Throughout the 1990’s I saw much of outback Australia through the windscreens of Nissan Patrols whilst either filming a documentary series for the Nine Network or desert racing in Australian Safari Races.
On all those occasions the Patrols took a hell of a beating and never let us down, so I was interested to read what Martin Pettendy had to say in his recent article for carsales.com.au about the soon to be released Nissan Patrol Warrior.
Firstly though, let’s go back ten years to September 2012, when Martin had a look at the then all new Nissan Patrol:
“Forget everything you’ve ever known about the Patrol… Because the first all-new big Nissan big off-roader in almost 15 years couldn’t be further removed from the five generations of utilitarian models that have worn the Japanese brand’s trusty nameplate for half a century”.
“In fact, while the new Patrol might have attracted more than 40,000 buyers in giant SUV markets like the Middle East and Russia since its 2010 global release (making the two-year wait for right-hand drive versions in Australia all the more galling), it is in fact almost identical to the Infiniti QX56 sold in North America with different front and rear styling”.
“That, and the fact the vastly bigger and more luxurious Mk6 Patrol is also available only with a big-bore 5.6-litre petrol V8, makes it a direct rival for the $140,000-plus Lexus LX570, which is powered solely by a 5.7-litre petrol V8. In the process it leapfrogs the Toyota 200 Series Land Cruiser on which the LX is based.”
Since then, it could be said that Nissan lost its way here in Australia with the Patrol and recent supply issues didn’t help the cause, so consequently its market share was adversely affected.
But it looks like things might be changing as Nissan Australia teams up with local new vehicle enhancement company Premcar to release later this year the Nissan Patrol Warrior, a big brother to the Nissan Navara Warrior that was released in 2019.
Firstly, Premcar is a Melbourne based company that started life in 1996 as Tickford Vehicle Engineering (which was basically the performance arm of Ford Australia), then in 2001 British firm Prodrive bought Tickfords, renaming it Prodrive Automotive Technology Australia and in 2012 it was renamed Premcar.
Although the new Nissan Patrol Warrior isn’t going to be a cheap car, I personally think it’ll be a big hit here in Australia for several reasons; it’s built primarily for the off-road market, it will have good towing capabilities and it will probably be the last V8 petrol Nissan Patrol we’ll see in this country. Warning though, if you’re wondering what the fuel economy is, you probably won’t be interested in buying one.
Here’s Martin Pettendy’s look at the new Nissan Patrol Warrior on carsales.com.au: