One very interesting point brought up was the shape of the fender vents in some of the pictures in the introduction of the parts book. The vents were not totally rectangular, they had one corner cut off. I did some digging and I can find several more instances of these unusually shaped vents, not only in a parts book picture but also in the early service manual. Here are some examples:
The last picture above is obviously a drawing. I believe that the others are also drawings or renderings - Robert doesn't agree. I think that is the reason for the odd shaped fender vents on some of the pictures. These vents have never actually been seen on any Patrol.
Now, there are some other Patrol features that, while they are extremely rare, they have been seen on Patrols other than being listed in parts books. These features were typically only found on very early Patrols, and I only use North American Patrols as examples.
One rare feature is front sliding windows. These are windows in the front doors that slide side to side. Here is a picture from the service manual showing the door with that type of window. Notice the large opening in the center of the door that is normally covered with the door panel. There is also a notch on the lower edge of the window frame. There is also no window winder. This picture doesn't show the 2 individual pieces of glass.
Here are some pictures of a '63 Patrol that actually has these unusual windows.
These are a little different that the picture in the service manual because they don't have the notch in the window frame. As I recall Esteban has a picture of a door that has the notch. Also, notice the the opening on the driver's door in the pictures is shaped differently than the opening on the passenger door; the driver's door is shaped the same as the doors with roll up windows.
It seems that roll up windows were possibly a 'luxury' item. Maybe Datsun went with the roll up windows because everyone liked them better? In this article from a 1962 Four Wheeler magazine, they tout the fact that the Patrol has roll up windows.
The next odd items would go together or accompany each other. This is the drop down tailgate and the side mount spare tire carrier. The tailgate is wider than the normal ambulance doors, so their isn't room for the spare tire carrier latch. So, if the Patrol came with a tailgate it also came with the fixed type side tire carrier. Here are pictures of 2 Patrols with the tailgate. The spare carrier only survived on one of the. The tailgate has been repaired on both of them, apparently they rot out quickly.
I can attest to the existence of the rear cargo mat that matched the floor mats - I have one.
Some parts books show canvas front doors or upper canvas doors. I have not seen any pictures of actual factory canvas doors. Another canvas feature that seems to be illusive is roll up side curtains. These show up in brochures sometimes. I believe that they may have been offered on the G61 Patrols. The soft top was significantly different on the G61.
Okay, so this one isn't a US Patrol, but it's a cool feature. This is a Swiss Patrol truck that has a troop carrier type cover on the bed. Very cool, I think.
You can just barely see the side curtain on the rear.Anyway, that's all I have. I'm sure there is more, but these are the only features that I have evidence of. Some pretty cool stuff.
