I found a 1977 pick up cab (ute) Patrol in New Zealand on a farm. These are pretty hard to find anywhere in the world. I only saw 4-5 of these in S.America and none were in very nice condition. This NZ Ute has about 150,000 kilos on it. It is right hand drive. The truck is on the LWB frame and has the H260 rear diff. it's wheel base is 110.2", much longer than our USA Patrols. Very little rust on the truck. Mechanically it appears sound.

This is my first import and I just could not say no to it. This Patrol will be the first Ute in the USA as far as I know. Importing it is turning itno a great learning experience and will open the door to more Patrols to be imported. My 1980 LG61 is the next on the list for import. Unfortunately when I bought the truck I plan to sell it right off the bat. I am sure I will kick myself for that as I have always wanted a Ute Patrol. But there will be others in the future and I have no time or space for another project in the next year. So this Patrol will be turned right around and sold paving the way for more Patrols not found on USA soil. I am pretty excited about it and really look forward to seeing a Ute in the flesh.

The seller in New Zealnd was very suprised an American bought it and even more suprised it will live out the rest of it's like in the USA! Spoke to him on the phone a few times now and he is a very nice man who is helping me get it ready for export. So without further chat here are a few pictures of the Ute.

Cool! What's it cost to import?

shipping by sea: $1250
misc fees such as fumigation: $200
inland transport to sea port of Auckland: $350
misc repairs to truck for easy importing: $125
customs fees and other fees: $300
road trip to Long beach to pick it up: $500-700

Import costs about... $2500-3000

Truck could fetch $20k or more fully restored. USA Patrols are getting close to the $15k mark for really nice ones. Make no mistake, this Ute is basically a running driveable project.

nice truck. i would love to get a mq ute and a gu or gq lwb one of these days.hey you should have him throw a set of mq front doors on the back of it for me.

heh...yea I got my sights set on an MQ Ute too. I can find them and know where a few are for sale right now. But they are not legal to import yet, be a few years still...

I can't get anything on the back of the Ute. The wood deck on the flat bed is removed to make it easier to import. Wood can be a problem when importing. It is also a bad idea to have anything on the truck that does not belong there or bolt down. But I can likely get you some good doors in the future for you MQ.

The same suggestion was made about the 5spd I bought in NZ, toss it on the bed of the Ute and save cash importing the tranny. Can't do it though so have to ship the MK 5spd seperate. I am pretty sure this 5spd will bolt to my MQ's SD33 and it has a PTO box too!

Nice find...

It will be nice to see these in the US for a change.

I saw these while in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. They were the 1980s looking versions. Nothing but straight steel, boxy beds and solid axles. But damn they were beautiful!!! WHY can't we get them in the USA??? WHY WHY WHY

This Ute has the H260 rear diff. I found out recently it may be possible to fit an ARB air locker to it with a custom thrust block. Also found out a LSD from an early 80's MQ with the P40 will drop right in it. So that is extra cool! I can also convert it to LHD easily with a USA steering box and dash. So I am starting to convince myself to keep this truck and not sell it right away. At least not till I fix it up and convert to LHD plus have some fun it the truck!

I found out the Ute also came from Nissan in 77 as a cab & chassis. This makes the frame shorter than a factory bed. Like a foot shorter! The frame ends right behind the rear leaf mounts so I plan to ditch the flat bed on it and then put a much smaller custom deck on it, that is if I keep it. ure would be a sweet truck with a lift or SOA and some other gear. I should have it by X-mas or maybe as early as Turkey day. Here is some more pictures of the Ute.