A Blank Slate...

Ah, yup...thats a plain jane, white, stripped Nissan Frontier XE. You don't get much more simple in the automotive world than this these days. Manual 5-speed, no power windows or locks, no air conditioning, a small 4-cyl under the hood, etc.

I just returned from a 2000+ mile round trip journey to Oak Ridge, TN to pick her up and I couldn't be happier. Nissan of Oak Ridge was great, the whole deal was done over the internet and telephone and was completed in a matter of minutes once I arrived. The trip down and back was uneventful, though I worried a bit given the massive number of dead deer I observed on the side of the road. I had nightmares of totaling the vehicle before I ever got it home due to a hunter scared Bambi.

So now the truck sits in my garage, awaiting its first upgrades and its first competitive event. First changes will likely be to put some high end dino-juice in all her vitals (nothing but the best for my baby) and look around for some new rubber. Any other thoughts on what should be the first upgrades are greatly appreciated.

Though she may be plain jane now, she won't be for long...

More SEMA Nissans...

A few more Nissan vehicles that were displayed at the recent SEMA event. Many GTRs there though not as many as there were Camaros which seemed to be everywhere. The Frontier is Casey Currie's Pro Lite which is currently for sale.

Some More Old-School Pics...

And So the Die is Cast...

A few years ago I was bitten by the off-road motorsports bug. Desert, Rally, etc. The idea of creating my own race capable (not winning) vehicle has dogged my brain ever since and now the process is beginning...

I am leaving at 2AM tomorrow to make the trip down and back to Oak Ridge, TN to pick up the only new '09 Frontier XE in white within 1000 miles of me. I have appreciated all the feedback and input I have received thus far from the numerous boards I have posed questions on and have taken it all to heart. I still feel that the 4cyl engine (despite some of its initial oil consumption issues—now seemingly solved with a small redesign) is the most appropriate for what I am looking to do. I hope that even if you disagree with my choice of base platform off of which to work that you will continue to voice your opinion on where and how this project develops. I want to leave the process as open and transparent as possible. I will be continuing to provide updates on the usual boards, to individuals directly and via this website.

See you all when I get back! Daniel Spalinger (soon to be '09 Frontier XE owner)

Nissans at SEMA 2009

Not exactly a lot of Nissans this year at the annual SEMA event. There are a few Cubes that I will try to post later but these are the only show "trucks" that bear the Nissan label that I have seen thus far.

Fort Hood Islamic Terrorist Shooting?

Never one to reserve judgement...

The mainstream media are posting reports like the one linked below, reporting that "Army officials are not saying whether this shooting is related to repeated deployments or mental distress" as if THREE shooters (as reported right now though only two appear confirmed so far) would all snap on the same day and time and begin shooting up their own base.

I'll go out on a limb and say that it is a home grown terrorist cell in the first "successful" attacks on American soil. I could be wrong but that's my snap judgement with the information on hand and I think its a pretty good guess...Better at least than what NBC and the AP are babbling about currently...

MSNBC Report on Fort Hood shootings...

Update:

Shocker...looks like I was right. The first confirmed shooter, who is dead, went by the name Malik Nadal Hasan. He may have been an Islamic convert but is unquestionably of Islamic faith. When will we learn...

Danica Patrick to JR Motorsports??

Are you kidding? Now she's coming to NASCAR?

Look...I'm no big fan of NASCAR. 42 cars that all look alike and run round and round and round for 5 hours with only a few minutes of actual action and only a handful of teams with a realistic chance of winning, compounded by boring drivers and highly suspicious rulings, an aging fanbase and little innovation, NASCAR is poised to see a massive decline in viewership and attendance over the next few years.

OK, that might be coming from someone who just really doesn't care for the style of NASCAR but what can't be argued is that the addition of Patrick to Earnhardt Jr.'s organization puts the top two most overrated motorsports drivers together under one umbrella.

If it weren't for Patrick's looks she wouldn't be where she is and if it weren't for Jr.'s dad, he wouldn't be where he is. Both have continuously underperformed during the past few years actually REGRESSING while being given better cars and support. The tide of public opinion has begun to change for Jr. over the past year with grumbles being heard around the sport about just how disappointing his performance at Hendrick has been. Patrick is bailing on her Indy career just in time for people to not start pointing fingers at her. After all, now she'll be able to blame her poor performances on a division of her time between the two series.

Patrick will attract a lot of eyeballs to her first few races, but after that?? It'll be just the same gimmick that she is in Indy. A middle of the pack driver mostly due to the vast support and vehicle development behind her—sound familiar?

Patrick joining Jr.'s team...

Linked and Beamed Hardbody Takes Out Some Trees...

Just like the title says. Video from the 2009 Snowflake 250 race in the Whiplash Off-Road series back in September. Don't know too much about the truck yet. Its #1472 driven by Shawn Aksamit and it finished 3rd in its class for this race. Not bad for being so "environmentally unfriendly"

Rally Fighter Hood...

Did someone say hood??

More Classics...

No Corporate Nissan Display at SEMA 2009

Nissan has announced that it will not have any corporate display at the upcoming SEMA event. Not really surprising as the products Nissan is most focused on right now (Leaf, etc.) are not even on the market yet. It is still dissapointing that Nissan will only attend in a corporate fashion a single Auto Show in North America in 2010. They continue to cut back on marketing and advertising, I guess in the hopes that the vehicles sell themselves...a dangerous tack to take given that only the GT-R generates passion on its own, sans-marketing...

Quote below from Autoguide.com

Nissan has confirmed that it will not be attending the 2009 SEMA Show this Fall. What that means is, we aren’t likely to see any drift Cubes, or DUB Cubes or crazy widebody GT-R-powered Cubes.

Which isn’t really a bad thing… although that last one sounds interesting.

Nissan had already announced that it would only attend one major auto show on each continent and the company has now said that it views SEMA as a major show. That being said, we aren’t likely to see a corporate Nissan displays until the LA Auto Show in 2010.

Nissan may be missing out on a huge marketing opportunity here as cars like the Cube are the perfect fit for an event like SEMA. Still, there are certain to be plenty of private companies with Cubes… and as long as GT-Rs draw a crowd you can be sure SEMA will be full of them

Suzuki Equator for SEMA...

I don't know if there will be any Nissan trucks or SUVs at SEMA this year, but there will be at least one Suzuki Equator which is just as good. This Equator is made up by Icon Vehicle Dynamics and is pretty good looking. There is nothing over the top and nothing that is obviously unfunctional. It is clean and simple. Well done I say. It uses the Total Chaos arms that were originally made up for the Frontier and has some extended shocks that come through the truck bed. Quote below from Truck Trend

Representing Suzuki at SEMA this year is a custom Equator pickup truck built by ICON Vehicle Dynamics. ICON has been building off-road truck equipment for years, and with the Equator based on the long-running Nissan Frontier, building a serious off-road Equator was all too easy.

To get the Equator ready to tackle the trails, ICON added their own performance coilover spring kit with 2.5-in piggyback shocks, all mounted to their Total Chaos upper control arms. In the rear, the shocks protrude through the bed and are mounted to heavy-duty custom framework. Trail Ready bead-lock wheels wrapped in Goodyear Wrangler MT/R tires complete the dirt-ready suspension set-up. Under the hood, Doug Thorley long-tube headers and a cat-back exhaust help the 4.0L V-6 breathe better, increasing performance both on- and off-road.

To help their heavy duty Equator look the part, ICON called up Bushwacker for some big fender flares and LightForce for some big spot lights up on the nose. A brush guard on the nose gives the lamps a place to mount while a special mount in the bed holds the full-size spare. An AMP Research bed extender makes up for the bed space lost to the suspension and spare tire mounts.

Under the Rally Fighter Hood...

This would be the engine bay of the Rally Fighter and the turbo diesel BMW engine therein...

Count the Obscenities...

Holy cow...There are a lot of F-bombs and C-words (and I don't mean "curse" words) in this rally video. The majority of the cursing begins at about the 1:31 mark. You can understand the frustration as the driver and co-dog are blatantly held up over and over and over in this section of the Irish Rally.

Nissan Returns to 24 Hours of LeMans...

Or so it appears...The Gigawave team that has been running a GT-R in Europe this year has plans to enter at least one GT-R into the famous LeMans race in 2010. Any way we could see one of those over here in the 24 Hours of Daytona??

Nissan and Maserati seem certain to return to the Le Mans 24 Hours next year after long periods away from the race.

Both manufacturers are hoping to take advantage of a decision by Le Mans organiser, the Autombile Club de l'Ouest, to allow the same cars that will race in the new FIA GT1 World Championship, to compete in the event.

The decision now means that the Nissan GT-R, campaigned in FIA GTs this season by Gigawave Motorsport, and the Maserati MC12, which has won the last four championships thanks to the efforts of the Vitaphone squad, are now eligible.

"If we get an entry, we'll be at Le Mans," said Gigawave team principal Nigel Stepney. "It is one of the team’s ambitions and we will do everything we can to fulfil the criteria required by the ACO."

The Maserati has previously been barred from competing at Le Mans because the ACO would not homologate the carbon-chassis car. However, having now accepted the FIA rules in their entirety, this is no longer an issue.

Michael Bartels, who has run MC12s since forming his Vitaphone squad, said: "We have been trying to go to Le Mans since 2005 and the Maserati board is very supportive of the idea of racing there. I would like to be there, but we have to see what we can put together."

The ACO said that it expects to have no less than 10 GT1 cars on the grid for next year’s race.

And a Few More...

More Old School Off-Road Nissans...

Some Old School Nissan Off-Road Pics...

Just some "classic" photos to show that Nissan has a long, eclectic off-road history...

Full Body Shot from the Rear of Non-Wrapped Rally Fighter...

Just what it says...though this is without the rear bumper shell as well which I will post a pic of sometime later. This does give you a good idea of the rear profile however...

Shamrock Rally of Morocco 2009

This is the introduction/highlight video of yet another rally-raid event that flys under the radar here in the U.S. despite its intense action. Known as the Shamrock Rally of Morocco (though what a shamrock has to do a desert race I have no idea), it is going on right now. Peterhansel is leading the event after three stages with the highest Nissan thus far sitting in 4th. Will look to update results and perhaps some pics over the next few days.

Rally of Morocco 2009