Fresh Cars Reviews: Officially Official: The new Nissan Cube! (JDM, with U.S. tease)

Officially Official: The new Nissan Cube! (JDM, with U.S. tease)

Filed under: LA Auto Show, Economy, Japan, Hatchbacks, Nissan

Click above for high-res gallery of the US-market Cube. Click here for the JDM car.

Here it is. It's "tomorrow" in Japan, and Nissan has unleashed the motherlode of new Nissan Cube photos - including three showing the U.S.-Spec version that'll be rolled out at the LA Auto Show tomorrow. There's no accompanying press release at the moment, but the Japanese media is running their stories as we speak. JDM Cubes are equipped with a 107-hp/109 lb-ft 1.5L four-cylinder mated to a CVT transmission. Front- and four-wheel-drive versions are available. We'll get a different engine with more power that should deliver fuel economy in the Versa neighborhood. More on that tomorrow from our team in LA.

The three shots of the U.S.-market bodywork show, as expected, the reverse of the JDM car. Kudos to Nissan for doing a second body for left-hand drive markets. Inside, the simple appointments of the current Cube are updated with better shapes and, hopefully, a bigger, more upscale mix of materials. The bench seat returns in the JDM car, and there's no reason to believe we won't see it here as well. A water-droplet theme introduced in that silly teaser video we showed you last week is present in the cupholders and also available as ceiling trim inside the passenger compartment. Check out the galleries below for photos of just about everything, including the Japan-specific Lifecare (disabled access) and Autech Rider versions.

Come back tomorrow, when the gang in LA will deliver live coverage of the U.S. car's debut. We liked the JDM version, and we're really looking forward to trying out the Cube again now that it's been engineered for our market's needs.

Gallery: 2009 Nissan Cube (JDM)