Nissan has an interesting history when it comes to trucks. If you look back at trucks branded as Nissan, you could only go back a few decades before you ran out of names. However, Nissan has actually been making trucks nearly as long as any other old automaker. The company began making trucks as early as the 1930s under the Datsun name. It wasn’t until 1983 that Nissan started using its name on trucks. That means Nissan has sold trucks longer under the Datsun name than it did under the Nissan name. 

While most people are familiar with Nissan’s current lineup of trucks, fewer may be aware of Nissan’s longer history with its Datsun lineup, which also included cars. So, when it comes to truck design, Nissan has been at it for only a decade less than Ford when it comes to making trucks and Ford was credited with making the first production pickup truck. That means there are tons of Nissan-built trucks on the market.

With Nissan discontinuing the Maxima and shifting toward EVs, there may come a time when Nissan stops making gas-powered trucks altogether, so it’s good to appreciate them while we can. Here are some of Nissan’s most inspired truck designs, which ranged from consumer-level vehicles to commercial box trucks. They may not always be the coolest trucks, but Nissan still knows how to put a truck together. Since looks are subjective, the list is ordered from newest to oldest when it comes to Nissan’s lineup.

Not only is the Nissan Frontier one of the most reliable vehicles that Nissan currently makes, but it also looks mean. Nissan is currently in the third generation of the Frontier, and they have hit a high point in the truck’s design. The body features a muscular design that looks rugged, and there is good use of black accents on the grill and along the lower portion of the front bumper. The boxy shape is quite truckish without overdoing it and the inside is tastefully functional without being too drab or too much. 

We consider the third-generation Frontier the best that Nissan has made yet, and for good reason. It received a tech upgrade from the prior generation. Nissan also makes the PRO-4X model, which comes with upgraded shocks, underbody skid plates, and an electronic locking differential. Nissan includes other goodies as well, including a couple of bed upgrades and LED lighting in the cargo area for easier vision at night. Pair that with its dashing looks, and you have a pretty decent overall truck that’ll get the job done for most people. 

It’s a smaller truck, so its tow capacity isn’t too amazing at a hair over 6,700 pounds. For a truck that is meant for weekend trips to Home Depot and towing the occasional weekend toy, the Frontier does it all pretty well and is criminally underrated in the world of trucks. 

While we’re fawning over Nissan’s most recent trucks, you can add the Titan and Titan X to the list of trucks that look pretty awesome. Nissan kept the design language similar here, so you see a similar sculpted hood, strong grill design, and muscular stance. This truck is larger than the Frontier, so the sculpting is more of an accent than a full design for the entire truck. Thus, the Titan has smoother body lines than the Frontier, which gives it a slightly classic, old-school look. 

It is an all-around superior truck to the Frontier in terms of specs. It has a larger engine, more towing capacity, a larger bed, and a higher price tag. The interior space is also like the Frontier where it’s obviously a truck but still functional. Folks who enjoy a little less pizzazz in their interiors will almost certainly like the Titan and Titan X over some of the competition. The standard 5.6-liter V8 is also your only engine option.

For the most part, Nissan doesn’t sell a lot of Titans because of the strength of the competition in the truck space. Ford, Dodge, and GMC have added more luxury along with things like hybrid powertrains that detract for the simpler, old-school approach Nissan has been taking with its trucks. Even so, the Titan has a certain charm which looks modern on the outside but feels like the best trucks of yesteryear on the inside.

The Nissan Navara is what Nissan calls the Nissan Frontier when it’s sold in markets that aren’t North America. If you look at a picture of both, you can see the familial resemblance, but the Navara is different from its North American counterpart in the looks department. The Frontier features a boxier, design, especially around the grill. Meanwhile, the Navara has a smaller, more angular grill and smoother body lines than the Frontier. We think it looks rather dashing, even if one could make the argument that the front end looks a bit busy. 

While the two trucks are very similar, Europe got a refreshed Navara before North America received a refresh of the Frontier, which is likely why the two look different. Nissan also changes the look quite a bit based on the trim level. To get the more interesting design elements, you’ll have to step up to a Calibre-X or higher. Reviewers praise the truck for its looks, comfortable ride, and decent capability. It’s a tad on the expensive side depending on which region you’re in but otherwise, it’s every bit as capable as the Frontier. The interior isn’t the greatest, but it has the simple truck aesthetic that some people genuinely enjoy. 

You won’t find this truck in North America unless you import one. Despite its nice looks and capable demeanor, Nissan is currently struggling to sell the Navara in some parts of the world. It seems to be well liked in Asia, Australia, and parts of Africa, but sells less than 1,000 units per year in Europe.

Nissan was also on the right track in terms of design with the prior generation of the Titan and Titan X. It didn’t look quite as modern as the most recent generation but still had enough of that boxy, truck-like look while still having smooth lines and a good-looking body. Nissan came out with the second-generation Titan in 2016. It sported big headlights and a surprisingly nice grill design that made the front of the truck pop. In 2020, the Titan received a facelift that changed the design to something a little flatter but still appealing. It kept that look until 2024, the final year of the second generation.

There wasn’t too much wrong with the Nissan Titan back then. For the most part, it had the same weaknesses as the current generation does. Simply put, the bigger truck makers where the Titan was a bit more expensive to get into and trailed class leaders in the big metrics like towing capacity and luxury. The older Titan came with a standard V8 engine, a smooth ride, and a familiar, if somewhat dated interior design. The 2024 Titan could tow a maximum of 9,290 pounds when properly equipped. That pales in comparison to the Ford F-150, Dodge Ram, and GM’s offerings but it’s still not too bad.

In any case, the biggest pro of these trucks these days is that you can get into them for not that much money comparatively speaking. A maxed out 2020 Nissan Titan goes for between $30,000 and $35,00 these days, give or take depending on your region. 

Some may not have known that Nissan made box trucks. One such box truck was the NT500. It sported a flat front, which offered excellent visibility for the driver, while the roomy interior was comfortable. Its smooth, futuristic style made for an attractive option in this space and its light-medium duty capability made it a somewhat decent option for smaller businesses or cargo shipments. In short, the NT500 was charming all around, although it does look a little front-heavy without a box on the back of it. 

Nissan made this box truck in five configurations, which included 3.5-ton, five-ton, six-ton, 6.5-ton, and 7.5-ton GVW. The biggest difference between them was wheelbase more than anything, so some NT500s are longer than others. All variants of the vehicle used a 3.0-liter ZD30 inline-four engine that included various modifications to make it Euro 6 compliant. A four-cylinder may not have been the best choice for a cargo truck, but it could still carry what it needed to carry within its weight limits. 

Although it was a fun-looking little box truck, many consumers didn’t agree. Nissan reportedly had problems selling the truck, which ultimately led to its discontinuation in 2017. Per the reports, Nissan only sold about 7,000 total trucks during its production run versus Nissan’s production goal of 100,00 units per year, so it’s pretty easy to see why the truck was discontinued. We still think it looks better than the Nissan Atleon that the NT500 replaced.

The Nissan NT400 was also a pretty adorable little work truck. Nissan sold this as a cutaway so owners could put what they wanted on the back. That could be a box to make it a box truck, or a flatbed for those types of uses. In fact, the NT400 could be loaded onto an NT500 to give you a sense of scale as to how each vehicle was sized. The NT400 also featured a flat nose, making for great visibility, and Nissan described the cabin as being easy to use and spacious.

The NT400 was powered by two four-cylinder engines, both of which were Euro 6 compliant. One made around 130 horsepower and the other bumped it up to 150 horsepower. While this was made for work, you couldn’t do any serious hauling with it like you can with larger, more powerful box trucks. This little guy was likely best used for transporting lighter cargo or moving things around in an industrial or construction setting that didn’t weigh too much. Like the NT500, it came with four different wheelbase lengths, resulting in more capability as the wheelbase got longer. 

With such a niche product, even its good looks couldn’t save it. Nissan canceled the NT400, and at the same time, it canceled the NT500 and withdrew from making small work trucks in Europe altogether in 2019. It’s an unfortunate story from Nissan because the trucks looked quite nice but simply didn’t resonate with potential customers.

The Nissan D21 is about as close as it gets to being an iconic Nissan truck. It’s referred to as the hardbody thanks to its durability. The truck featured a reinforced double-walled bed that helped add structural rigidity to the truck itself. It was also known as being a particularly difficult truck to kill with many stories online about its high mileage potential and reliability. It’s also one of Nissan’s longest-running trucks. The brand started making it in 1986 and discontinued the D21 in 1997. It continued to sell the truck in Central America for another couple of years.

There was a lot to like about the D21. It was a plucky small truck with an enduring design. Nissan didn’t change it much over its production lifespan with only minor aesthetic changes over 11 years. Most of the changes were under the hood as the truck ran several four and six-cylinder engines. Most of those engines were fairly weak by today’s standards but got the truck up and moving.

Perhaps the best part of the D21 was its wide array of color options. By our count, there were over 30 paint color options over the course of the truck’s life. Most of them were various shades of red, blue, gray, silver, black, and white. However, some teals, yellows, and other interesting colors made their way into the lineup. That helped add to the visual appeal of the otherwise small and fun little D21. 

The best part of the Nissan Sunny Truck is that it was called the Nissan Sunny Truck. That isn’t a nickname, either. You could go to a dealership lot and ask for a Nissan Sunny Truck and the salesman would acquiesce. The truck was born from the Nissan Sunny car, which the brand sold for 11 generations from 1966 to the present day. Thus, not only is the Sunny the most fun car name in existence right now but it’s also one of Nissan’s longest-running name badges. The Sunny Truck was a Sunny with a truck bed attached. Nissan made it from the early 1970s until 1989. 

The truck was a precursor to the D21, and you can see some of the same design elements for the small truck. In terms of styling, it was fairly mundane for its day. However, it has become a favorite for enthusiasts, who have come up with all sorts of cool designs for it. You can find a myriad of YouTube videos of people dropping stronger engines into the Sunny Truck and making it go fast. Thus, there are tons of designs where the Sunny Truck looks like a race truck with custom designs, paint colors, and rims. 

While Nissan still makes the Sunny, the Sunny truck is likely a thing of the past. It is also the closest Nissan ever came to developing a car-truck hybrid like the Chevy El Camino or Ford Ranchero. 

The Datsun 220 was another excellent little Nissan truck. These were produced under the Datsun banner from 1959 through 1965 and have a pretty unique design for their day. Most carmakers were leaning into the softer, more pillowy designs of the day, like we saw in the Ford F-100. However, some automakers went in the opposite direction with more utilitarian trucks. Enter the Datsun 220, which looks conspicuously like as Dodge Power Wagon from the same era. Nissan refers to the Datsun 220 as the first compact truck in the U.S.

This thing looks awesome. The wagon-like truck bed is a departure from the integrated beds we see in trucks today, and the front of the truck looks like two eyes and a mouth, especially when viewed from the correct angle. In addition, Nissan had a habit of matching the wheels and body paint color, which made the truck look all that much cooler. It wasn’t the most powerful truck in the world, but Nissan rarely ever held that distinction in its trust business. The truck ran on a four-cylinder C engine that also happened to be Nissan’s first overhead valve (OHV) engine. Nissan called it the “stone engine” because of its durability. 

Nissan credits this truck with helping the brand get off the ground in the U.S. It sold well enough that it allowed Nissan to continue to justify making cars for the American market. When it’s in its red color, Nissan refers to this truck as the “The Little Red Truck,” which is just icing on the cake. 

Before Nissan put its badges on trucks, it built trucks under the Datsun name and the Datsun 17T was one of the earliest models. Nissan released the truck in 1938 and built it until 1945. First and foremost, look at this piece of artwork. It’s small, plucky, and adorable all at the same time. With the slight bend in the frame and the comically small bed, this thing looks equal parts like a cartoon and a child’s toy. What’s not to love here? It also looked cool compared to other trucks of that era.

The truck was powered by a water-cooled inline four that would probably be at home today on a riding lawnmower. Back then, trucks were used primarily as work vehicles, so you wouldn’t see kids driving around in these like you would today. Nissan says that the 17T was built mostly for small-lot transportation, self-owned shops, and department stores in Japan to help people move stuff around more easily. 

In any case, many people didn’t even know that Nissan made trucks as far back as the 1930s. There was a whole family of Datsun vehicles back then but the rest of them were cars. They did, and this is what those trucks looked like. Between this and the D21, it seems like a lot of Nissan’s best-looking trucks were on the smaller side. It would be pretty neat to see them make a small truck again someday.