When a carmaker is down in the dumps, but it has a superfan totally ignoring the state of the corporation, that’s arguably a good thing. And a dude on Instagram who goes by the handle Nismonickofficial (blue check and all), has been hyping that he’s building his own Nissan Xterra SUV for the 2025 edition of SEMA (the Specialty Equipment Manufacturer’s Association trade show). That’s not until late fall of 2025, but Nick has been at it with the hype train since this past winter. Now, perhaps, Nick was just out ahead of the news, since Nissan recently let drop some veiled beta on their next cars. And maybe (maybe?) the new SUV to come is at least in part going to feel like the Xterra. The saywhatnow? What’s an Xterra?
Is It Really An Xterra If It Doesn’t Use Gas?
The 1999 Nissan Xterra was built for a different era, and meant to go directly at Jeep’s legacy and arguably sole leadership in off-roading in North America. The Xterra, more than the Pathfinder, was the “inspo” in Nissan’s off-road styling. From chunky, boxed-out fenders to the “jerry can” hump on the rear hatch, everything about the Xterra was designed as a visual signal to the buyer that you were getting a Swiss Army knife with tires. And Nissan designers were hardly working from a blank canvas. They wanted to give American buyers a taste of Nissan’s own off-roading legacy, the Patrol, a vehicle that’s never been sold here, but that was very much aimed at the Toyota Land Cruiser—when, that, too, was much more ute and much less a deluxe family tote.
The Nissan Hang-Out = The Nissan Xterra
One thing we’ve heard directly from Nissan designers in the past: They don’t make concepts that don’t have a direct correlation to what they really want to do. That doesn’t mean the design team always wins. Still, Nissan, for all their recent faults, have tended to have strong and distinctive character to their vehicles. If Toyota has led Japanese carmakers by being mainstream to a fault, Nissan has been happy to veer far off the beaten path. Juke, anyone? Sure. But also GT-R. Also: Nissan Cube.
The Hang-Out Concept Nissan shown about two years ago feels blue sky, but also, not especially. As an EV concept, it’s also not inconceivable Nissan wants something like this, but probably, especially for the American market, to harness its SUV legacy and make something that rides a bit higher. We do love the short overhangs, and you can imagine the Hang-Out—but with a longer third box, for better cargo capacity—working quite well. Especially because everything EV right now feels elongated and bullet-shaped. And only with the ID. Buzz are we starting to see classic utilitarianism bend the needle on what an electric car can look like.
TopSpeed’s Take
According to reporting at CarScoops, the SEMA effort from Nick Raymond Scherr, a video creator who works at Avondale Nissan in Arizona, will be a full creature of SEMA culture. What that means is that it likely hints at very little of what’s going to actually get to production. He’s pulling Xterra bits from throughout the 16-year run of the vehicle, which got decidedly less interesting and more mainstream over time. He’ll bejewel the thing he’s building with racks, tire carriers, and probably lift kit 19 feet in the air. That’s fun—but we don’t expect Nissan to have any intention of trying to harness their history in this capacity.
The Xterra is a cobweb memory for lots of would-be customers. It’s not ancient history, but that vehicle’s heyday was a quarter-century ago. It makes more sense to pull this EV off-roader into a space that’s relatively empty now, with actual capability to go where most EVs don’t, but not to chase the GMC Hummer or Rivian R2 for superiority. But besides the Subaru Solterra, there’s nothing in this realm, so Nissan would be wise to go there. And, sure, season it with some Xterra vibes. Even a figurative jerry can of gasoline on the back, pretty much literally, puts that idea behind where Nissan’s headed.
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