1998 Nissan Pathfinder Le Sport Utility 4-door 3.3l on 2040-cars

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2013 Nissan Pathfinder: Wrap-Up [w/video]

Despite our tendency as enthusiasts to clamor for things like wagons and hot hatchbacks, it's hard to argue with the buying public's increasing demand for functional crossovers. In fact, the great SUV craze of the late-1990s has all but faded in favor of the easier-driving, better-packaged, more-efficient crossover. That's even true at the larger end of the market - just look at what happened when Ford redesigned its body-on-frame Explorer into a stylish and well-equipped CUV. And now look at the similar success Nissan has had in repurposing its rugged Pathfinder sport-ute as an appealing crossover.
But happily, we report the following line: out of every long-term vehicle Autoblog has ever tested, not a single one has been as in-demand as the 2013 Pathfinder Platinum you see here. After 13 months of solid use, we added 24,372 miles to the Pfinder's odometer - and that's without the vehicle ever leaving the hands of our Detroit-based team (sorry, West Coasters).
There's good reason for that high-demand usage, too. After spending a little over a year with our Mocha Stone tester (a color that earned this Nissan the nickname "Sweet Brown") we came to appreciate its vast versatility, comfort, all-weather prowess, and the way it absolutely ate up the miles on long trips. We drove it all over the United States, in all four seasons, filling it with our families, friends, and occasionally using its capacious cabin for sleeping on the road. Through good and bad, the Pathfinder was a trusty friend. But like any good friendship, that wasn't without a couple of fights.

Nissan Qashqai getting Juke-R treatment

As long as there are sacred cows, there will be heretics sharpening their knives in anticipation of the butchering. When Nissan first carved into the mighty GT-R to create the Juke-R, onlookers quickly fell into two camps: those who thought the plan was sheer genius and those who believed cannibalizing a GT-R to feed a Juke was a new brand of obscenity. We fell firmly in the former camp. Now Severn Valley Motorsport is looking to take that theme one step further by shoving the go-faster bits from a GT-R into a Nissan Qashqai. That noise you hear? It's us cackling like mad men.
While we can't say for certain, we're guessing the project should yield the world's fastest Qashqai thanks in no small part to the twin-turbocharged VR38DETT V6 engine from the GT-R. Throw in the all-wheel-drive system and the little CUV should change demeanor dramatically. We can't wait to see this thing in action.

37K miles in a 1967 Datsun Roadster

When we think of comfy, long-distance road cars, there are a few obvious choices. A Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Bentley Continental GT or, assuming fuel efficiency isn't paramount, a Range Rover are all good options for a road trip. But what if that road trip was 37,000 miles? Maybe something more reliable but still comfortable, then, like a Honda Accord. What about a 1967 Datsun Roadster?
As insane as it sounds, Scott Fisher is doing just that, running a Datsun 1600 Roadster across North America and racking up 13,500 miles in his first three months on the road. His total journey will see him pile over 37,000 miles on his red convertible. The car is lightly modified, but most of the work is for the sake of reliability and comfort, with a five-speed manual 'box, an upgraded radiator and electronic ignition.
Fisher's trip hasn't been all smooth, with a few typical bits of trouble. He also ran into some deer in Utah, quite literally, clipping one of the animals, which delivered quite a bit of damage to the passenger's front fender (hence the rear three-quarter view in our lead shot). Still, the car seems to be holding up well, as shown in this latest video from Petrolicious.