Car: Nissan Patrol H60 4×4
Year: 1967
What makes it special: Nissan’s Patrol is a series of four-wheel drive vehicles manufactured in Japan and sold throughout the world. The Patrol has been available as either a short-wheelbase (SWB) three-door or a long-wheelbase (LWB) five-door chassis since 1951. The LWB version has been offered in pickup truck and cab chassis variants. The Patrol is available in Australia, Central and South America, South Africa, parts of Southeast Asia and Western Europe as well as Iran and the Middle East, excluding North America where as of 2016, a modified version has been sold as the Nissan Armada.
What made it famous: The soft-top Nissan Patrol 60 and G60 were first sold in Australia in 1960. Left-hand drive L60/GL60 models were sold outside of Australia. US customers could get Patrols only from 1962 until 1969. Patrols were sold through Datsun dealerships, making it the only Nissan-badged vehicle sold in the United States until the early 1980’s when the Datsun marque was phased out. . An extra long wheelbase version, the H60, was also available. The 4WD Nissan Patrol 60 series was produced in short, medium and long wheel-base versions. It had a manual transmission type-F3B83L at first with 3 and later with 4-speeds, 2-speed transfer case with part-time four-wheel drive. The motor was the P engine, a 241.4 cu in inline overhead-valve six-cylinder, featuring bathtub-shaped combustion chambers and a fully balanced seven-bearing crank shaft. With two doors in front and one at the back and four seats: driver, and companion in front, two parallel back seats, the extra long wheelbase version known as the H60, was available with eight-passenger capacity.
Why I would want one: It’s pretty rare here in the states, and looks like it could kick some serious off-road ass.
Fun fact: Nissan Australia claimed that the 60 series Patrol was the first vehicle to drive across the Simpson Desert in Australia, and built much publicity around the 50-year anniversary of the event, including a re-enactment with a similar vehicle ending on 21 July 2012 to publicize the impending release of their new generation Y62. However, a conflicting account claimed that a Toyota Land Cruiser support vehicle arrived before the Patrol.