Rewind

NISSAN PATROL

HERITAGE. INNOVATION. EXCELLENCE.

PICTURE THE WORLD, OR even just Australia, 70 years ago. It was a very different place, wasn’t it?

In Sydney, the earliest plans for the Opera House were only just materialising (construction wouldn’t begin until 1959), while in the rest of the country, people paid for things not in dollars, but with the Australian pound.

If you were in Melbourne, you were feverishly preparing for the Olympic Games, while in 1958, Qantas launched international flights for the very first time.

A lot has changed since then, of course, but one thing has remained constant throughout the decades - those with a passion for family road trips and adventure have always had a Nissan Patrol parked in their driveway.

Nissan’s iconic SUV first launched back in 1951, with 2021 marking the model’s 70th Anniversary around the world. Here in Australia, we’d have to wait just a little longer, with what was then called the G60 Datsun Patrol landing on our shores in 1961.

That box-shaped G60 was equipped with a modern overhead valve 4.0-litre in-line six-cylinder that generated 92kW, and was offered in soft-top, wagon or cab-chassis body styles.

It didn’t take long to achieve legendary status, with the G60 Patrol becoming the first motorised vehicle to cross the Simpson Desert after geologist Reg Sprigg, his wife Griselda and children Marg and Doug charted a path over more than 1100 sand dunes.

Pause for a moment and consider how brave and challenging that must have been. The journey took 12 long days – and there was no such thing as GPS navigation. They were attempting something that had never been done before, and they would do it in a vehicle that had only been on sale in Australia for 12 months, such was the Patrol's impressive international reputation.

With that trip, the Patrol’s status as the ultimate adventure vehicle was assured, and it’s a reputation that would go only grown with the launch of the MQ-Series Datsun Patrol in 1980.

The days of rough, hard-core 4WDs were coming to an end, with Australian customers looking for vehicles that were no less capable, but far more comfortable, and the MQ Patrol filled that brief perfectly.

Offering a seven-seat wagon version for the first time, the MQ was also available as a short wheelbase hardtop model with a removable roof, or a longwheelbase version with pick-up, cab-chassis and wagon variants.

The MQ Patrol was also the first time a turbocharged diesel engine option would be offered, with the addition of the optional SD33T sixcylinder engine producing 81kW of power and 255Nm of torque.

Nissan would once again set the benchmark for adventure-focused vehicles in 1987, when the GQ Patrol arrived featuring new suspension technology that further enhanced its on-road dynamics without sacrificing off-road prowess, with the introduction of all-coil-spring suspension.

Then, in 1997, the GU model arrived to cement the Patrol as one of Australia’s most popular vehicles. In fact, between 1998 and 2000, one in every four Nissan vehicles sold locally was a Patrol, and Australia was the largest market in the world for the iconic four-wheel drive.

The Y62 Patrol has only continued that legacy, combining off-road capability with family friendly refinement and the latest from Nissan’s Intelligent Mobility suite of safety features, including Intelligent Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Warning, Active Cruise Control and Intelligent Lane Intervention.

The story – and the legend – continues for Nissan’s iconic Patrol. But for what comes next? We’ll have to wait and see. N

NAVARA PRO-4X WARRIOR

CONVERSION BY PREMCAR

MADE TO CONQUER

Developed in Australia for Australian conditions, the Navara PRO-4X WARRIOR by Premcar delivers improved capability from tow bar to bullbar, to ensure you can go anywhere, cross everything and climb anything.

Upgrade to a new vehicle more often Low Monthly Repayments Guaranteed Nissan Future Value