It’s pretty easy to imagine that similar demographics quite likely bought both of these Nissans when they were new. The Datsun Z car was initially bought by true sports car aficionados, but it quickly morphed into the next hot fad, and a youngish man with a half-way decent job in the early seventies was very likely to gravitate to one. And I suppose the same thing could be said of the Xterra.
This Z, like most of the remaining ones, isn’t exactly stock, but it comes across as a fairly tasteful mild custom, although I shot this at some distance. Maybe that’s for the best, as I prefer mine as original as possible, except for the cheesy wheel covers.
That’s an XTerra not a Pathfinder. Your losing it, Paul. Get it right. 😉
It’s true; I am losing it…coming home after a Saturday night out with friends, and there’s only one post scheduled for the morning, and I have to get some content up for the morning, and my mind is mostly elsewhere….(bed)….
Would you like to be our weekend Editor? Working seven days a week for five years straight is getting to me.
Certainly. Just say the word, big guy. I need to submit a few stories, too.
Now, if I mess up once in awhile, I hope you guys, catch me when I fall. Lol
Nissan really had something with the Z cars. Too bad they lost it along the way.
True… They seemed to get fatter and uglier with each new generation.
That SUV looks like a caricature of the last Nissan Patrol generation that was officially imported here.
well they both had similar purposes in their intended markets as the off-road oriented SUV in the lineup.
I’m really not quite sure why didn’t Nissan import the Patrol to USDM island. Perhaps they figured the American consumer wouldn’t buy a car that large unless it was either a pickup of quite luxurious and refined. Hence the next generation morphing into an Infiniti.
Unlike Jeeps and the like, Nissan Patrols were strictly used professionally. Only available with turbo diesels (the last ones 3.0 liter inline-4). Rugged and capable with just enough comfort and gadgets, towing trailers all day long (towing capacity 7,700 lbs in standard factory trim).
Competition mainly coming from Toyota (Land Cruiser 90/120/150-series) and Mitsubishi (Pajero).
Soccer moms certainly wouldn’t like Patrols. Too hard-core.
An older type SWB Nissan Patrol in its element.
I’d guess that the Patrol would have to be a fair bit more expensive than the Xterra and too pricey for the intended market. On the Toyota side, a Land Cruiser costs $80,000 and theoretically stripping out the luxuries probably couldn’t take more than $15k or so from that while a base 4Runner is $33,000.
There are 3 Land Cruiser models.
-The old school tough-as-nails stripped out 70 series.
-The midsizer 150 series (aka the Prado), also rebadged as Lexus GX460.
-The big 200 series, also rebadged as Lexus LX570.
I assume $ 80,000 is for the big guy ?
The 70-series (picture below) is available in Africa and Down Under. Probably also in other continents with very harsh conditions, I’m not sure.
Ah the XTerra, so EXTREME!
What’s that thing on the right, with its retrofit dormer window ?
I believe that’s a Buick Rendezvous, sibling to the Pontiac Aztek
Ah, the Rendezvous. It tried so hard to be distinct from the bug-eyed Aztek, and it succeeded and failed at the same time.
‘retrofit dormer window’
Great description!
Johannes Dutch :
The vehicle barely visible in the 1st picture is a Buick Rendezvous, “sister” to a Pontiac Aztek. These were really minivans designed to resemble SUVs.
I owned a 280Z that was bought for it’s sportiness. My nephew bought a Pathfinder for it’s room: it’s ability it carry large and bulky loads, it’s size which he felt made it very safe, and because it looks sporty.
I bought a Z knowing it is NOT all that practical while my nephew bought his Pathfinder for mostly practical reasons. Sure, same demographic but entirely opposite reasons for purchase.
I liked the Xterra when it first hit the US market. Not so much now. I’ve always liked the old Datsun Zed cars. I was sad when the name was changed from Datsun to Nissan.
I feel like I’ve known so many people with Xterras. I guess they made sense to a lot of people–gutsy engine (VQ-series V6 if I’m not mistaken), purposeful “ready to go anywhere” styling, reasonably sized, can get out of its own way off-road in stock form. Kind of a Pathfinder with less gingerbread. The first generation (2000-2004) was similar to the pictured car but looked a little less awkward IMO.
Still don’t understand why people want to ruin the looks of the S130 Fairlady Z with those hideous flat front bumpers. I know people say they do it because the front end of the car gets floaty when you’re at speed, but they way to fix that is to buy the stabilizers that bolt under the front lip and still keep that nice smooth chin. It’s like mixing and matching parts with Bruce Campbell and Audrey Hepburn. Just doesn’t work.
Those fiberglass body kits are not my thing, but a while back they were popular to update the looks of the car. It was not really for aerodynamics.