Used 2011 Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet

From the first we found the idea of a Nissan Murano convertible just too weird to be true. It seemed like the sort of unsubstantiated rumor generated by someone on some blog that gets passed around despite its absurdity. Even when we heard official confirmation that Nissan would indeed be creating a drop-top Murano, we still addressed it with the same attitude typically reserved for aliens, Sasquatch and "Elvis Alive on Guam!" We would believe it when we saw it.

Well, here we are sitting in the 2011 Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet, and to be safe, we're keeping our eyes open for a 7-foot furry creature riding shotgun with The King on board a Klingon battle cruiser. Yet just because that weird rumor turned out to be true doesn't make this resulting vehicle any less strange — in concept or appearance.

Nissan took its avant-garde Murano crossover, lopped off the roof and hatchback, removed the rear doors and lengthened the front doors by nearly 8 inches. It might look smaller, but the length and wheelbase are unchanged, as are the continuously variable transmission (CVT) and general interior design. The 3.5-liter V6 receives only a minor power bump. Driving it is therefore a strange sensation. It accelerates like a Murano, it steers like a Murano and the view from the driver seat is just like in a Murano. But then you notice the cowl shake, the wind noise coming through the canvas roof and the fact that rear visibility is actually worse.

There's nothing really with which to compare the Murano CrossCabriolet, since the only other convertible SUV is a Jeep Wrangler. So it would be pretty easy to shrug off the CrossCab as just an oddity destined for a display at some car museum titled, "What Were They Thinking?" Yet once we got beyond the shock of its existence, this strange creature actually started to make some sense. (This might sound weird, but then weirder things have turned out to be true.)