The Nissan Cube occupies a particular place in Japanese domestic market history: a compact urban car that treated asymmetry not as an accident but as a deliberate design statement. The second-generation Cube brought compact proportions that belied a bold visual presence. Kyosho has captured it in 1:18, in one of the pastel catalogue colours that characterised early 2000s Japanese car culture.
A Car Built Around One Radical Detail
The Cube's most distinctive feature is its rear architecture: the tailgate hinge is offset to the right, and the rear quarter glass wraps around the corner in a continuous sweep. This asymmetric arrangement, unique among production cars of the period, gave the Cube an unmistakable silhouette from any angle. Produced at Nissan's Oppama Plant in Kanagawa, the second-generation Cube was powered by a 1.4-litre CR14DE inline-four, and sold exclusively through the Japanese domestic market — Western buyers would wait until the third generation in 2008.
Light Blue and the Palette of Early 2000s JDM
The Cube was offered in a range of pastel and bolder body colours tailored to the Japanese domestic market. Light Blue — a pale, softly toned variant — was among the catalogue options, and it suits the Cube's rounded, approachable character precisely. This colour choice is not incidental: the pastel shades offered on compact JDM cars of this generation have become reference points for collectors building thematic displays around that era's domestic Japanese car culture.
Kyosho 1:18: Precision Without Opening Parts
This replica is a 1:18 scale model by Kyosho, a range recognised for fine paint application and accurate panel-line reproduction. The model features a sealed one-piece body with no opening parts; the detail is concentrated on exterior surfaces — most notably the complex geometry of the wraparound rear glass, the offset tailgate and the crisp body-line work of the Cube's flanks. The Light Blue finish is rendered in the subdued, accurate tone of the original Japanese market colour.
In the Display Cabinet
At 1:18, the Cube presents as a compact but visually rich piece — its near-square proportions and tall roofline make it immediately legible on a shelf. It pairs naturally with other Kyosho JDM subjects, and sits well alongside compact Japanese domestic cars from the same early 2000s period. For collectors focused on JDM lifestyle vehicles, the second-generation Cube represents the debut year of the asymmetric design — the first expression of the concept that would later reach international markets — making the 2003 model year a historically grounded choice.
