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Rating

Verdict Most embarrassing car on the road

Meetings are where good ideas get watered down and bad ideas are forced along because no one ever has the courage to stand up and say: “What the bloody hell are we doing here?”

I suspect this is what happened with the Nissan Micra C+C. At some point there must have been a meeting where someone explained that the cost of the motors needed to power a folding metal roof had fallen in recent years. And that as a result it would make economic sense to fit such a thing to, yes, even the Micra.

Brilliant! However, I refuse to believe it took very long for the big flaw in the plan to rear its head: specifically, the roof wasn’t actually going to fit in the boot.

Instead of canning the project, though, they made the separation point between roof and windscreen much further back than is either ideal or aesthetically satisfying. Obviously, this still wasn’t enough, so they had to enlarge the boot by fitting what can only be described as an aircraft hangar on the back.

It grows worse. Because of the motors needed to make the roof work, and because of the strengthening beams fitted to compensate for the loss in structural rigidity, the C+C is about two million tons heavier than the standard car, which has an effect on both performance and fuel economy. Oh, and it’s a price not worth paying either because despite the beams it still has the worst scuttle shake since the old Ford Escort XR3i soft top.

Someone, at some point in this car’s development, should have had the courage to pull the plug. Unless of course I’m wrong and the plan wasn’t to build a convertible hatchback at all. Maybe they sat down in Japan and said: “Hey, guys. I hear Porsche are doing a yerrow Coxster. It’s supposed to be the most embarrassing car in the world. Do you think we could beat it?” They have.

Current price (Model now called Tekna) £15,400

Price when tested (Aug 2006) £15,250

Engine 1598cc, four cylinders

Power 108bhp @ 6000rpm

Torque 113 lb ft @ 4400pm

Transmission Five-speed manual

Fuel/CO2 42.2mpg (combined) / 160g/km

Top speed 119mph

0-60mph: 10sec