THE Nissan Cube was only imported into this country for a couple of years but its distinctive looks mean you'll never lose it in the car park.

That square profile may not be to everyone's taste but it clothes a very practical interior, and is reasonably cheap to buy and own.

For anyone who wants to stand out from the crowd for fairly small money, it could be the ideal car, and the vertical rear end and short length mean it's easy and quick to park.

There was just one engine on offer - so that makes the choice very easy - just manual five speed or continuously variable (CVT) automatic.

The 1.6 petrol produces 110bhp so performance is not a strong point and the automatic is even worse.

However, it is smooth and reasonably quiet and has quite enough urge to keep up on the motorway.

Where it really scores is in an emphasis on comfort, so it's a great car to drive around town, taking potholes, speed humps and poor surfaces completely in its stride. Light steering and good all round vision also help.

Handing and road-holding are not at all bad either despite the very good comfort. It's reasonably agile through the corners and, although there's a fair amount of roll, the grip is very good.

The Cube is based on the Micra and Note, so it has a good starting point, and the quality of the interior is above some competitors like the Kia Soul.

It was only imported here in 2010-12 after it was shown at a few shows and customers said they wanted to buy one, but actually very few found owners and so Nissan soon dropped it from the range.

The cubist dash layout reflects the shape on the outside but there's not much side support in the seats. However, there is plenty of room for four and all their luggage.

All models have a glass roof, air conditioning, cruise control, stability control, keyless entry with a start button and a CD player with audio input.

Higher spec Kaizen has climate, auto headlamps and wipers, and sat nav with a rear-view camera.

Pay about £5,950 for a 2011 11-reg base model, or £7,250 for a '12 12-reg Kaizen.