Nissan has laid claim to an interesting precedent: the industry's first production convertible "crossover" vehicle. And they flew a few of us autowriters down to San Diego this weekend and put us up in swanky Del Mar to get an exclusive closer look at this strange new creature before it becomes available to the public. Not to mention some top-down coastal cruisin', definitely a treat at this time of year. Continue reading below the jump...

So really, a drop-top SUV? Yeah, kinda, but nothing like the topless Jeeps and Broncos of yesteryear. The regular Nissan Murano is a large-ish four-door unibody with V6 power and standard FWD, marketed mostly to quasi-affluent families and older folks. The CrossCabriolet is a substantially reworked two-door convertible version of the Murano, with standard AWD and a host of luxo-barge features (taking this theme quite literally, the leather-stitched and woodgrain-appointed interior is in fact intended to evoke the feel of a "luxury yacht"). I spent most of the day Saturday driving it around SoCal, and for what it is, it drove extremely well. The 3.5L, 265 hp V6 combined with the seamless CVT transmission brought it up to speed respectably, and despite its massive weight it lacked the glacial feel to the acceleration that many of the more bloated SUV's seem to suffer from. Pedal feel was a little inconsistent: you have to push the gas down quite a bit before it "catches," and then the vehicle tends to want to lunge a bit. And it rolls backward pretty drastically when you're in drive on a steep uphil, which seemed weird for an automatic. Still, you could steer the thing with your pinkie finger and the reasonably sized four-wheel discs stopped it decisively. Apart from a lot of rear-seatbelt flapping that would probably annoy you in a vehicle that had cost you nearly $50K, it was unwaveringly well-behaved on the highway. Keeping in mind that its target demographic probably isn't going to be thrashing the snot out of it at every possible opportunity, the Murano CrossCabriolet seemed ideally calibrated for nice, civilized Sunday drives.

We cruised up to Nissan Design America, a very cool minimalist concrete facility of which we were only allowed to see the lobby because of all the top-secret projects that were purportedly going on. There, we watched a presentation by design manager Francois Farion, who talked to us a bit about the challenges of wrangling an already-existing crossover into convertible form. We learned that the Murano CrossCabriolet is a completely different vehicle from Murano from the A-pillars back, that most of its rigidity comes from the ultra-reinforced floorpan, and that they had no choice but to go from four doors to two to retain its structural stability. Then we were ushered back into the fleet for more driving.

Once I got over the goofy novelty having no roof over my head despite being in an SUV-sized vehicle, I admittedly did feel like a bit of a dork driving the Murano. Some surfers in a pickup truck yelled "your car's ugly!" causing myself and co-driver Phil from Carscoop to crack up helplessly. My feeling is that it looks like a super-sized version of the New Beetle convertible, something you might trade up to if you found the retrostyled VW wasn't big enough or weird-looking enough for you. Still, it's definitely a vehicle that shows well in person, and at NDA, we'd heard about the tremendous lengths that had been gone to in the effort to make an inherently awkwardly-shaped vehicle as svelte and aesthetically pleasing as the obvious constraints allowed.

The highlight of my day was randomly running across a mint California AMC Eagle, arguably the original crossover vehicle, and also considered pretty odd in its day. Pulling the Murano up alongside it for some pics, I was reminded that it's not always about pretty. That an aesthetically risky vehicle, if it dials in the right combination of functionalities, can achieve success or notoriety or both: but either way, its oddball nature is going to make it a standout. With the CrossCabriolet, Nissan is addressing a void in the market: how many other manufacturers are currently offering a truly functional four-seater convertible?

It's hard to tell where the chips are going to fall with the CrossCab, as it's pitched to a pretty specific market segment who will probably have their own ideas about what is and isn't cool. "Empty nesters" is its nominal target demographic, and Nissan stresses that it'll be perfect for aging boomers and retirees who want to use their newfound freedom to joyously criss-cross the country in a big vehicle with the top down. Comfy and roomy enough for two couples to take to the road, a bit of cargo space for overnight bags, plus the versatility to serve other purposes besides single-use vacationing vehicle: it's a plan that looks great on paper. And I could honestly see my Arizona grandmother cruising the strip malls of Scottsdale in this white chocolate space egg, her gold rings glittering on the steering wheel, being quite proud of herself for owning such a splendid and modern contraption.

Still, it's a good thing there's getting to be so many aging boomers, because the Murano's appeal is undeniably limited. The lack of a second set of doors is a liability for families with kids. Though the backseat theoretically provides "walk-in access" once you futz around with the front seats a bit, the driver's-side mechanism is power only and painstakingly slow. And though it's amazing how much trunk space the CrossCab has given the size of its top, it's not big enough to accommodate the behemoth strollers that most parents in this income bracket would likely expect to haul around. Finally, let's face it, anyone young and unencumbered by such considerations, given $48,000 to burn on a fun car, is probably going to spend it on something else. Very likely, something with only two usable seats.

I think the obvious strategy would be to market it to rappers. The Murano could be a serious win as the next Escalade, and it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to imagine one fully blinged out in true VIP style for next year's SEMA. As with a lot of the truly polarizing vehicles of the last 20 years, the Murano has taken some pretty significant risks with styling and marketability. And after having spent some time with the CrossCab, I hope it's a gamble that turns out well for Nissan, and that this odd-duck convertible ends up being the next New Beetle instead of the next Aztek.

What do you think? Could you see your parents buying one of these? What would you tell them?