I live about ten minutes away. Rodeo Drive IN Beverly HillsSo I always drive around or walk around to see what cars are out there. There are always rare, interesting, and exotic things running around, and even on a slow day I can see at least a few new supercars and some nice classics. On the weekend, I spotted one that really stood out, and it probably wasn’t what you’d expect: a Nissan Patrol two-door with Qatar plates parked in front of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
Any Nissan Patrol would get my attention here because the model was never sold in the United States, although we did get an Americanized version of the sixth-generation four-door Patrol. Fleet. I’ve seen a few 80s patrol cars imported and fitted with US plates, but this one is a different story. It’s a Fifth Generation PatrolThe Patrol was originally launched in 1997 and sold in some markets until 2023, and it looks like this Patrol is one of the last because it looks like new — the plastic covering on the back seat is still there!
I don’t usually like two-door SUVs, but this one Patrol is a cool looking thing. I like the fancy multi-coloured stripes, the asymmetrical split-side-hinged rear doors, the fat tyres and the big fenders. I didn’t get a good picture of the interior, but it’s pretty bare bones with cloth seats and no infotainment screen. This Patrol is the GL 4×4 (I’m not sure what the M badge means), with a 4.8-litre straight-six petrol engine and a manual gearbox.
According to the owner’s Instagram, it appears the car was loaded into a port in the New York City area and driven across the United States to California. Cool. The Patrol isn’t the only car with Middle Eastern license plates driving around Beverly Hills this week. It was parked at the same hotel like this Bugatti Chiron SuperSport 300+ on a Dubai license plate, with windows tinted so dark they might as well be black. The Middle East is hot, after all.
I joked with friends that despite its stock looks, there’s a good chance the Patrol will make more horsepower than the Chiron’s 1,600, because The humble Nissan SUV is a popular vehicle for big-name tuners.. Or at least, if this Patrol hasn’t been reinforced yet, it will be soon.
