Japanese carmaker Nissan took its sweet time updating the Frontier midsize pickup. We don’t know why Nissan waited a good 17 years before introducing the Frontier’s first standalone model for the third-gen truck, but Nissan has something in the wraps to appease our frustrations.

Nissan is debuting a trio of Frontier concepts at the 2022 Chicago Auto Show, all penned by the brilliant minds at Nissan Design America (NDA) based in San Diego, California.

“Truck culture is now very broad ? hardcore off-roaders, overlanders, surfers and kayakers, environmentalists, fishing and hunting outdoor enthusiasts and more,” said Hiren Patel, project lead designer, Nissan Design America, Inc. “The common ground is that they all use their trucks as canvases for personalization. We’re offering three styles to show how they could modify their new Frontier.”
Setting The Stage

Before we get to the bottom of it all, Nissan built the three Frontier concepts with a four-door, crew cab body style. However, what’s interesting is each vehicle starts with the three different Frontier trim models you can order today: S, SV, and Pro-4X.

Common across each is a 3.8-liter V6 gasoline engine with 310 horsepower and 281lb-ft. of torque, essentially a carryover from the outgoing Frontier. The engine sends power to the rear wheels or all four wheels using a nine-speed automatic gearbox, although all three concepts have 4WD. Frontier 4WD variants a...