Nissan Carrier

Nissan were already building trucks of their own design, but there was a need to have trucks that could traverse rougher terrain, and Nissan's answer to that need was the Nissan Carrier, though the design was not all Nissan's handiwork. In the United States in 1950 the Dodge M37 four wheel drive truck went into production, which was to replace the Dodge WC series that was used during the war. The M37 was a troup carrier that was also to be used as a flat bed all-terrain truck. As part of the aid package to rebuild Japan, Nissan were given the rights to build a vehicle based on the Dodge M37.

 Nissan's version of the M37 was to be called the 4W70, and would be sold as the Nissan Carrier, though the Carrier name never appeared anywhere on the vehicle. Whilst the Carrier was definately based on the Dodge, it wasn't a complete copy. It utilised a chassis that was basically the same, but instead of using the Dodge mechanicals it instead used the running gear from the newly released 4W60 Nissan Patrol four wheel drive. The engine used was the 3670cc 6 cylinder NAK series Nissan engine, which developed 75hp, 3hp less than the Dodge T245 engine used in the M37. It also used the 4WD system from the Patrol.

 Visually the 4W70 was very similar to the M37, but there were several differences. Most obvious was the grille, which was much narrower on the Nissan. The front guards on the Nissan were flat at the top and tapered downwards towards the back, whereas the Dodge guards curved downwards at the front.

 In the about 1955 some changes were made to the Carrier, and the new model was called the 4W72. (No 4W71 was built) The new model featured the new 3960cc NC series engine, which gave it a big power increase from 75hp up to 105hp. It recieved a new bonnet design that was more curved at the front, and also had a raised bonnet bulge at the front. The 4W70 had a pressed steel grille with ten rows of horizontal slots, the 4W72 had a grille which consisted of eight vertical steel bars. The front guards now slope downwards slightly at the front, and the headlights are set slightly closer to the ground.

 At the end of the decade another new model was released, the 4W73. This model received the new P series engine from the 60 Series Patrol, which was a 3956cc OHV engine that produced 125hp. This model had a more rounded bonnet design, and a grille that has a small recess at the top.

 A small number of 4W73s were purchased by the Indian military in the early 1960s, and eventually a deal was done where the 4W73 was build under licence in India and sold as the Jonga.