A mighty Nissan Patrol 4500, seen in Beijing in 2015. The old Patrol looked as good as new, with white with factory decals, sporty wheels, and a big bull bar. Yes, these are strong cars, surviving all time and tides. The fifth generation Y61 Nissan Petrol debuted in 1997 and production continues until today.
This particular Nissan Patrol is an early car, produced from 1997 until 2001. In 2002, the Petrol was refreshed with a new front and rear design. How this Patrol got into China is unclear, as Nissan only started selling it officially from 2004. It was probably a gray import or an ex-diplomatic car.
The Y61 was available with various engines. Our car has ultra cool factory ‘4500 Fuel Injection’ stickers on the front doors, and that refers to the 4.5 liter straight six petrol engine, good for 197 hp and 314 Nm. Power went to all wheels via a 5-speed manual gearbox.
The ‘modern day’ Y61 is mainly sold in Africa and the Middle East, and in most market they call it the Patrol Safari. Nissan does not sell it officially in China but there is a lot of gray import from Dubai (Nissan does sell the current Y62). I have seen a lot them, more on those cars in later posts.