This 1987 Nissan Pathfinder may in fact be one of the nicest ones left, especially considering how few of these first-generation 4x4s remain on the road anywhere except for the sun-drenched West Coast. This one has just over 60,000 miles and is about as loaded as it got for 1987, featuring the two-door body with power steering, a sunroof, and tow hitch rear bumper. Despite being a Canadian market vehicle, the body appears to show no evidence of living in snowy confines, other than some surface rust on the undercarriage. Find it here on eBay with a $7,995 Buy-It-Now.
The seller has also listed the option to submit a best offer, but I don’t think they’re too far off in the asking price. These early Japanese square body SUVs are exceptionally hard to find in condition like this, especially if you’ve been hunting for an elusive two-door body. The listing claims the most recent owner treated the vehicle like a collector car and it shows. The tires also appear to have nice bite to them yet, and while I do like a modest lift on vehicles like this, it’s nice to see that this one remains completely stock. Check out the bumpers and trim – no signs of ugly sun fade.
The interior is a classic style for the era in which this truck was built, featuring oxblood red cloth and plastic as far as the eye can see. The buckets still look to have healthy bolstering, and the carpets show no signs of soiling. Original Nissan speakers remain in the doors and the dash shows no signs of cracking. This Pathfinder is equipped the right way, with a conventional manual transmission and crank windows – the kind of vehicle you can confidently take into the rough country without too much concern over things breaking. The seller notes the odometer shows mileage in kilometers.
The engine bay isn’t meticulously detailed, but it’s still quite tidy for a truck of this age. The hood insulating pad shows no signs of wear like most of them do by this juncture, and the seller reports that it runs and drives quite well with no obvious issues. This generation of Nissan product was fairly robust, hailing from the era of Maximas wholly deserving of the “Four-Door Sports Car” moniker and Z-cars that looked as exotic as the name implied. It’s a shame to see what the company has become, and Pathfinders like these are reminders of why the brand earned loyal customers in the 80s.
This is real sharp. I like the red interior a lot. I had that color interior once before and you rarely see it anymore. I went to the international auto show a week ago and not a single
Nissan product was exciting or impressive in any way. It’s sad really. In the 80’s even the Stanza was impressive against its competition I thought.
This is from the days when Nissan used to take a pick up frame, put an enclosed body on top and make an honest body on frame SUV. Beginning in 2013, they switched to a unibody construction and created another glorified station wagon.
Actually, the Pathfinder was a unibody for another generation, I think it was the one that followed this. As a consequence, Pathfinder has been BOF, unibody, BOF, then unibody again,
As far as being a “glorified station wagon”, it could be debated that the transition started in the second generation.
AND a manual transmission? This should sell soon…
I love this! It is more than I would like to pay, but I think it will sell due to condition and rarity. It’s hard to find even ones in poor condition for this vintage. Most have rusted away by now.
Puts the boss in Trail Boss
I had a 1995 4 door. Ran like a top! Had 175,000 miles on it in Indiana 4 seasons. Got a bit rusty. Gave it to a good friend. It was a very dependable ride!
love my 02 xterra….oh how the mighty have fallen….
I remember the introduction of the Pathfinder advertising by Nissan: it followed a young couple driving down to central America in weekly(?) updates. We did the same trip but in a Toyota back in 87.
We owned two of these over the years and they have one of the best engines Nissan made. Simply great vehicles.
I daily drive a 94, “four door sports car” maxima, with 80k.
Very nice example of a very rare truck but make sure you read the listing entirely! The seller denotes the floorboard has rusted away into the wheel well since this was a New York truck it’s whole life aside from being sold in Canada.
I read the listings description and it says the floorboard has a hole NEAR the wheel well. My guess is that it is a typical “coffee can sized” hole under the pedals, and could probably be fixed easily once you remove the carpeting on the driver’s side.
But your point is well taken, if there is even a small hole it may require a decent sized patch if moisture was allowed to soak into the carpet and accumulate.
Great Truck! With bulletproof engine, had several of them. The streets (and woods/beaches) of New Zealand are still filled with these! The Kiwis just love them.
Just clicked the link, fully anticipating that someone would have bought it by now. But no. Eight grand doesn’t buy you much in the way of a used 4X4. I know ’cause I just bought a used Ford Ranger p-up. I’m half tempted to buy it but for one reason- my use would be real winter detail in Northern Minnesota, and it would be a travesty to abuse a vehicle so lovingly cared-for, to the chemicals we use. I hope someone buys and cherishes this cool truck!
Weak link on these was auto tranny the v6 stick will bury the same era Toyota with the 3.0 leaker
I wanted one of these when they first came out. Couldn’t afford it at the time. These and the Forerunners of the time were the bomb. I now have a manual 2010 Xterra OR since new, pushing 120k miles and feel it’s a worthy substitute. Beaches, dirt roads or pavement, all great. Sadly, Nissan has indeed lost its way. They killed the Xterra in 2015 after only 2 generations. The Pathfinder of today is not worthy of its name.
I certainly remember when these first came out.They were introduced a year after I purchased my 86.5 Nissan “Hardbody”pickup.Mine was black with SE-V6 trim level with extended cab.Like this I had the stick plus 4×4 shifter on the floor.I owned the truck for 15 years before selling it to a relative.Nissan made great products back then.