Displaying Items By Tag: Nissan

Around the turn of the last century, Toyota decided to try to entice more young American car shoppers into their showrooms by offering a cute, cheap subcompact based on the big-selling (in Japan) Vitz and closely-related Platz. This effort led, eventually, to the creation of the "youth-oriented" Scion brand and — because young Americans lusted after trucks more with each passing year — didn't result in the hoped-for firehose-like torrent of yen aimed at Toyota's coffers. Starting in the 2000 model year, the Platz two-door became the Echo Coupe over here, and not many were sold. Still, I think these tough little commutemobiles are interesting, and so I documented this '02 when I saw it in a Colorado yard.