A new Nissan Pathfinder will be revealed later this week, and we’re going to make a prediction. It will have retro design cues taken from the first-generation. It’s not a complete shot in the dark, but it’s close. In this case, we have no insider information; just some circumstantial evidence.
First, let’s take a look at the teaser Nissan released last week previewing the 2022 Pathfinder. The video dated January 29, 2021 shows a lot of mud and dust, and not a paved road in sight.
In the weeks leading up to it, though, Nissan designers based in Japan have been posting images of the first-gen Pathfinder (known as the Terrano in Japan) in their social media. A few days prior to the video, Nissan’s global design chief Alfonso Albaisa posted an early sketch of the original with the accompanying caption:
The beginning of it all. You can see in this Sketch the beginnings of our Pathfinder journey. Tom, Jerry and Doug looking for how to create a new signature for what back then was a straight forward truck/suv segment. Doug Wilson started sketching the roll bar from a pickup as a graphical motif for the SUV. Tom ran with it and eventually it graphically became one with the body maybe a few week after this sketch. Jerry Hirshberg, Tom Semple and Doug Wilson were a force together and a joy to be with.
While this isn’t any proof, it’s not unlike how he teased us with a line drawing of the Z Proto‘s rear a few days before the unveil. Our friend Ken Lee, who heads Nissan’s design of light commercial vehicles, has posted a bit of Terrano content as well, including fellow designer Daisuke Takazawa‘s own Terrano and a visit to the example held at Nissan’s Zama warehouse.
Will this hold up in court? Absolutely not, but call it a gut feeling. And just because it has some throwback design cues doesn’t mean the next Pathfinder will go back to its roots as a true body-on-frame 4×4 (though Nissan would be stupid not to). In any case, we will know the full story on February 4 at the live online reveal.
If Ford can reintroduce the original Bronco, and Jeep is selling like crazy and the 4Runner hasn’t been feminized like the Pathfinder has, yes, the current Pathfinder is a mom car, plus they cancelled the Xterra, lets hope the Pathfinder returns to its original intent…out in the wilderness finding, and making, paths.
We use to call it the Mallfinder