In the world of automtive aesthetics there is plenty for us petrol-heads to savour and revel in. Choice examples being the Aston Martin Vantage, the Maserati Gran Tursimo and the mouth-wateringly gorgeous Audi R8. However, on the flip side of the coin, there are currently some piquant monstrosities being rolled out of the car factories. The first example to spring to mind would be the new Nissan Cube.

Now, I don’t want to write too much that is likely to get the back up of any Nissan devotees, so I will start by listing the Nissan Cube’s plus points:

• It’s spacious
• It has impressive fuel efficiency
• And that’s about it…

Now to main gist of my blog post; the Nissan Cube’s appearance.

Most young boys (and probably some girls too) spent lazy afternoons hunched over a scrap of paper, scrawling their interpretation of the Best Car Ever Ever Ever! These vehicular interpretations invariable ended up looking like a wobbly cardboard box with assymmetrical wheels attached, normally daubed in a variety of loud colours. With the benefit of hindsight, most of us would look back on our formative car designs and scoff; “what a load of rubbish!” Unfortunately the designers at Nissan seem to have thumbed hastily through their childhood scrapbooks and thought; “Blimey! That’s brilliant!”

Joking aside, the new Nissan Cube genuinely looks like it has been designed by an artistically-challenged child. I doubt I have ever seen, nor am I likely to see again, a car quite so boxy. In the automotive industry aerodynamics is king, a fact that Nissan seem to have completely overlooked, opting instead for a kind of ‘squashed Hackney Carriage’ look.

In terms of a practical, urban MPV, the Nissan Cube can tick a number of boxes; comfort, space and good luggage room, but would you want to have all these things at the expense of any modicum of style? For me it would be a very emphatic NO!