Attention Nissan: This Is Exactly What The New Xterra Should Look Like

I am extremely pro-Nissan Xterra. While it was never the most competitive or capable of the truck-based, body-on-frame SUVs of its time, it had a certain charm to it that other SUVs didn’t. Nissan sold the Xterra for 15 years before finally pulling the plug on the second-generation model, which had been in production for a decade, in 2015.

Since then, there’s been a big upswing in the popularity of off-road-ready SUVs, with vehicles like the Bronco, the Defender, and the new Land Cruiser hitting the scene to much fanfare. Noticing the increased demand from the overlanding crowd, Nissan has finally greenlit a third-generation Xterra, with plans to start production in 2028. I sure hope it looks like this one-off, custom Xterra built from Nissan parts for SEMA.

This build, put together by Nissan ambassador and influencer Nick Scherr, is a combination of parts lifted from the modern Titan and Frontier pickup trucks, as well as a bunch of custom work, made to appear as his interpretation of a “modern Nissan Xterra.” And honestly, it looks great.

The truck is called Project X, and it does a great job of blending the Frontier’s front fascia, front fenders, and front doors to the rear doors and hatch area, which look to be lifted from an Xterra donor car (Nissan doesn’t actually say where those parts are from, though considering that they’re shaped exactly like the body parts of an Xterra, I think it’s safe to assume).

Nissan doesn’t say where the underlying frame is from, either, but all of the suspension components are sourced from the Titan. Specifically, the lower control arms, the front coil-overs, and the axles are all OEM Titan parts. That doesn’t mean it’s a Titan frame underneath; it could be a Frontier frame, too. Swapping Titan parts to the Frontier is a common modification for owners to squeeze more height and track width from their cars. The upper control arms and the leaf springs come from Z1, an aftermarket parts company that specializes in making Nissans more capable off-road.

If I were to picture a modern Xterra in my head, this is pretty much what it’d look like (minus the giant suspension lift and huge tires, of course). Platform sharing is commonplace these days, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Nissan build an SUV-ified version of the Frontier and brand it as a third-gen Xterra. I also wouldn’t mind that. The Frontier is a pretty pleasant truck, so to have one with a cabin and enclosed storage space would be nice. That’s basically what the 4Runner is, and that’s one of the best off-roader SUVs on the market right now.

One thing the Project X has that the third-gen Xterra definitely won’t is a V8. The one under the hood of this SUV is a Vk56DE, a 5.6-liter naturally aspirated unit you’ll find in cars like the last-gen Armada, the Titan, and the Infiniti QX56. Nissan doesn’t list a power number, though this engine is equipped with an aftermarket intake setup from Z1 and headers from JBA Performance, a San Diego-based speed shop. So it’s probably making more horsepower than the factory rating of 320 horses.

The Project X also has a six-speed manual transmission—something I don’t suspect the new one will get, either, even though the last two generations of Xterra did come with available row-it-yourself transmissions from the factory. If the rumors are true, we’ll likely see a hybridized V6 under the hood.

There aren’t many pictures of the interior—just one, actually, of the seats—but Nissan says it’s mostly modern Frontier inside, which makes sense considering all the parts-sharing on the outside. In a lot of ways, this one-off is just a Frontier SUV with some extra off-roadiness added to it. And honestly, I don’t mind.

Nissan, if you’re reading: Please make sure the Xterra is basically this. Hell, if there’s a manual V8 version, put me down for the first one. I’d buy something like that tomorrow.

Top graphic image: Nissan