Today, any bit of nostalgia from storied SUV names has been stripped as clean as grocery store shelves after they’ve predicted two inches of snow in Dallas. We’ve had FJ Cruisers, Broncos, Wagoneers, and an “Eclipse Cross” to capture the name of something that wasn’t even a truck. It’s hard to imagine there’s anything left out there to revive, or at least anything worthwhile, but there actually is one SUV many Americans don’t know about that seems worth the effort.
There’s a storied off-roader with a seventy-year history that is still being built today. It started out as a very basic machine but is now a large, luxurious barge that seems to be a far cry from the original. Oh, you’re talking about the Toyota Land Cruiser, right? Wrong.
Not For The States
I was reminded of this a few weeks back since my wife’s favorite Christmas song is Last Christmas (the original, not the damn Taylor Swift version, of course). The video for this song has played many, many times at our home and begins with George Michael and Andrew Ridgley’s very eighties looking crew arriving at a ski lodge in two vehicles: a Euro-spec Jeep CJ with Swiss license plates and an example of the truck I’ve just been referring to: a four-door Nissan/Datsun Patrol.
Even if you’re a pretty car-obsessed American reader, you could be forgiven for not knowing what the hell this elusive Nissan truck even is. Designed primarily for places with minimal roads, the Patrol was introduced about the same time as the better-known Land Cruiser in 1951; like that machine it was a rather obvious facsimile of the American Willys Jeeps. Within a few inches of the dimensions for the Jeep and the Cruiser, the Patrol also featured a four-cylinder engine powering all four wheels. You can see the similarities below:
As with the Toyota, the Patrol slowly became larger and more refined, with the second generation 1960-1980 model gaining a four door enclosed version as well. Wait, are those side marker lights on the one in the picture below? They sure are- this particular generation was actually offered in rather small numbers for the US until 1969 (and was the only Nissan product sold here without a “Datsun” badge until the eighties).
If you’re well versed in the progression of Land Cruiser models, you’d find a lot of similarities in the later generations of Patrols. It’s the expected transition from open-buggy-type vehicle to more refined, early Range Rover-like machines such as the 1980-87 third-gen, 1987-97 fourth-gen, and the 1997-2016 fifth-gen (though that one is still being produced in some nations).
Much to the chagrin of hard-core off roaders, Nissan followed Toyota in going over the top with their recent Patrol models. The just-discontinued 200 series Land Cruiser was a 6000 pound monster with a 5.7 liter V8 and a refrigerator in the center console. The current (since 2010) sixth generation Nissan Patrol follows the same formula as that behemoth; released in 2010, it’s actually the first one since the second generation to reach America; you probably didn’t know that since it’s offered here as the Nissan Armada and Infiniti QX80.
Ah, but Toyota has held back on us Americans as well, and is currently still holding back. For example, the current 300 Series Cruiser is not available in the US. Toyota does offer the smaller Prado model here, sold here now as the Lexus GX550 (an all-new model which sports a much-boxier-than-before but still modern look).
However, Toyota’s 70 Series Cruiser is forbidden fruit here in the States. This smaller Land Cruiser has been produced virtually unchanged from when it was introduced in 1984. It’s only sold in selected markets where safety and emissions regulations allow. Yes, that’s a brand new 2024 truck in the picture below:
Is our own David Tracy the only person on earth that might like this kind of bare-bones off roader in their driveway or parking space? A no-nonsense machine with a design that transcends trends and styling cues? Let’s find out.
Keeping It Real (Real Simple)
I’d like to see an off-roader with a design somewhere between the new Land Cruiser Prado/GX550 and the barely-changed-since-1984 70 series; a design that’s unapologetically square but with the latest technology and mechanicals. I’m envisioning something similar to a Mercedes G-Wagon in that it’s a relatively new-from-the-ground-up design (2018) that still looks very, very similar to the original 1979 model. I hear comments all of the time from people that want the Jeep XJ to magically reappear as a boxy brand-new truck. It’s pretty much understood that Stellantis will never do that, but what about Nissan? I haven’t seen a Nissan truck that I’ve wanted since the 1986 Hardbody, so it’s about time that they tried something different. Where do we begin?
The fourth-gen 1980-86 Patrol as seen in that Wham! video is closest to the cubist SUV gestalt that I’m looking for, so I’d like to use that as our starting point. If you asked AI to do a rendering of an “80s Japanese sport utility” this is pretty much what it would come back with, a smattering of Mitsubishi Montero and Isuzu Trooper thrown in the mix for good measure. With Patrols, this is the cleanest shape of the lot; the one that is most closely related to the ideals of this aesthetic that we’re trying to emulate, namely the aforementioned Jeep XJ Cherokee and the first Range Rover. There’s nothing superfluous in any of the details; you could enjoy it bone stock as no-frills all-weather family transportation or trick it out with a catalog full of off-road goodies.
Mechanically, this new Patrol would be based on the D41 Frontier pickup, further maintaining its industrial roots and making it a very different product in the Nissan lineup from the more car-like current Pathfinder. With the 3.8 liter 310 horsepower V6 and nine-speed automatic as standard, it aches my heart to not be able to offer diesel or manual transmissions as options, but we could always hope. My hope would be that the Patrol would soldier on as an ICE-powered machine even after the other more-crossover-type offerings in the stable have gone electric.
I’m glad to see that Nissan is making a tribute to the beloved 1986 “Hardbody” truck design that includes the trademark angular wheels. These might look slick as an option for our new Patrol instead of the gold NISMO rims I’ve shown above:
In back, you get the same clean look as an eighties truck but updated with more modern detailing:
You might expect a bare bones interior, but you’ll get a nicely equipped and trimmed space that is still purely functional. I kind of used the interior design I did for the Hardbody truck revival a little while back as a starting point. The air vents for the HVAC are surrounded by knobs that control things like the headlights and the climate control; big chunky things you could operate with gloves on. The audio controls look like an old school radio (but the display is on the main screens), and below that are chunky light-switch-looking things for secondary controls (same design used for the power window switches).
Yes, it’s an automatic, and indeed you could switch the transfer case with the touch screens, but you’re getting a leather-booted PRNDL shifter with a matching 2H/4H/4L lever next to it, dammit.
Along the top surface of the dash there are display screens in the typical fashion of cars today where they appear stuck on and look as if they could be removed and carried away from the car. You know what? In this thing, that’s exactly what they are. Take them out to the campsite or your office; just don’t lose it or you can’t start the car. The module on the far right is actually a battery pack (with solar panels on the back) that can be removed to power your phone or other equipment.
Overall, it’s an odd combination of old world elements and new technology, but that’s the point of the whole truck to begin with.
Would Back-To-Basics Be A Hit Or Miss?
You know how it goes; people make a lot of noise about wanting products that are simpler and less flashy yet never put their money where their mouth is – the death of manual transmissions is a perfect example. A boxy retro truck would have fans, but there’s also only so many Davids Tracy out there, and of those there are even less that have $60,000 or so to drop on a new SUV. Still, my 100 Series Land Cruiser owning colleague has just put down a deposit on that industrial-looking new Lexus GX550 without even driving it. Also, the success of the new Bronco and continued sales of Jeep Wranglers says that the buyers for this kind of thing do indeed exist.
Truth be told, I had to do a Google search to see what the latest Pathfinder even looks like. Can you think of a better indication that Nissan needs to at least try to go back to their roots a bit?
Y61 (5th gen) was the last good Patrol
I saw a Gen IV here in Ottawa once, and I thiught it looked perfect: great ground clearance without ridiculous height, wide enough, bigger than a early 2000s Pathfinder…now of course they have become giant ugly things with seats that massage your ass, and the charm is gone.
I think there could be a market for this sort of thing if the price is right. Keep it quiet on the road and capable off. Give it decent power, with features people might want and none they dont’t, kind of like the old Accord Sports. Might as well try — it’s not like Nissan is setting sales records right now.
There’s a RHD 4-door Pajero in Sandy Hill, I always give the driver the thumbs up when they drive by.
Cars and Bids had a 1984 South African market one recently, and Daddy Doug did a review.
I think this would work fine,certainly something i would consider buying.
Would you be able to get it with a inline 6 turbo-diesel and a manual transmission?
considering mitsubishi and nissan are currently in a partnership, it would also be reasonable to do a bit of an alternate front end design and stick pajero/montero/shogun badges on it.