The exterior styling of the S-Cargo was inspired by the Citroën 2CV Fourgonnette delivery van, and interior styling borrowed a Citroën-style single-spoke steering wheel.

The name was a double entendre, standing for "Small Cargo" and sounding like "escargot", the French word for snail, which in turn is a nickname for the Citroën 2CV.

The S-Cargo was introduced at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1989,[1] was originally marketed without Nissan branding and was available by reservation only.

Over its two-year production run, 10,685 were produced[1] (variously reported as 12,000).

In 2011, noted design critic Phil Patton, writing for The New York Times, called the Pike cars "the height of postmodernism"[2] and "unabashedly retro, promiscuously combining elements of the Citroën 2CV, Renault 4, Mini [and] Fiat 500.