One of the smartest vintage vehicles to buy – in my opinion – is an old-school SUV, especially one with a short wheelbase and removable top. The Brocno and K5 Blazer certainly deserve a seat at this table, but I more immediately think of rigs like this Nissan Patrol and the first-generation Toyota 4Runner. Whether you actually use them as intended, i.e. on a forest road or washed out trail, or you simply drive it to the beach, there will always be a buyer in either camp waiting to make it their own. This 1966 Nissan Patrol is a claimed barn find that runs and drives but will need brake work. Find it here on eBay with bidding at $590 and the reserve unmet.

Man, this Patrol looks good. I dig the Patrol right out of the box because it isn’t an FJ40. Now, I love the FJ40 Landcruiser – I just saw one today, fully restored, that made my jaw drop – but the Patrol is such a bargain in comparison. Every FJ40, even ones that look like this, pull very real money. You’re not going to get into one for less than $1,000 that runs and drives, but I’m guessing slightly more than that amount will get you into this Patrol. The bodywork is tired, certainly, and in need of paint, but it doesn’t appear to be porous or otherwise suffering from extensive rot. The Patrol rides on later steel wheels painted bronze on what looks like new tires.

The Patrol has the notoriety of being the only Nissan-branded vehicle sold in the U.S. at the time, as they were sold through Datsun dealers which had yet to change their names. The Patrol, like the FJ40, was agricultural in spirit and used for military exercises as well as for civilian use. Unlike most Japanese vehicles at the time, the Patrol was powered by a 4.0L inline-six cylinder engine, which should provide respectable get-up-and-go (for what it is, at least, which is not a vehicle you would ever consider hustling.) More my point is that most Japanese trucks at this point were four cylinders, so the Patrol at least had an engine behind it that was fitting for a vehicle built for going to the far reaches of the Earth.

The Patrol presents well inside, despite any level of creature comforts being scarce. This is the kind of truck you can hose out when it gets filthy inside, or just let the open air cockpit do its best to blow out the dust. The seller claims he doesn’t know the history of the Patrol, so finding out why it went into the barn in the first place will remain a mystery. The Nissan’s location in Texas helps explain why a vehicle with sensitive Japanese sheetmetal has survived to such a degree, and overall, there’s a lot to like on this highly original specimen that will need a paint job and some upholstery work inside. The bidding is too low at the moment, so it will be interesting to see whether the reserve is set much higher than the current bid and what it will take from potential buyers to get it done.