Nissan is bringing back a classic name, though probably for a special edition and not an all-new model.
A 1980s Classic
From 1985 to 1997, Americans loved a rugged, compact pickup truck called the Nissan Hardbody. It wore flared fenders — tame by today’s standards but unique in the 1980s. Nissan (newly re-named in the American market after decades of doing business as Datsun) advertised it as uniquely tough thanks to its double-walled bed. The Hardbody proved it, winning a series of late-80s off-road races.
The Truck That Took Its Place
The Hardbody left the market after 1997, replaced by the Nissan Frontier. That truck is still the heart of Nissan’s truck lineup. Today’s full-size Titan has an expiration date. But the Frontier is expected to soldier on. Our expert reviewer calls it “a good midsize truck for drivers looking for a rugged workhorse with modern features at an affordable price.”
Which is a pretty good description of the Hardbody it replaced. The new one should probably salute the old.
That may be exactly what’s happening.
New Saluting Old
Nissan this week released a teaser photo, explaining, “On Thursday, Sept. 14, the next chapter of the Nissan Hardbody story begins.”
That’s all the information the company has to offer for now. But it’s accompanied by an image of a classic Hardbody being photobombed by what looks like a modified current Frontier. Both are red, with the new one wearing a lot of black plastic lower-body cladding of the kind off-roaders often use to absorb scratches on the trail.
It also has a matte black hood decal (used to reduce glare), tow hooks, and all-terrain tires with a deep lug.
So the new Hardbody Nissan teases is likely an off-road specialist version of the Frontier built as a tribute to the truck it replaced. In its press release, Nissan notes that it “paid homage to those race-winning trucks, entering a Hardbody-inspired Frontier in the 2021 Rebelle Rally, the longest off-road rally in the United States.”
Our own Lyn Woodward was behind the wheel for that race.
Nissan will reveal the Hardbody salute in full next Thursday.
If we’re right, it joins a host of recent models saluting off-roaders of the 1970s and ’80s, including a Toyota 4Runner with fantastic ’80s-style graphics and a Ford Bronco Sport with a color combination right out of the Carter years.
