Magazine ad courtesy ProductionCars.com.
Through all the shifting and growing in the small to midsize truck market over recent years, one vehicle has remained largely unchanged: The Nissan Frontier. Nissan’s best selling pickup was last significantly updated in 2004. For fifteen years the Frontier has soldiered on, hidden in the shadow of its more popular Japanese brother, the Toyota Tacoma.
But before either the Toyota Tacoma or the Nissan Frontier nameplates existed, Nissan had a smaller, more competitive solution to the Toyota Compact Pickup. The Nissan D21 was introduced to the American market for the 1986 model year with two body styles, Regular Cab and King Cab (extended cab).
Nissan nicknamed the D21 the “Hardbody,” a clever marketing reference to its double walled bed and chiseled exterior styling. When the D21 series debuted in the fall of 1985, it was a direct replacement for the Datsun 720 and the first truck to be sold under the company’s new name, Nissan. The Nissan truck offered both rear- and four-wheel drive as well as four-cylinder and six-cylinder powertrains. The four-cylinder provided 106 horsepower and the 3.0-liter V-6 brought more grunt with 140 horsepower, a class-leading number at the time. Later, a single overhead cam four-cylinder upgraded the base model to 134 horsepower and 206 lb.ft. of torque. All engines were paired to the standard five-speed manual, with a four-speed automatic transmission as an option.
Toughness was the name of the game with the Hardbody, but that didn’t stop Nissan from being a segment innovator. This ad points prospective buyers to the Hardbody’s long bed which was the largest in the class. Nissan claimed the tires on the 4×4 SE package were the biggest set of rubber to ever grace a factory compact truck. While the D21 did not provide the comfort and class of today’s pickup trucks, Nissan didn’t entirely disregard passengers, giving the truck large windows and thicker insulation for good visibility and an interior that was brighter and quieter than the competition. For maximum comfort and capability, Hardbody buyers could choose the SE package which included a limited slip rear differential and a sunroof as well as electric windows and air conditioning.
Aside from these luxuries, feature content was not top priority. The Hardbody was sold at a time when midsize trucks were primarily used for work. Simplicity, ruggedness, and durability were the key selling points of the Nissan truck. It backed up its somewhat boastful name in the twelve years it was on the market, earning a solid reputation for being nearly unbreakable.
The little truck had its fair share of media attention too, starring in the 1997 documentary “Hands on a Hardbody” that followed twenty-four contestants in Texas as they attempted to keep their hands on the truck the longest, the winner taking home the new Nissan. The film won Best Documentary at the 1997 Los Angeles Film Festival but the publicity came too late for the D21. The truck’s long production run came to an end later that year.
Although they sold well, the Hardbodys never matched the sales volume of Toyota’s compact pickups. As a result, rust-free examples are becoming increasingly hard to find, especially four-wheel drive models. However, they can still be spotted on trails today, especially in the southern United States where tinworm is less of an issue.
After fifteen years on the American market, the Nissan Frontier has eclipsed the lifespan of the Hardbody. Lacking the refinement now expected in the segment, it lags behind its competitors in key areas such as available technology, safety features, powertrain, and efficiency. While not the innovator that the D21 Hardbody was, the Frontier provides a rugged simplicity reminiscent of it’s slab-sided predecessor, something notably missing from models like the Honda Ridgeline. Is today’s Frontier the future’s Hardbody? There’s no denying that the Frontier is in dire need of an overhaul, but there is something to be appreciated in the Frontier’s brutal honesty. It may not be a practical replacement for a family crossover but it carries on the Hardbody’s mission of delivering a tough, reliable truck with “not an ounce of fat on it.”
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