Nissan Patrol
Reference 2203
The Nissan Patrol GE first appeared in the 1986 Exin Catalogue. It is a pick-up type of vehicle with a closed cab and an open rear for load carrying. The model came with an anti-roll bar set into the open rear section with spotlights attached to it over the rear of the cab. This anti-roll bar with its lights is another fragile part but is more robust than the mirrors so is normally intact except on the most heavily used cars. As it is heat sealed to the body, it cannot be removed to protect it in use. Nissans were fitted with the front winch. It is believed that there were three main colour/livery combinations...
Nissan Patrol Reference 2203
White and blue examples have been seen with the 173 VSD livery and white and red examples with the 1 Nikon livery.
Other Colours
A number of white Nissans have been seen in various liveries. Normally, officially produced white cars would have had red drivers but all the white Nissans I have seen have white drivers. The most credible explanation is that white Nissans were only produced unofficially at the time the factory closed. An Exin employee I spoke to stated that white Nissans were only produced at this time along with other odd colours.
Three other non-standard colours have been seen, black (1 “Nikon”) and turquoise and bright red (both 156 “Nissan”). These match the colours of the non-standard trailers and it is believed that they were all produced at the same time.
Other Colours
The catalogue only ever showed one colour/livery combination for each model. These illustrations were not photographs but drawn and the same drawing was replicated in all succeeding catalogues. All the models illustrated were fairy accurate representations of actual models (Cars page, 1989 catalogue) except for the Nissan. The Nissan illustration corresponds almost exactly to the blue “Nissan” liveried car except it is shown with a red driver, a white tow hook and race number 370. I have never seen a car numbered 370 and it is believed it was never produced.
Catalogue Drawing
