Free Printable Nissan Pathfinder Coloring Page with PDF

Nissan Pathfinder: History & Fun Facts

The Pathfinder reads as a bigger, squarer SUV than the car-based Rogue parked next to it in Nissan showrooms: a taller hood line, flatter door panels, and a grille built from thick vertical slats instead of a smooth crossover nose. Those proportions trace back to a name Nissan has used on a truck-based SUV since the mid-1980s, long before the compact-crossover boom.

A 1985 Debut Built on a Pickup Frame

Nissan brought the first Pathfinder to North America for the 1987 model year, built on the same body-on-frame chassis as the Nissan Hardbody pickup. That truck-based construction gave the early Pathfinder real off-road toughness at a time when most family SUVs were still small and boxy two-door trucks with back seats bolted in.

Five Generations Since the Mid-1980s

Pathfinder generations run WD21 (1985-1995), R50 (1995-2004), R51 (2004-2012, still body-on-frame with an available V8), R52 (2012-2020, a softer unibody crossover shape closer to a minivan), and R53 (2022-present), which brought back the squared-off, upright grille shown in this outline.

A Return to Boxier Styling in 2022

The fifth-generation Pathfinder dropped the swoopy, rounded look of its predecessor and switched to flatter body panels, a more upright windshield, and a wide grille with thick vertical bars, a deliberate styling shift back toward a tougher, more traditional SUV silhouette.

Room for Eight Across Three Rows

Every modern Pathfinder seats up to eight people across three rows, with a standard sliding and tilting second-row seat designed to give access to the third row even with a child seat installed in the middle row.

A 3.5-Liter V6 and Nine-Speed Automatic

The current Pathfinder pairs a naturally aspirated 3.5-liter V6 engine with a conventional nine-speed automatic transmission, a deliberate move away from the continuously variable transmission Nissan had used in the previous generation.

Built Alongside the Rogue in Smyrna, Tennessee

Nissan builds the Pathfinder at its Smyrna, Tennessee assembly plant, the same facility that produces the Rogue and several other Nissan SUVs, giving the two very different-sized crossovers a shared production line.

A Name Older Than the Modern SUV Market

Nissan chose the Pathfinder name in the 1980s to suggest trail-ready capability, years before compact and mid-size SUVs became a mainstream family vehicle category, and the badge has stayed on the same three-row nameplate through every redesign since.

Standard Four-Wheel Drive on Every Trim

Every 2022-and-later Pathfinder offers a four-wheel drive system with selectable drive modes for snow, mud, sand, and rock terrain, a feature carried over from the original truck-based versions even though the current generation uses a unibody rather than a separate ladder frame.

A Roof Rail Design Built for Real Cargo

The roof rails traced in this outline aren't just decoration. Nissan rates them to carry a load when paired with factory crossbars, letting families strap down cargo boxes, kayaks, or ski racks on top of the SUV instead of only relying on the third row and rear cargo area.

A Nine-Passenger Option on Base Trims

Base Pathfinder trims can be configured with a three-across second-row bench instead of captain's chairs, bumping total seating to nine, one more than the eight-passenger maximum most rival three-row SUVs offer in their equivalent base trims.

Running Boards That Match the Full-Size Armada

The running boards drawn below both doors echo a feature Nissan also fits to the larger, truck-based Armada, giving two very differently built SUVs a shared visual cue even though one rides on a unibody and the other on a full ladder frame.