Drugs. That is the word that comes to mind at first sight of Nissan’s new Juke. It lends itself to the notion of what might happen when you put enough artists on LSD in one room long enough to scribble together a 3D manifestation of a long hard trip.
Of course this is nothing new for the Nissan of late who’s studios seem to be heavily influenced by partner Renault. Many of their new models since the take-over of the wine and cheese crowd have been the automotive equivalent to angry French art projects that previously were only found in the counter culture back-alleys of Paris. You know….the cheap slum shops where American tourists are lured and cynically sold a bunch of tasteless crap because they think they are getting the good stuff? To sum it up less pointedly, their cars have been coming across as a bit whack for a while. But this new Juke? Wow.
The new funky life car will be showing up at US dealers soon and surely aimed to compete in Scion’s sandbox as does the new Cube. It’s small but tall with a 1.6 liter turbocharged engine that is sure to provide adequate power to get away from that crowd of people who are judging you as someone who must have deep seated mommy or daddy issues.
Transmissions include a CVT (yuck) and an optional 6-speed manual. Because the Juke is kind of like an SUV in a Pontiac Aztek sort of way, it also offers all-wheel drive as an option. This would also be helpful when out in the sticks and you encounter a group of gun-toting rednecks who will surely see you as some kind of freak that needs to be shot for bad taste.
The interior of course is a fun place, not unlike the psych wards at most mental institutions. But this rubber room has lots of color, curves, the now obligatory Bluetooth workability, and an iPod interface so you can blast your Clockwork Orange soundtrack at mega-watts.
Whether this new Juke will steal customers away from anyone, let alone the Scion sales lot is unknown. Nissan can be commended for carving out their own little happy place in the world of cars today at the very least. At least they didn’t call it Jook.
