Tired of being accused of driving only glamorous cars, I accepted an invitation to the launch of the new Nissan Patrol Pickup.
If you’re looking for a rugged, no-frills workhorse, then the Patrol Pickup is your car. It’s built for the sole purpose of traipsing over treacherous terrain with the talent, finesse and ease of a mountain goat on a mission.
The fact that it isn’t visually appealing or that it doesn’t have any airbags or a radio is of no consequence because once you’re in the bakkie and you start bashing a few bundus, you realise just how capable a 4X4 it is.
During the launch, we went over the sort of terrain that I’m not even sure I would want to walk on and when we got to the last section, which consisted of driving up what seemed to be a sheer rockface, I was pretty sure we were going to lose traction and slide off the edge of the cliff into a rocky abyss.
Of course if that had indeed happened, I wouldn’t be writing this story so my fears thankfully never materialised and the Patrol more than proved its worth as the sort of offroad vehicle that gets the adrenaline pumping.
Don’t expect a comfortable ride and don’t expect creature comforts, unless you’re willing to pay for optional extras.
During the launch in Ficksburg in the Free State, we drove up a mountain on a private game estate that had us all holding on to those grab handles as if we were holding on to a million bucks.
The Patrol comes equipped with a 4,2-litre diesel engine and a five-speed manual gearbox with high- and low-range and a limited slip differential.
A big plus for the Patrol is the standard two fuel tanks with a total capacity of 175 litres and separate gauges for each of the tanks.
It costs R285 500 in its most basic form (and I really do mean basic even down to the metal only key), but there is a package that costs R16 200, which includes air-conditioning, 16-inch wheels, different bumpers, a rear step and more.
Nissan expects to sell this bakkie to farmers and those in the mining and industrial sectors or to those people who need a vehicle that can tow their boats and such.
Just to punch home the fact that this is a workhorse, the seats are covered in vinyl, the floor is covered with a rubber mat and despite the fact that Nissan says you can fit three people into this bakkie, it realistically only has space for two.
For what it was designed to do conquer rough terrain — it succeeds admirably, but don’t be silly enough to expect SUV comfort because this bakkie wasn’t built for Sandton mums mounting pavements — it was built for work.