Yes, you can still buy a brand new Y61 Nissan Patrol… in Dubai
Launched in 1997, the Y61 Nissan Patrol endured a 19-year run in Australian showrooms before being discontinued in 2016 – but the 25-year-old off-roader is still available to buy in other markets.
The Y61 (GU) Nissan Patrol departed Australian showrooms in 2016, but the iconic 4×4 continues to be advertised in the United Arab Emirates.
Badged as the Patrol Safari (and Super Safari), the Y61 Patrol is built by Nissan’s Tangier factory in Morocco, for the Middle Eastern and African markets, roughly 25 years on from its debut.
Known as the GU Patrol in right-hand-drive markets such as Australia, Nissan’s off-roader was launched in 1997 as a replacement for the Y60 (GQ) Patrol.
While its Y62 successor arrived in Australia in 2014 (despite being globally launched in 2010), the Y61 Nissan Patrol continued to be sold alongside its successor for two more years until the Japanese factory stopped sending examples Down Under.
Between 1998 and 2000, the GU Patrol accounted for more than 25 per cent of Nissan’s total Australian sales, with Australia acting as the largest market in the world for the rugged four-wheel drive.
In the UAE, the Y61 Nissan Patrol is available to order with a choice of three body styles – a three-door short wheelbase wagon, a five-door standard wheelbase wagon and a two-door ute, known as the Patrol Pickup.
Powering each variant is Nissan’s 4.8-litre, six-cylinder ‘TB48DE’ petrol engine, developing 209kW and 421Nm in Pickup trim while the three and five-door wagons score an additional 30Nm (for 451Nm)
First introduced in 1987, the TB48DE has become notorious for its reliability, with some Middle Eastern tuners extracting more than 2000kW from the engine thanks to modifications such as turbochargers, bigger fuel injectors and stronger internal components.
The five-door Nissan Patrol Safari can be ordered with a choice of five-speed manual or automatic transmissions, sending drive to all four wheels.
While the features of the Nissan Patrol Safari are closely aligned with the Australian-delivered Y61 Patrol, the Super Safari package offers extra equipment catered to off-road enthusiasts.
An electric winch is integrated into the Patrol Super Safari’s front bumper while a pintle hook is fitted to the car’s rear, which Nissan says is “useful for towing disabled vehicles”. Once a LandCruiser recovery vehicle, always a LandCruiser recovery vehicle…
The flagship Nissan Patrol Super Safari variant is also fitted with a set of alloy wheels that feature a similar design to those found on the current Nissan Navara ST-X dual-cab ute in Australia.
Prices for the Nissan Patrol Pickup start from AED145,950 ($AU57,600) and AED152,250 ($AU60,100) plus on-road costs for the manual and automatic, respectively.
The Nissan Patrol Safari starts at AED155,000 (AU$61,200), ranging up to AED208,000 ($AU82,150) for the flagship Super Safari.
In Australia, Y61 Nissan Patrol’s local run ended with the ‘Legend Edition’ in 2016.
The Nissan Patrol Legend Edition went on sale from $57,990 drive-away, powered by a 3.0-litre, four-cylinder turbo-diesel ‘ZD30DDTi’ engine and a choice of a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmissions.
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