door hinge on the other side).

Junkyard Gem: 2010 Nissan Cube with 6-Speed Manual Transmission 6 Rice Tire

If you never liked Big Daddy Roth’s Orbitron, the asymmetry of the Cube’s body likely sends you into a rage. I’ve always liked the look of the Cube, and I might keep my eyes open for a six-speed runner for sale at a reasonable price (since I know I’ll never manage to find any of the tiny quantity of five-speed Mazda5s sold in the United States).

Junkyard Gem: 2010 Nissan Cube with 6-Speed Manual Transmission 7 Rice Tire

Poor unloved Cube!

Pretty much the same thing as a really cool smartphone. Nissan keep the code-nerd underscore-character “SHIFT_” thing going for many years after the Dot-Com Boom made it crypto-fashionable.

Mobile devise, mobile device.

This ad is just depressing for those of us stuck in 2020.





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