2011 Nissan Murano Cross Cabriolet

Well, here it is, the Nissan Murano--Wait, that's not new, but this is. Come here. Look what's missing. It's the Nissan Muran Cross Cabriolet. Nissan says and I'm pretty sure they're right, it's the first all-wheel drive crossover without the top. I think they've got a hit on their hands. It's just quirky enough and also useful enough because, let's face it, open air cars are once again all the rage, and this one retains the high seating position of a crossover which kind of, I think, is gonna add to the exhilaration of open air driving. You're up high and you're in the open air, two things people tend to like at a visceral level. Inside, it's pretty standard Murano stuff although you do have a little bit of a different shaping in the rear compartment here which brings us to the Bose audio system that will be available on this car which has an auto sensing position to know when the top's down and adjust, I believe, volume and equalization to make sure the music still prints well. Now, as you know, crossovers spawned from sport utility vehicles. Is enough utility still in this vehicle? Will it carry enough to still be a crossover or is it strictly a style statement? Well, here's the trunk. Fair amount of space and the top's down right now, I can't show you what it's like when the top is up but you can see, the top's all in here, all the canvas fold down, that would go up and out of the way and you're left with basically a pretty standard vehicle trunk from a standard passenger car so you're certainly not looking at a vehicle that gets rid of your space to have a drop top. The Murano Cross Cabriolet is perhaps most surprising in that it's coming to dealerships soon. This is not some design studio trial balloon. Early 2011 in showrooms. Pricing around $46,400 before destination. Little high but realize they only sell it in a high-trim model like we see here. There's no stripper version so it's got all the cabin tech, obviously the convertible top, the nice Bose audio system, the fancy interior trim, and, of course, the all-wheel drive is standard.