Nissan Frontier Sentinel: Rescue-spec Navara revealed

If you'd like your Navara to pack a whole heap more rescuing power, you're going to love the Frontier Sentinel that's just been revealed at the Sao Paulo Motor Show in Brazil.

The Sentinel is strictly a concept, and one that's been dreamed up in Nissan’s Brazil Design Studio, but it does look tough, right? The idea was to create a vehicle equipped to perform rescue operations in some of Brazil’s toughest and most-remote terrain.

To that end, the Sentinel arrives with a custom shelving-style tray fitted with draws for gloves, axes, ropes and assorted other rescue kit. That tiny “H” printed on the top level isn’t to welcome the world’s smallest helicopters, but rather to deploy a drone that can soar above difficult terrain to spot those in need of help and to navigate a safe path to them. Happily, the drone is included with the Sentinel.

The biggest change, though, is that the rescue-ready Navara also makes use of twin battery packs that have been borrowed from the Nissan Leaf EV. They're stored in the custom tray, but are not used to drive the wheels. Instead, they're to provide auxiliary power whether the vehicle's engine is running or not. Close by, you'll find two power outlets to recharge rescue equipment.

Elsewhere, a snorkel is fitted for deep-water crossings, and the 16-inch alloys are wrapped in heavy duty adventure tyres.

That colour, if you’re wondering, was inspired by a Brazilian bird, the hyacinth macaw, and Nissan is calling it Thunder-Blue. The cabin is trimmed in bright yellow, inspired by electric circuits, creating an exterior and interior colour combo which is unlikely to get lost in a carpark.

The Sentinel will likely only ever exist as a concept, and was designed to celebrate the launch of the Navara in Argentina this month.

Is this the coolest Navara concept yet? Tell us in the comments below.