Nissan Frontier Cummins Diesel Coming Soon!

 The Chicago Auto Show is usually the sleepy step-sister to the Detroit, New York and LA autoshows but perhaps that's not the case this year.  Certainly it doesn't seem to be that way for Nissan.

Revealed this morning--or rather, discovered this morning, is the fact that Nissan is revealing a Nissan Frontier powered by a Cummins diesel!  Still under a tarp some eagle eyed attendees have spotted the Cummins badge under the Frontier's tarp as well as a horde of Cummins execs strolling about the Nissan display.  Now the vehicle under the tarp looks to be your standard 2014 Nissan Frontier so this is likely not a production model of the next generation Frontier but instead a way of showing the auto world that they are developing the next gen Fronty with a diesel engine--though you never know...Nissan does sell an oil burner version of the Frontier in international markets so could they be shoe-horning a Cummins diesel into the 2015 version of the Fronty?  Might they be just rebadging the international diesel with the Cummins logo and selling it here to pair up with the true Cummins powered Titan coming in a year from now?  We'll find out soon enough!

Oh, and here are some more Nissan Titan spy shots from about a week or two ago up in Wisconsin doing some cold weather testing.  Closer and closer I can feel the excitement building!

The IDx Lives!

The recently introduced at the Tokyo Auto Show Nissan IDx Freeflow and NISMO were evidently not just pretty shells.  After being brought over to the Detroit Auto Show they are now on a tour of Southern California.  This whole process is far beyond what you see with normal concept cars and Nissan has then taken things even further...

They delivered the concept cars to the Motor Trend folks and allowed them to be driven...OK, so it was only around a parking lot but still...This is something you never see with concept vehicles.  Nissan is bringing the cars around to a number of locations and events in the area continuing to gauge public interest.  It appears more and more likely that these are going the Juke route and will be put into production in the near future.

Motor Trend drives the IDx...

Nissan IDx NISMO and Freeflow are a GO!

Well that didn't take long...

Reports are already coming out that Nissan will be producing the IDx NISMO and/or Freeflow "concept" vehicles recently shown in Tokyo.  In truth this is what we all thought anyway as they are close to production models as is--similar to the Juke when they released its "concept" model.  Reportedly they were waiting on the response from the public after their recent introduction to make a final decision.  That response has been solidly (but not universally) positive.

I think this is what Nissan was aiming for anyway.  The last thing they wanted to do with these vehicles was produce another Sentra or Versa.  Why produce another bland econobox?  Create something a bit polarizing that people will latch onto and claim as their own--similar again to the Juke.

Where is the line for the NISMO version??  I think its just brutally awesome with its gaping shark like nose, small wing over the rear window, side mirrors on the hood, side exhaust and bulging flared wheel wells. I'd like to get in that line NOW!

Nissan greenlighting the IDx NISMO and/or Freeflow!!

Nissan Hardbody Name Celebrates 25 Years in South Africa

While here in the States Nissan has long moved on from the "Hardbody" name to the Frontier, in other areas of the world Nissan continued naming its basic trucks the "Hardbody" as it had garnered an almost legendary status.

Nissan Hardbodies became known for being tough, cheap trucks able to handle nearly any task thrown at them.  This is the reason why the name persists today in places like South Africa where, alongside the Nissan Navara (our Nissan Frontier here in the States since '05) Nissan continues to produce "Hardbodies".  These Hardbodies are not the old school ones we remember here in the States from the early to mid 90's but are instead diesel and de-contented versions of the 1st Generation Frontiers.  That platform still underpins the true working class of Nissan trucks throughout Africa and much of the third world where the diesel powerplant and simple design have been long admired.

The Hardbody/1st Generation Frontier has also been a stalwart in offroad motorsports as well competing numerous times in the Dakar in the early '00s with drivers like Colin McRae and Ari Vatanen as drivers.

South Africa is now offering a 25th anniversary edition with a special warranty to go along with it.  If only we had a small, tough, diesel (or petrol) truck like the Hardbody available here.

25 Anniversary of Hardbody Name in South Africa...