You don’t have to look far to see a GU Nissan Patrol ute conversion in Australia these days, so much so extended wheelbase versions are also emerging around the place.
Aussies love the Patrol, and they love their utes, so why wouldn’t you combine them…
More to the point, why doesn’t Nissan produce a dual-cab Patrol pick-up from the factory?
Well just such a thing has been mocked up by popular digital creator Theottle, specifically based on the all-new Y63-generation Patrol – aka the Nissan Armada – that debuted earlier this month, and the results look enticing given the recent death of the Titan full-sized pick-up truck.
Funnily enough, the Titan served as the rough basis for the digital conversion in terms of the wheelbase and tub proportions, blended together with the Y63’s smooth and flowing lines behind the B-pillar.
The finished product looks every bit as classy, imposing and capable as you might imagine and on paper at least, could front up as quite the option for Nissan going forward seeing as it’s currently without an F-150, Silverado, Tundra and RAM 1500 competitor.
Piece all the elements together: a ladder-frame platform, a 317kW/700Nm twin-turbocharged 3.5-litre V6, full-time 4x4 and a nine-speed automatic transmission with low-range and the recipe suddenly looks very competitive against the established players.
Nissan axed the Titan this year in order to focus on its electrification efforts, a key element of which is repurposing of the Canton production plant (Mississippi) into an EV facility dedicated to the manufacturing of “two all-new, all-electric” models – both of which are yet to be announced.
The V8-powered pick-up had long been on Nissan Australia’s wish list but was ruled out time and time again, quite possibly due to its impending demise.
The sour egg here is that the Toyota Tundra has just been approved for the Australian market and will enter showrooms in mid-November, meaning every one of the Titan’s rivals will soon be available Down Under, all via local remanufacturing programs.
This isn’t the only segment Nissan is missing out on either; it’s also absent from the ute-based large SUV class currently ruled by the Ford Everest, Isuzu MU-X and Mitsubishi Pajero Sport.