Wild Grace Nissan Frontier team pays tribute to Classic Hardbody

The upcoming theme Rebels rally seems to be retro This year. Nissan joined Mitsubishi yearning for the glory days with its own retro livery that the automaker’s team, Wild grace, will work on their 2022 Frontier Pro-4x. It’s a decent attempt to stir up good memories, but it really makes me miss the Nissan bodywork that much more.

The Toyota pickup truck Usually gets all the attention when you consider old-school (really) compact pickups, but I think the Hardbody is just as cool. Its squat, squat bonnet and low headlights gave the small truck a little bit of pace, even with those big, cool headlights. And when the Hardbody sports its colorful rally livery, it’s just glorious!

The colors remind me Bronco 4600, which was another attempt to pay homage, but from Ford. I said it then; I will say it now. Chrome wheels are expected for a return. Nissan’s Champion Hardbody just provides further proof that you can’t just wrap an off-roader in bold primary colors and then cut its bottom half with black or dark-colored wheels! And while we’re at it, why aren’t painted bumpers a thing? Holy shit, look at that blue bumper.

The ’22 Frontier is a much more capable machine, but next to the Hardbody it looks boring. Here’s what Nissan threw on its new rally pickup to set it apart from its stock Pro-4X counterparts, and to build it up for competition:

• Nismo all-terrain AXIS wheels (17 “)
• Nismo Off-Road 4 “lights
• Nismo Off-Road Performance Suspension Kit (2 “lift)
• Nismo Off-Road Performance Exhaust

You can see the new Frontier tear up the rally stage from October 7th. The competition will last eight days and cover more than 1,500 miles of desert in Arizona, California and Nevada. Follow it here.