Nissan Patrol Y61 Legend Edition
Serious off-road vehicles are a
dying breed. Even the current-gen Nissan Patrol, codenamed Y62, is more of a
luxobarge rather than a full-on rock crawler like its predecessor. The Japanese manufacturer found it necessary to pull the plug on the
Y61-gen Patrol, which has been around since December 1997.
Before production comes to a halt, Nissan decided to let the
former-gen Patrol go out with a bang. Hence, the manufacturer prepared a
special edition model, which is called Legend Edition and it’s limited to just
300 examples.
Packing more than AUD 10,000 of
goodies from the Nissan genuine accessories catalog, the retail price for the
Patrol Y61 Legend Edition is AUD 57,390 before on-road charges. That’s nearly US$ 43,000 at current exchange rates, an appropriate sum for the so-called
"ultimate recreational vehicle.”
That’s no joke, chiefly because the Patrol Y61 is an extremely capable machine. If it were not,
Australian customers wouldn’t have bought more than 104,000 units to date. “The
Nissan Patrol Y61 Legend Edition is a fitting representation of what this model
has delivered for the last 20 years,” explained Richard Emery, the managing
director of Nissan's Australian arm.
Available with either a 5-speed
manual or a 4-speed automatic, the Legend Edition is equipped with a low ratio
transfer case (2.02:1), automatic locking free-wheeling hubs, and coil-sprung
suspension on all four corners. The business end of the old dinosaur is a
3.0-liter diesel packing four cylinders. 160 PS and 380
Nm of torque will have to make do in manual configuration. The
auto, however, is not as torquey due to the transmission’s limitations. It develops
354 Nm of oomph.
It’s the
end of an era this, but the Patrol Y61 won’t be forgotten too soon. If you want
one, you’d better act quick because those 300 examples are sure to sell out
faster than an AC/DC concert.
