Watch Nissan Cube 2009 Video

South Beach streets are teeming with beautiful, skimpily clad young ladies. Throw in great sunny weather, a tropical breeze, and a car that allows a slightly overweight middle-aged man to feel young again, and there it is—a formula for fun.

For want of a better adjective, the word cute comes to mind when describing the Nissan Cube. It reminds me of a bubbly breadbox, only with sex appeal.

The first Cube was introduced in 1998 before the Scion. Nissan has a history of being slightly ahead of the industry in automotive invention. The Cube is just such a vehicle.

For two days, I drove the streets of Miami in the Cube. At night I lingered after dinner and listened to the beat of Latino music accompanied by a great Dominican cigar as a companion. But during the day, I drove the Cube, and saw things in a refreshing new light. A wrap around rear window that offered a wide screen display on the world helped Cube take a firm stance and gave it a hip look. It was like a “bull dog wearing sunglasses.” Woof!

Cube is filled with ripples—tiny waves all over the place: On the headliner, over speakers, even at the bottom of the cup holders. You should look to find some others.

Funky fabric, covers sofa-like-seats that invite you to loaf or just hang out. The rear seat slides, reclines, and is raised slightly higher, like in a movie theater.

Now the Cube is more than just a bunch of angles. The dash is all about curves and contours. Oval-shaped vents turned sideways and positioned for optimal air circulation. An available circular automatic temperature control interfaces with the eye and is easy to use. Who said that art didn’t have to be practical!

The side windows of the Cube are rounded to frame the driver’s and passenger’s faces, just like happy memories captured in a photograph.

Utility pouch hangers, front door bungees, a rear cargo area organizer, and a convenient, 60/40 split fold-down rear seat backs up 58 cubic feet of availability are just some of the unusual but practical features.

The Cube comes in four trim levels and starts at about $14, 000. The engine will not cause you whiplash, but it is peppy with its 122-hp 1.8-liter 4-cyclinder engine. But you get 30 mpg/hwy and 28 mpg/city with 127 lb-ft of torque.