Nissan Has Built A Convertible Leaf, And We Can't Stop Staring

If you asked us which one major change we’d make to the current Nissan Leaf, it probably wouldn’t be taking the roof off. But let’s not dwell, because the company has done it anyway.

This odd-looking Leaf Open Car is a one-off concept produced to celebrate sales of the all-electric hatchback hitting 100,000 in the Japanese firm’s domestic market. Nissan took it to some kind of industrio-political forum with local government officials to “discuss the creation of a zero-emission society.”

You could say that the Leaf Open Car isn’t the prettiest convertible you’ve seen, and you’d be right unless you’ve been trapped in a windowless room all your life with nothing but a Lexus SC430 for company. In fairness, from the rear it’s actually not that bad at all, but from the front three-quarter…

The rear seats are raised weirdly high in the absence of a roof; so high that there’s no room for head rests. It’s like the designers hated the rear windscreen and tailgate, left in place presumably to make the open-air conversion easier, and decided to hide it with the seats.

On the other hand, maybe the seats had to be lifted out of the way of the extra chassis bracing the car needed. Or maybe this silent runabout is aimed at dignitaries who want to be able to see and wave at crowds more easily. A Leaf Popemobile, perhaps? Stranger things have happened.