Patrol Model History in South Africa

[SJC]

Where was it build if the vin starts with “adnc”?

[Peter Connan]

Those (mine is one) were built in SA.

Exactly where in SA is a bit of a mystery though. I have been told they were built in the Merc factory but not sure if that is true.

[SJC]

Those (mine is one) were built in SA.

Exactly where in SA is a bit of a mystery though. I have been told they were built in the Merc factory but not sure if that is true.

Ek soek graag meer inligting oor hierdie speeifieke model.

Is hierdie model se diff ratio 4.11 of 3.9?

Petrol is tank 95l?
As ek myne op half merk, vol maak vat hy net 40 liter...

Hoe groot ($$$) ombouing is dit om op te gradeer na n tb45?

[Peter Connan]

4.11

Nie seker nie, myne het aftermarket tanks op. Maar ek sou nie die akkuraztheid van die gauge vertrou sonder om hom paar keer van vol af leeg te ry nie.

Met carb of fuel injection? En wat wil jy eintlik bereik? In standaard vorm is daar nie veel verskil in krag nie.

[Arrie]

Hi all,

I am new to the forum, and while looking through it came upon this post. I believe I can shed some light on the history of the Y60 Patrol in South Africa.
I was employed in 1995 as a student engineer by Nissan South Africa and together with a group of about 19 other students, were tasked to “assemble” the Patrols at the Rosslyn factory in Pretoria. I use the term “assemble” very loosely as the Patrols were imported from Japan in SKD (Semi Knocked Down) form. The vehicles were fully assembled in Japan and then stripped of some parts. If I remember correctly this was done to take advantage of an import duty loophole to bring the vehicles in as parts and not vehicles which had a lower import duty. This meant we received a container with the following items removed from the vehicle:
• Wheels
• Doors
• Front & Rear Bumpers
• All Seats
• All Lights
• Grille
• Bonnet

It was then our responsibility to re-fit all of these items and have it go through wheel alignment, water test and road test. The original Japanese Vin plate was removed and replaced by a South African VIN plate making it look like the vehicles were assembled in Rosslyn, South Africa. (Half Truth)

From there they were shipped to your local dealer and sold.

For me, the easiest way to distinguish between a Nissan South Africa import and a Patrol which was imported by someone else is the big white lamp on the side of the fenders which lights up in the direction the indicator is turned on. (A cheaper solution to turning headlights) We had to remove the globe on these lights and disconnect the harness. (Something I quickly re-connected after I bought my Y60)

Only two engine derivatives were imported, the TB42 and TD42, and only LWB 7 seaters. (Some had higher specification with a fridge in the back.) If my memory is correct, we only imported and built 500 of them over a 6-month period. Nissan SA never imported the SWB nor the ZD30 derivatives.

For interest, the first 200SX’s (about 200 units) and Infiniti Q45’s (50 units) were also imported and assembled in the same way in that time. I ended up in the Process Engineering department a couple of years later and was tasked to lay down the processes for disassembling and re-assembling the Terrano 2, Maxima and Almera models from the UK, but due to the 9-11 incident this project was scrapped.

[SJC]

Very interesting thanks for the info.

For me, the easiest way to distinguish between a Nissan South Africa import and a Patrol which was imported by someone else is the big white lamp on the side of the fenders which lights up in the direction the indicator is turned on.

This sideways light when using the indicators is probably one of the coolest futures on the y60.
What was the reason for it to be disconnected?
I did not own mine since new so cannot confirm if it was disconnected initially.

[Arrie]

The Lights were disconnected as they were not legal according to traffic department. As part of homologation they had to be disconnected. Similarly the High Level Driving lights on the first X-Trials imported to SA were (at first) also not legal and had to be disconnected.

[Peter Connan]

Thanks Arrie, that's interesting.
Can you possibly remember what the VIN numbers look like?

A lot of our Y60's have VIN numbers starting with ADNC which according to Nissan South Africa were "grey imports" as the numbers don't come up on their computer system, but the VIN plate clearly states "Made in South Africa". Are they these ones or something else?

[Arrie]

The models with ADNC VIN's are the ones built in 1995 at Nissan SA. The VIN's were changed to make them appear to be built in SA. These VIN's were never uploaded when Nissan converted to the Electronic Parts Catalogue which was done centrally by Japan. (That is why new cars sometimes do not appear on the EPC until a couple of months later.) The dealer I used to deal with used the Safari Model on the electronic parts catalogue to look up parts.

I still need to check, but according to the workshop manuals the VIN should also be stamped on the chassis (Front LH). That VIN could not be changed.