Nissan Frontier goes nostalgic with a Hardbody wrap for Rebelle Rally
This is the sixth year Nissan is sending a vehicle to the all-female navigational rally, and 2021's rig might be our favorite.
It seems a bit odd to be writing about a fellow competitor for this year's Rebelle Rally, but I'm so stoked about Team Wild Grace's Nissan Frontier and its old-school livery that I just can't help myself.
Driver Lyn Woodward and navigator Sedona Blinson will campaign Nissan's brand-new Frontier wrapped with retro colors of the old Hardbody trucks from the '80s and '90s that dominated races like the Baja 1000 and the Mint 400 -- a red, white and blue look that also inspired the limited-production Hardbody Desert Runner. Y'all, this look is boss.
Although the Rebelle Rally is not a race for time, driver Woodward will have her hands full taking care of the truck on the 1,500-mile course. Silt, sand, rocks and, of course, the infamous Imperial Sand Dunes are all part of the rally. She'll have the help of some NISMO parts like the off-road suspension kit, AXIS wheels, a performance exhaust and auxiliary lighting.
However, the Rebelle is about navigation, putting much of the responsibility on Blinson. She'll have no GPS or phone to help her find myriad checkpoints, marked and unmarked. Her only tools will be a map, compass and plotter.
Woodward and Blinson should do well in the year's Rebelle Rally.
The Rebelle Rally has no set route. Teams receive a list of coordinates each morning at 5 a.m. that they must manually plot. Then they work out a route that works for them and their vehicle.
Blinson and Woodward's Frontier sports a 3.8-liter V6 powerplant pushing out 310 horsepower and 281 pound-feet of torque that's mated to a 9-speed transmission. With a crawl ratio of 55:1 and a healthy approach angle over 32 degrees, plus the upgraded suspension and BF Goodrich KO2 tires, I don't anticipate the truck will have many problems.
Team Wild Grace had their best finish last year: just 37 points out of third place. I expect them to do well this year, but they will have plenty of competition from teams driving in the Jeep Wrangler 4xe, the Ford Bronco and of course, navigator Rebecca Donaghe and me in the Rivian R1T.
The Rally begins Thursday, Oct. 7 at the Hoover Dam in Arizona and concludes nine days later in the dunes of Glamis, California. Follow along at www.rebellerally.com.
