With today’s supply chain issues and absurd car prices requiring 84-month financing, we need to be thankful for little things in the automotive world. For example, yesterday I followed one of those fourth generation Toyota Prius models with the absurd amount of surface detailing and giant-lips lower rear window; I was happier than a pig in mud to remember that this thing had recently been discontinued and replaced with a design that is ultra clean and simple:
Hell, the old one even had a concave upper rear window and odd dip in the rear “wing” that looks for all the world like the drunken-vampire-face back of a 1959 Chevy. Toyota claimed this was for aerodynamic efficiency, which is sort of odd when you remember the claims (unsubstantiated) that the shape of the old Chevy’s tailfins actually sucked the back of the car off of the ground at speed:
Seeing this comparison of old Prius versus current one makes me feel a lot better; it gives me hope for the same type of changes in truck design.
Can You Make The Grille Bigger Please?
The “more is more” philosophy of design seems rather popular with pickup trucks today. Manufacturers started to add these eyelash extensions and monstrous radiator grilles to make their trucks seem “tough” and stand out from the crowd, yet now their appearance is so homogenous that they all look the same. There’s a lot going on visually, and while some manufacturers do the detailing better than others it’s almost pointless to nitpick which ones are the most successful:
The bottom line is that the trend is starting to reach a critical mass where there’s really nowhere else to go. Like tall tail fins at the end of the fifties, it’s becoming virtually impossible to upstage anyone by adding more or going bigger.
Just like in 1960, the pendulum may have to swing back in the other direction towards cleanliness soon. Personally, I’m looking forward to that time.
The Golden Age?
Looking at pickups, they seemed to start out as very industrial looking things nearly a century ago, then gained up the styling trends of the fifties, sixties, and seventies before finally reaching what I consider to be their ultimate state of Truck Purity in the late eighties. The 1988 fourth generation General Motors C/K were, to me, the perfect blend of pure modernist design and clean functionality. Concurrent Fords like the eighth generation one Jason owns now are good examples as well (not to mention the clean, aero tenth generation model that our own Matt likes as well).
These were vehicles that didn’t try to upstage each other with grilles so tall that anyone under six feet can’t shut the hood when it’s open and you need a camera to see anything closer than about twenty feet ahead of you. Like Steve McQueen or James Garner, they were good looking and appeared to be tough without trying hard.
Dumb Name On A Brilliant Truck
Easily one of my favorites of this era was the 1986 Nissan compact with the somewhat cringe-inducing title of “Hardbody” (which conjures image of spandex-and-leg-warmer-clad fitness buffs gyrating to Olivia Newton John’s song “Physical”). Almost everything is right with this little pickup and the antithesis of truck design today. No overly-stamped side panels, absurd grilles the size of a house, or fussy looking headlamps ten feet off of the ground with this thing. A simple box shape with minimalist fender bulges to break up the sides and low horizontal band of a grille below an angry-puppy-dog sheetmetal brow; the split between the grille and this ‘eyebrow’ continues as a detail around the entire truck. Clean, simple, beautiful, with nothing contrived, nothing superfluous; it’s unapologetically a truck.
Ford got the ball rolling on the compact truck revival with the Maverick, and now it looks like Toyota and Nissan are going to release competitive products quite soon. Predictions on the look of the Toyota offering (called the “Stout” after a 1960s model) show the expected scaling down of the Tacoma or like a Maverick with different detailing or “light signatures.” Nissan concept sketches are floating about, yet the ones I’ve seen seem to missing the perfect opportunity to pay homage to their Miami Vice-era Hardbody masterpiece. I did observe that Nissan presented a Frontier-based “Hardbody” tribute not ago, and it was a disappointment to say the least. They replicated the awesome original alloy wheels, added a roof bar with spotlights, and…that was it. Were they serious? This thing has nothing to do with the eighties mini-truck icon.
The Revival
We need to give this a shot ourselves. Translating the styling of the old Hardbody to a new truck is surprisingly easy, to the point that you have put an image of the old one next to the concept sketch to tell the difference. It’s a truly clean form, and I’ve kept all of the trademark features of the original; the low band of grille, the subtle fender bumps, and the detail line that runs around the entire perimeter of the truck. Yes, the standard four door would likely be the primary format, but I had to add a “King Cab” style two-door-looking thing (with suicide rear doors) for old times sake (including the way the rear quarter windows wrap into the roof).
In back there’s an available two-way tailgate with the stamped in “old skool” logo (though it is tough for someone my age to see that logo as nearly forty years old). Note the stamped depression that blends in with the back-up lights in the taillamp clusters. A fold down step and cover for the hitch area cleans up the bumper area.
Workmanlike Cabin
The interior of the original Hardbody followed the exterior’s simple, functional design:
We’ll do the same thing on the interior of the new “tribute” truck. If I were to write one of those pretentious high-minded sounding press releases, I would say that the clean, pure shape of a steel I-beam would be the inspiration for the new truck’s dashboard. Vents with a similar look to those in the grille sit at the top, while the void space houses the monitors (since I refuse to have them jut out of the dash as if they’re Best Buy monitors like most new vehicles today). In fact, both monitors can lift up to reveal more storage space (I know GM did this trick- why don’t more people do this?).
While the monitors are touch screens, there are still plenty of big, chunky rubber covered knobs and buttons for primary functions that can be operated while wearing dirty work gloves.
Is The World Ready For Pure Truck Again?
What will the future hold? One great thing about the EV revolution is the lack of need for a radiator grille which should be a practical reason to end the madness. Will there be a sea change like after the Taurus debuted in 1986 amidst the landau roofs and hood ornaments of the maliase era? Maybe Toyota follow the example of the outstanding made-over Prius with the next generation of trucks? Someone will be the first to make the leap; could this golden-era Nissan be the inspiration?
No Longer Cheap, But Still Cheerful: 1995 Nissan Hardbody vs 1987 Dodge Ram 50 – The Autopian
No nits to pick with this one: it’s perfect just the way it is. I’m not even a truck guy, but I’d drive this happily.
Is it just me, or does this pickup appear to have an underbite? Completely coincidental, but I am at the dentist.
Nissan should just buy the Alpha Wolf design. I’m not a truck guy, but I love that design.
We can agree that the “Hardbody” name is kind of gross, but that name was never actually used in the US market. Mine says “1994 Nissan Truck” on the title.
Also, in this generation of pickup, there were no suicide doors on the extended cab flavor.
Rust Buckets- the “Hardbody” was purely a marketing thing. Never official. I know that the King Cab was purely a two door, but I figured for a new truck the public would never consider something with at least suicide doors in back. People today can’t deal with folding seats forward (which is funny since I was around 12 when my family got their first four door car..and that included two door station wagons).
suicide doors are not necessary, you can do the weird tall window or perhaps even just emulate it with decals, but at this point anything less than 4 real doors is a non starter for most.
Probably not a popular opinion and not exactly contemporary styling but I’d love to see this in a version where everything below the belt line is unpainted plastic a la Honda Element. Very practical and I think could (potentially?) complement the clean utilitarian aesthetic.
Seems like Toyota missed the boat here on the new Tacoma… They could have factory stamped YO into the tailgate, complete with a giant light bar package.
I know these are just promo pics, but my brain is refusing to process them as anything other than memes about how nonsensically gigantic pick-up truck grilles have become.
I saw a new Suburban this weekend, and they seriously look like they have no front bumper, just a giant grill opening. It was fairly incongruous, given what we mentally expect when we see the front of a vehicle.
The large stamped rear logo brings this to mind: how come we haven’t seen cars do this yet?
In our social media-fueled era of very conspicuous consumption (logos on many things are gigantic, people are leaving shipping protectors on their front ends, etc.), it would seem natural at this point for some automaker (maybe like the one at hand here) slap a large, decklid-spanning manufacturer name across the rear.
When the current generation of trucks was being introduced last year, I saw the retro-liveried show model at the Chicago show and approved. White steelies with center caps and a properly retro stripe scheme down the sides rocked and made the truck far more appealing than anything they’re doing with it right now.
Pics of that show truck: https://photos.app.goo.gl/dPJ86YHgTHxsnUHB8
retro logo is so much better than the current one.
Detroit-Lightning: I know, rigth? Even the original hamburger one was better than this
I can’t believe I am saying this but your design needs more grill. Incorporate the 3 punchouts into the grill, add a slightly more modern headlight treatment and I’m in.
SquareTaillight- to throw more into the mix, what if it ends up being an EV? Then it doesn’t need a grille at all and then the whole lower grille could be a light bar with fake 3 punchouts above.
You want a hardbody? I’ll show you a hardbody!”
*pulls up image of 2021 Rebelle Rally Frontier.*
“Wait. What did you think I was talking about?”
I am not super fond of the exterior, but as always, the interior is on-point.
In the real world though, they would have to increase the Screen sizes in the dash to keep up with the joneses. AKA the Ford Bronco.
For once we’re on the same page…..clean design has always resonated with me, and the idea that someone can build a truck that’s not huge and ugly is inspiring……so, make it so number 1!
The one thing that would keep me out of the market is their insistence on making it a 4 door. It’s just not necessary, especially in a small truck. They sold millions of these things in the 80’s, I think the Maverick shows that the market is still there….
Sorry, but that short grille and rounded bumper immediately brought to mind the Rich Boy meme: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/dat-ass
And as much as I consider the D21 the pinnacle of Nissan pickups, the retro go-to for me would be the 620 “bulletside” design.
I hope you are right about us seeing a return to clean, honest pickup design. I’d love to see the massive grills shrink and noses dip down. Would also be nice to see pickups that prioritize load floor access (lower load floors and/or side gates would be great on mid/full size pickups).
You are right that more companies should do this. When the Ford Maverick started showing interior photos and had the weird tiny cubby next to theirs, I assumed they were going to. Would have been a nice move.
Ah… I really liked the King Cab (as it was called over here) when it was launched. The clean surfacing, those quattroesque ripped fenders and that distinct and very 80’s quarter window detail (which is also could be found on the Civic Shuttle and the Tercel 4X4 and long before the LR Discovery)
Love it – now do a tribute 1st gen Pathfinder (call it XTerra if you must). Always loved these little trucks and the Pathfinder siblings. Friend had a ’91 4 door Pathfinder in college and that thing was an absolute hoot.
tbird- Yes! Especially the two door with the angled-detail side window that echoed the rear window and taillights of the concurrent Pulsar NX. Remember they had the S13 200SX, Z32 300ZX, and the third generation Maxima about this time as well. Talk about a company firing on all cylinders.
A five-speed ’91 Nissan Pathfinder remains to this day my highest-mileage-ever vehicle: 365,000 miles when I sold it, and still running strong. I just got tired of chasing electrical gremlins in it. Amazing truck. Awful gas mileage for its size, but spectacularly useful.
For me pickups were at their absolute best in regards to design in the early to late seventies, but that’s probably just me. That said the redesigned hardbody Nissan would be the best looking truck in the market today if it actually came to showrooms like that.
Prius story: wife had the one before the ugly redesign. Went to trade her Prius and she saw the new one. Her reaction? Yeah, absolutely hated it. So much so she gave up the mileage of the Prius for a Grand Cherokee. Design so bad that mileage and money savings didn’t matter.
Fund it. I love everything about this concept.
A couple of observations… First, no modern car has ever made me do a spit-take quite like the first time I saw a Tailfin Prius. Absolutely the most ridiculous, “What were they thinking???” car design in modern memory.
As for Nissan Hardbodies, I probably go against the general consensus, but I never had even a scrap of affection for them. The rolled-over hood sheetmetal with punched-out vents always seemed overly big and blunt, like an attempt to make an otherwise unassuming and utilitarian small truck look bigger than it really is, much like the unattractive ginormous grilles on pickups of all sizes today. (Although in Pathfinder form, it seemed to blend more attractively with the bulky greenhouse body of the little SUV.)
That, and, at least where I lived, the Nissan pickups always seemed to be operated by drivers who swung from either the legendary inattentiveness and road-blocking behavior of soccer moms in minivans, or toward stereotypical BMW-driver levels of automotive dickishness. So, the hardbody tends to be one of the few 80’s vehicles I’ll happily overlook.
I agree, I’ve never liked the front ends of these trucks. The rest of them (and this concept) is A+ though.
I grant there’s an argument to be made that these were a nascent form of the overly-swole aesthetic of modern trucks–certainly relative to comparable Toyotas of the era, they looked bulked-up, though not nearly on the level of the 1994 big-rig Ram, which was unquestionably the beginning of the end.
But I think there’s an honesty in how straight they are. It doesn’t feel like an attempt at masculine overcompensation, it just looks like they took a ruler and designed a truck real quick. I also think it’s the rare truck that looks better in a crew cab than a standard cab, but that could just be because I owned two of them and loved them both.
I spent the weekend camping in the rural upper midwest and nearly everything on wheels was a giant white or black pickup with a giant grill. Ready for that to change.
I can’t see a Nissan Hardbody and not think of the absolutely fascinating documentary “Hands on a Hardbody”, which is about a Nissan dealership in Longview Texas that used to give away a new Hardbody truck to the contestant that could keep one hand on it the longest. It would go 80, 90 or more hours. You can watch it in all it’s amazing VHS glory on YouTube: https://youtu.be/9SfVXyOnj2E
Totally worth watching
King me. This takes me back, but not just that. It shows that continuity of design doesn’t have to be kitschy or retro, just honest and simple, purpose driven. If the dimensions are commensurate with its 80s progenitor, I’d happily purchase one of these.