Some say that package-carrying drones are the future of delivery services because they’re fast, efficient, and capable of going anywhere. We’d like to offer an alternative option: the Nissan NV Cargo X project vehicle, which took a regular NV2500 HD van and transformed it into a lifted, diesel-powered, tackle-anything 4×4 that also can go anywhere.
Nissan has done plenty of experimenting with its vans in the past couple of years. One was modified into a fuel-cell vehicle that drank biofuel, another became an inspiration for delivery drivers everywhere when it was subjected to a flurry of drifting, and one was used as the basis for a mobile office with a built-in craft-coffee machine and a pull-out deck. But those were all confined to the pavement. The Cargo X need not rely on asphalt roads. The outdoors-spirited lifted van is the result of a collaboration with off-road builder Ian Johnson, host of the TV show Xtreme Off-Road.
To him, the custom job just made sense. “When I looked at the NV, I saw a hard-working van with a heavy-duty foundation,” he said in a press release. “And I also saw possibilities for a rock crawler that could serve as its own support vehicle.”
Johnson and Nissan swapped out a bevy of stock parts for more hard-core off-road pieces. A custom off-road suspension system replaces the standard front control-arm setup. A Cummins 5.0-liter V-8 turbo-diesel from the Nissan Titan XD steps in for the NV’s standard 5.6-liter gasoline V-8, and the Titan XD’s six-speed automatic transmission and four-wheel-drive system were swapped in as well. LED lights, a 10,000-pound winch, a tube bumper with a skid plate, and giant 37-inch General Grabber X3 tires complete the exterior outfitting. The final product stands 92 inches tall and has 22 inches of ground clearance.
Inside the 2500, the customizers made a transformation to a full-out off-road support vehicle. It has an air system, fluid storage, spare tire, rope, recovery tracks, a jack, a portable welder, and various other tools. Does it have any FedEx, UPS, USPS, or Amazon packages stored somewhere? Not yet, but it could, for when that one guy in the boonies breaks his New Year’s resolution to live completely off the grid.
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