The 2009 Nissan Cube, the latest in a series of tall, boxy vehicles from Japan and South Korea, is a wagon of passionately polarizing design.

We laughed and scratched our heads. The 2009 Nissan Cube was another case of ugly chasing cute. It was hard to tell which one was winning.

My wife, Mary Anne, and I weren’t the only befuddled observers. Even those who liked the Cube said it resembled a “cartoon car.” Detractors were merciless. Some called it ugly, as in “absolutely ugly” and “so ugly, it’s stupid.” But after a week in the Cube SL, we concluded that detractors were missing the point.

The Cube represents performance and utility with a grin. It’s a minstrel show on wheels — deliberately polarizing, offensive to some and pleasing to others in its hustle for laughs.

It has a wraparound rear window that doesn’t quite wrap around. The window starts a tad behind the “B” pillar — the central pillar — on the wagon’s passenger side. It wraps around to two “C” pillars in the rear … and stops. It looks like a shortened hockey stick, a 180-degree window made all the more odd by its curved and deeply beveled frame.

The Cube’s front end is both laughable and laughing. Its wide-eyed headlamps and curved-everywhere grille brought laughter from spectators who crowded around it in parking lots. But when looked at another way, staring at its front end face-to-face, it appears to be laughing at you.

The Cube’s passenger cabin is a work of wonderment. It would win first place in any contest for wackier-than-thou design. Yet, it also would finish near the top in most measurements of interior ergonomics, such as the placement and ease of use of gauges and controls.

Let’s begin with the headliner, which, in automotive parlance, refers to a vehicle’s ceiling. We’ve seen lots of imaginative things done to headliners — including the creation of headliners with hundreds of tiny light-emitting diodes that resemble stars (Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe).

But using substantially cheaper materials and a remarkably simple design, the Nissan Cube has done the Maybach and the Rolls-Royce car one better in terms of enjoyable, entertaining headliner presentation. Looking up at the Cube’s headliner is akin to looking at a pond into which a rock has been thrown. It ripples out front to rear.

Perhaps it was our imagination. But Mary Anne and I thought that music sounded better within the Cube’s cabin.

On the road, the Cube is fun to drive — surprisingly peppy for a wagon with a small, 122-horsepower, four-cylinder engine. But handling on the highway, especially in crosswinds, leaves something to be desired.

The Cube is a tall, front-wheel-drive, boxy economy wagon built on Nissan’s subcompact Versa car platform. It has a factory weight of 2,884 pounds. Thus, with a driver, one passenger and no cargo, the manner in which our Cube SL was driven on most trips, it becomes kite-like at high speeds in crosswinds on open roads.

But in the city on calm days, it was the perfect urban companion: highly maneuverable in tight traffic, a cinch to park in small spaces, and gifted with enough utility to carry stuff from shopping trips.

In the end, we found the Cube charmingly different, albeit in a shocking sort of way. We didn’t fall in love with it. But we did learn to like it.

The bottom line

Complaints: People who worry about what other people think of them should stay away from the Cube, a wagon of passionately polarizing design. Also, open-road handling, especially in crosswinds, leaves something to be desired.

Ride, acceleration and handling: Ride and acceleration are excellent. Handling is good in city traffic, but wanting on wind-swept highways.

Head-turning quotient: Again, this is not a vehicle for people who take praise or criticism seriously. In the Cube, you’ll get plenty of both, most of it unsolicited.

Capacities: There are seats for five people. Maximum cargo capacity (with rear seats down) is 58 cubic feet. The fuel tank holds 13.2 gallons of regular unleaded.

Mileage: The federal government says 28 miles per gallon in the city and 30 mpg on the highway. We got 25 in the city (traffic jams) and 28 on the highway (headwinds and crosswinds).

Safety: Standard features include four-wheel anti-lock brake system; electronic stability and traction control; whiplash protection system for driver and front-seat passenger; two rear-passenger head restraints; side and head air bags.

2009 Nissan Cube

Base price: $16,790

As tested: $19,110

Type: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, square-bodied hatchback wagon

Engine: Standard 1.8-liter, 16-valve inline four-cylinder engine, linked to a continuously variable automatic transmission

Mileage: 28 mpg city, 30 mpg highway