While Nissan has made a wide variety of pickup trucks stretching back many decades, the Nissan Pick-Up was a specific model name used during two generations of Nissan pickup trucks starting in 1985 and later continuing in 1997.
Nissan Pick-Up Design and Introduction
The first Nissan model to be sold under the model name Nissan Pick-Up was the D21 truck. It was sold as the Nissan Datsun Truck in Japan and under the wider-used Nissan Navara name in select markets including Australia. But when Chile received this model, it was first only known as the Nissan D21 and later transitioned into the Nissan Pick-Up. This generation of the Nissan Pick-Up was available in two different body styles. The first was used in Japan and was called an A body that could be modified as a single cab or dual cab design. The other body style is called an S and was a larger design for the United States. The front-end designs were dramatically different.
Engine and Transmission Choices
The Nissan D12 pickup was sold as the Nissan Pick-Up in Chile and select markets had a wide variety of engine choices. The smallest option was a 1.6L inline-4 that produced minimal power but was enough to get the job done. Other inline-4 engine choices stretched up through 1.8L, 2.0L, and 2.4L displacement sizes. And in certain markets, a larger 3.0L V6 or certain diesel engines measuring between 2.3L and 2.7L were available. The transmission options included three and four-speed automatics, a rare feature from utility-based trucks of the era. There was a four-speed manual that served as the transmission to many D21 Nissan Pick-Ups, while a five-speed manual was equipped in some markets. This Nissan truck proved to be incredibly popular throughout the world, with assembly plants popping up in many countries as popularity boomed. These include plants in Japan, Greece, Mexico, and New Zealand. Some areas only produced the trucks in the 1980s and 1990s, while Mexico continued assembly until 2008.
Release of the D22 Nissan Pickup
Eventually, Nissan upgraded this sturdy pickup truck and released the Nissan D22 PickUp, mainly known as the Frontier in North America and the Navara in Japan. Like the previous D21, this truck became quite popular and was assembled and sold in many countries, with the Mexican production mainly sticking to calling it the Nissan D22 Pickup. The exterior was significantly upgraded from the past generation. What was incredibly squared off in the past generation with few features, turned into a modern pickup truck that brought in many Nissan characteristics. The front end had a large color-matched bumper, often fitted with fog lights, and large slightly rounded headlights sitting atop with a somewhat thin Nissan grille in the middle. It was designed by Nissan's La Jolla, California operations.
Engine and Transmission Options
Like the past generation, the engine choices were vast and depended heavily on the country it was sold in. These ranged from a fairly tiny 2.0L inline-4 up to a robust 3.3L V6. The V6 had a supercharged option for those who wanted forced induction to increase power. A selection of diesel engines was also available in the Nissan Pickup, including mostly inline-4 designs ranging from 2.5L to 3.2L. Most were naturally aspirated, but 2.5L and 3.0L diesel options could be turbocharged. The transmissions of the D22 Nissan Pickup were four and five-speed manual or four-speed automatic. It was available in two-wheel and four-wheel drive, plus both single-cab and crew-cab variants.
Reflections on the Nissan Pickup
One interesting note about the D22 is that it stopped being sold in native Japan in 2002. Pickup trucks had declined rapidly in popularity and strict taxation rules made it so the somewhat sizable truck, small in comparison to models offered in other countries, just wasn't worthwhile for the Japanese domestic market. Nissan pickup trucks have continued through multiple generations after the D21 and D22 which sometimes were named the Nissan Pick-Up or Pickup models. They've been known as reliable, efficient trucks that do well at serving people with mid-size truck needs.