I've always wanted a truck. I imagined myself with my arm out the window, wearing a John B. Stetson Cattleman's straw (30X) and bouncing over some twin-rut coliche road somewhere on my Hill Country ranch. I'd have to be a little older and grizzlier to pull off that look, but that's exactly what I had imagined, in my more unrealistic daydreams in front of the computer monitor.

Turn down that highway
Turn up that dirt road
It's over three days
Since I left Houston
Old Black's my truck's name
She's held together
By B.F. Goodtire
And bailing wire

When it comes to material things, my life has been one of constant disappointment and regret. I'm not going into details. Suffice it to say: my dream wouldn't be complete without a big ol' pickup truck, and we just weren't getting a big one, she said, because of the "outrageous" gasoline mileage.

Old Black's my truck's name
She's held together
I've slept inside her
When I was tired

Outrageous. Like "mileage" is some kind of price to pay for a fulfilled fantasy of tossing big things in the truck bed, hauling those things to different places with one arm on the wheel and cigar smoke pouring out the window, flinging up dust and mud without worrying too much about it, and putting my booted foot up on the rear step-up bumper as I watch the sun go down. Nosiree, a very small price indeed. But it weren't worth the bother in other ways, if you know what I mean. And I think you do.

But my point here is that, to guys like me, trucks are anthropomorphic. Anthropomorphic, that is, in the sense that you can relate to one even more than a car. And small as my truck is, weak as it is compared to the many big cabs with cargo boxes that fly around my little world - I like it. I relate to my truck. We are both tough ol' things. We are beasts of burden. We like the open road. We're reliable. Women do not think of us first when they think of a night on the town - but wait 'til they get their ox in a ditch. Then we say, "where were you when we wanted a night on the town?" Mm-hmm.

This particular truck does well in the looks department, for a truck. Last year Nissan redesigned the sheet metal of the Frontier and gave it more of a snub-nosed, streamlined appearance, along with some bigger engine options and nice "blocks" of internal options.

Mine has the standard features that come with the XE King Cab model - 2.4-liter DOHC 16-valve 4-cylinder engine, front bucket seats and center console, 5-speed manual overdrive transmission, power-assisted vented front disc/rear drum brakes, rear anti-lock brakes, independent front suspension, front stabilizer bar, live rear axle suspension with multi-leaf springs, power-assisted recirculating-ball steering, and skid plates.

In addition, for $999 I added the so-called "Value Truck Package." This options package is probably the best I've seen in terms of bang for the buck - by adding that package, I piled on features like air conditioning (a must in this part of the world), AM/FM/CD audio system, a passenger-side visor vanity mirror, variable intermittent windshield wipers, 15-inch alluminum-alloy wheels, and privacy (i.e., tinted) glass (rear quarter windows and rear window), a complete truck bed lining and a sliding panel in the rear window.

Since the engine is larger than the standard 4-cylinder, I seldom get above 24 mpg in the sort of mixed-bag driving I do. Still, that's better than most of its larger brethren (and yes, I don't care what the song says, trucks are male - yer Neons, Fiestas, Sunfires and VW bugs, them's the girls). But I do like the amount of room that engine leaves under the hood for normal maintenance; plenty of space to get your hands in and check oil, add fluids, change plugs and do other truck-like chores (lord help you if you have to change the water pump, though - isn't room to get a hand, much less a wrench, next to that pulley).

And the area behind the back seat, while good for storing junk you don't want exposed to the elements, just isn't much good for storing people. My ten-year-old can barely squeeze himself into the jump seat. For 2002, Frontiers no longer offer a standard cab - you get the King cab or Crew cab, and that's it.

Handling is relatively smooth and trouble-free in this truck, and as it's still pretty new (got it December of '01) there's no rattles or buzzes to speak of in or around the cabin. Though I sit higher than in a car, sharp turns don't scare me (much); the suspension holds this puppy upright pretty well. The AC cools me off, the heater warms me up, and the CD player calms me down -

Old Black's my truck's name
No she don't say much
We leave together
And lay some rubber

Nissan generally has a tradition of reliability when it comes to their simpler vehicles, and like me, there's not a lot that's complex about this truck. Do your normal scheduled maintenance, and you shouldn't expect a lot of things to go wrong with it.

Turn down that highway
Turn up that dirt road
It's over three days
Since I left my home.

- The Truck Song, by Lyle Lovett


Amount Paid (US$): 15,700
Condition: New
Model Year: 2002
Model and Options: XE with "Value Truck Package" - add $999