i was recently in the netherlands and I spotted some sweet Patrols.....anyone know if we can get these in the states?

Yeah - they're around (the old ones...) A friend just bought this '69 off of ebay:

You can't bring anything newer than 1971 in from overseas, so the original 60-series that was sold here until 1969 is all you'll find other than the VERY RARE later models that found there way here before they tightened down the restrictions some time back. I know there's a late-80's one legally registered and titled in Washington state, and I've seen another for sale in South Carolina on Ebay (for WAY too much money, it was in lousy shape) but you could probably count the post-69 ones in the US on one hand...

"You can't bring anything newer than 1971 in from overseas"

never knew that...why is that? just to ensure US commerce maybe.

Hey Kaiser,

Was that Patrol that your buddy bought on eBay located in Cali by any chance? If it was, my buddy in Irvine was also one of the bidders but lost it.

the nissan patrols never took off because the FJ-40 was better. I love the body and interior size and even the nissan 4.0 looked better, but the fact remains that the gear ratios were not very low in lo-range and the axles were weak and the icing on the crap-cake was that they only had 3 spd transmissions.

as far as the pre 70's importation rule, it was emission based rules. Nissan knew the patrol had lousy sales in N.A. so they didn't invest in emissions for that model. The 720 series trucks sold like hotcakes though.

I believe so... he said it was more expensive than some of them because it has a special Australian transmission and heavy duty rear end.

VG33POWER, what the hell is desert-running?

A couple years ago I saw a fairly new one on the Dulles Toll Road. It couldn't have been older than a 1990.

BUT...the one key thing...it had diplomat plates.

Go rent "From Dust to Glory". LINK

The Desert Runner was a Nissan Frontier model... but there is a whole category of what they call "prerunner" 2WD trucks that are used for desert racing.

Thanks Kaiser!

Schmee, unfortunately I do not have an X...I am the proud owner of a Frontier. My truck was not originally a Desert Runner. DRs only came in King Cabs and my truck is a Crew Cab but I have modded my truck so much and I like riding (ATVs) in the desert (dunes) that I decided to call my truck a DR. Plus I take my truck all the time when I go riding and when I am not riding I am wheeling 2WD style. Even better now that I am locked!

Sorry to hi-jack the thread!

is the 2wd at an advantage in desert running bc you can only 60mph in 4?

There is no limitation on how fast you can go in 4WD... I'm not sure why they use 2WDs.... unless maybe for weight and reliability reasons.

You can get more suspension travel without being concerned with CV's and binding. You also have fewer moving parts to break. For the most part you are moving too quickly for 4wd to make a difference but there are exceptions such as water crossings, deep silt and sand where they do get stuck.

In short course racing (CORR) the PRO4 (4WD Open Full Size) kick the crap out of the Pro2 trucks with itentical engine and chassis in head to head competition because of the advantages of what is esentially an all wheel drive system.

There are some very competitive class 7 (minitruck) desert vehicles that are 4wd that use less suspension travel but have the 4wd to avoid stuck situations. It's kind of like having a second kidney. You don't really need it but if you do it's nice knowing you have it.

Then of course there is the Herbst Trophy Truck that is 4wd.

Correction, the cut-off is 1981 at this time. Law is 25 years. You could bring in an early 160/MQ Patrol now...

My brother in law has one of these (lives in Denmark). His is Black, but with same lift and nicer tires...cost him a buttload of $$

I saw alot in the UK, but have yet to see any over here. I'm a big fan of the old Patrols. Functional and versatile, especially the interiors. And not surprisingly, pretty much bomb-proof. A friend had a white one (modded) that we used to take everywhere. Second only to a Defender in our runs. Pretty impressive.

Are you driving a right-hand-drive vehicle in the Netherlands?
If yes, is that as difficult as it would seem? Though I have talked with a few people serving in the U.S. military who were posted to the UK and took their left-hand-drive vehicles with them and said it was not as bad as I would have thought.

Holy old thread!

In case anyone wants a Patrol these days though, we finally got one, sorta - the Infiniti QX56/80. Other than the Infiniti badge, it's identical to the latest Patrol.

From what I've seen, it's actually decent off road for its size, thanks to computers and a clever suspension - no sway bars, completely active hydraulic.