Remember when Ocean Spray gave Nathan Apodaca (more widely known as @420doggface208 on TikTok) a brand new Nissan Frontier pickup? OK, maybe you don't, but the cranberry juice company did exactly that after one of Apodaca's TikToks absolutely blew up the internet earlier this year.

We laughed and raised our eyebrows before, but the most recent development on Apodaca's TikTok account has our attention now. You see, Apodaca has now "upgraded" to a new Chevrolet Silverado 1500. We asked his manager what would come of the gifted Frontier, and it turns out that Apodaca traded it in to buy the Silverado. Goodbye, Nissan. Hello, Chevy.

Nissan is finally preparing to replace the Frontier. It's not ready to show the truck yet, but it subtly gave us an early look at it by concealing its front end in a design presentation about the updated global-market Navara.

Spotted by Motor1, the image briefly appears in a 15-minute video published on YouTube by Nissan's Mexican division. Above all, it confirms the Navara sold overseas and the Frontier sold here will not look anything alike.

Off-road-oriented trucks are the hot trend right now, and automakers are moving beyond special off-road models to selling parts to upgrade existing trucks and SUVs. Ford has rolled out multiple products for the Ranger pickup, and now Nissan is aiming to match them. And it all starts with a new range of parts for the Nissan Frontier.

These parts make their debut on a 2020 Nissan Frontier participating in the Rebelle Rally – a race for women focusing on off-road driving and navigation ability – and will be available later this year. The most immediately noticeable of these parts is the steel off-road bumper. It weighs 106 pounds and features mounting points and holes for lights, shackles and a winch. Mounted to that bumper are a set of lights developed with Rigid Industries. The first lights available will be these round, 6-inch LED units, but other sizes, shapes and illumination patterns will come later. All lights will come with a switch, harness and covers. Capping off the visual upgrades are the 17-inch Nismo off-road wheels.

Spy photographers have already snapped photos of the redesigned Nissan Frontier, but now we're getting a glimpse inside the upcoming pickup.

Nissan's next-generation Frontier is inching closer to production, and these spy photos show off the one thing we've yet to really learn about the new truck: its interior. While it's clear that Nissan put some effort into disguising many of the interior elements, it wasn't quite enough. 

Many of the details are still obscured and the panel fitment is definitely preproduction, but we can see more than enough to appreciate what Nissan has in store for the cabin of its overhauled pickup. Let's start with the wheel, which no longer looks like a junkyard pull from a totaled Versa, and then the infotainment screen, which was clearly designed alongside the dash opening, rather than as an afterthought. It doesn't look particularly large in these photos — probably around 8" or 9" diagonal, tops — but it's a far cry from what we're used to in the outgoing Frontier. 

A 2007 Nissan Frontier with over 1 million miles (1.609 million km) under its belt has been officially retired.

Nissan released a video today previewing and confirming the next-gen Z car. We got to see a shadowy silhouette of Nissan's upcoming sports car — find all the details on that here — but we also got a preview of many other future Nissan products. Most notable among the line of products rolling by us was the first look at Nissan's next-gen Frontier pickup.

We've heard scads of information about this truck coming our way, but this is the first time Nissan has shown what it's going to look like. The differences are clear as day. The front nose no longer slopes downward when viewed in profile, appearing like most upright truck faces do these days. Two proud twin strips of LED lighting bring it up to date with a signature look, and the hood features multiple muscular lines. Viewed from the side like this, we're getting Toyota Tacoma vibes from its blocky shape and brawny lines.

We just drove the 2020 Nissan Frontier with its new 3.8-liter V6 and nine-speed automatic transmission, and today Nissan reveals the truck's price. In 2019, the base price on a new Frontier was $20,385. That was for a King Cab rear-wheel-drive four-cylinder with a five-speed manual transmission. For 2020, a King Cab with rear-wheel drive (base truck) starts at $27,885 with the $1,095 destination charge included. The price of progress.

The comparison is hardly a fair one, though. A 2019 King Cab SV with the old V6, rear-wheel drive and five-speed automatic was $27,105. The 2020 in the same configuration costs $28,765. That amounts to a $1,660 increase in price for the new V6, new transmission and a few extra standard features — not a terrible price to pay for the modern powertrain.

The 2020 Nissan Frontier marks the last in a particularly lengthy pickup truck generation that dates all the way back to the 2005 model year. Next year we'll get a completely redesigned model, but before that happens, Nissan is giving the old truck one last "hurrah" with a taste of the new one in the form of a fresh V6 engine and nine-speed automatic transmission, the only choices for this year. And the new combo is a mighty good sign of things to come.

Just on paper, the engine and transmission make strong cases for themselves. The 3.8-liter V8 makes 310 horsepower, which is 49 more than the old 4.0-liter and 158 more than the discontinued four-cylinder base engine. Its 310 horses also make it the most powerful midsize truck in the segment. Its 281 pound-feet of torque is unchanged, but that's still more than what you get from the V6s in the Chevy Colorado or Toyota Tacoma. Only the diesel Colorado and the Ford Ranger's turbo four-cylinder top the Nissan's torque rating. Combined fuel economy of 20 mpg with RWD and 19 mpg with 4WD improves upon its 4.0-liter predecessor by 1 and 2 mpg, respectively. Credit goes to the lighter more efficient engine and the additional gear ratios, however, fuel economy is still dead last in the segment among similar automatic V6 RWD trucks. The 4WD ties the V6 Gladiator and Colorado, and tops the Colorado ZR2 with a V6. Odds are the next-generation truck will improve this further.

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by News Editor Joel Stocksdale and Associate Editor Byron Hurd. They discuss news about the 2020 and 2021 Nissan Frontier, as well as a mystery Mustang and classic luxury coupes. After that, they talk about cars from the fleet including Chevy Silverados and the long-term Volvo S60 T8.

While the coronavirus has majorly disrupted practically every automaker and supplier in the world, some things are still going according to plan. During a roundtable discussion, Nissan representatives said that the 2020 Nissan Frontier with the new 3.8-liter engine is still on track to go on sale this spring. No adjustments have been made to the introduction of the next-generation 2021 Frontier either, which should be revealed by the end of the year. In fact, Nissan's representatives mentioned that next-generation Frontier prototypes are on their way to the U.S. for additional testing.

As has been mentioned previously, the big draw of the 2020 Nissan Frontier is that it gets the same 3.8-liter V6 and 9-speed automatic transmission as the redesigned 2021 truck. It's 93% different from the slightly larger displacement 4.0-liter engine of the old truck, and it's substantially more efficient and powerful. Despite the major changes, Nissan's powertrain expert who was leading the roundtable confirmed that it is still part of the VQ series of engines, which has been around since at least the Nissan 350Z, and a 3.7-liter version is used in the current 370Z. The powertrain expert also explained that the truck's increased efficiency is a result of multiple factors. In part, the engine is more efficient all around because of improved design, but it's also lighter than the old 4.0-liter engine.

Nissan announced plans to build an all-new Frontier back in 2017, but the company hasn't said much about the redesigned pickup since then. However, new details are starting to emerge as several dealers, who have seen the truck, told Autoblog what to expect.

The next-generation Nissan Frontier is poised to arrive in 2021, and through interviews with multiple sources we've been able to piece together a picture of what's in store. Yes, Nissan has neglected its midsize pickup, and today, the company markets the Frontier as a value proposition. It's cheaper than the Ford Ranger, Toyota Tacoma and Chevy Colorado. Those trucks have a whole lot more to offer in nearly every way, but they can also come in at prices encroaching on fullsize pickups. Nissan wants and should strive for more, says Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst at IHS Markit. "It needs to adapt to some of the creature comforts and some of the technology, not because the other guys have them, but because consumers are indicating that they want them," Brinley says. Our dealer sources (with knowledge of the product via Nissan) tell us the design is completely new, retaining next to nothing of the current Frontier. We're told to expect an interpretation of the Warrior design seen on the new Titan. It'll be squared-off, much more masculine and Titan-esque — the folks who described the truck to us say they've seen it at various closed-door Nissan events. This macho design language matches what other manufacturers (and Nissan) have aimed for with new pickups. We've previously heard that Nissan will use an updated version of the current Frontier's platform for the new truck. However, other sources have said that it's riding on a shortened and modified Titan chassis. We can't definitively say which one it will be at this point, but the Titan is the new kid on the block. A new powertrain is also along for the ride. Nissan still sells the Frontier with a 2.5-liter four-cylinder and 4.0-liter V6 options. The four-cylinder can even be had with a five-speed manual transmission. A five-speed automatic is optional. None of this will make it into the 2021 Frontier. Instead, we're told to expect a new 3.8-liter naturally aspirated V6 and nine-speed automatic transmission. The 3.8-liter displacement is the same as the GT-R's displacement, but the two won't be anything alike if Nissan ultimately uses the purported engine in the Frontier. We'd wager a guess that the nine-speed heading toward the Frontier is a version of the transmission that was recently adopted by the Titan. One source gave us a 300-horsepower estimate. Expect superior fuel economy and more towing/hauling capability thanks to the updated chassis and powertrain. We're told that the new V6 is even more efficient than the outgoing four-cylinder truck. This move upscale is also rumored to be the end of the line for the King Cab, as our sources tell us the Crew Cab might be the only truck available. There are also rumors of a possible off-road high-performance Frontier from a couple sources. If the Frontier is on the Titan's platform, Nissan could theoretically shoehorn the 5.6-liter V8 under the hood for some extra go. It's only speculation for now, but we'd love to see such a creation outside the SEMA fantasy land. "It's a natural fit for the Frontier to have an off-road performance package," Brinley told us. From a timing perspective, the fully redesigned next-gen Frontier is said to be a 2021 model with a launch happening sometime within a year. A source tells us that we'll have to wait until February 2021 to see the truck actually hit dealer lots, leaving a lot of auto shows open for reveals between now and then. This timing was reportedly just revised backwards for unspecified reasons. Nissan will be gearing up for production of the new truck soon at the plant in Canton, MS. Nissan public relations declined to comment for this report, but a spokesperson said Nissan plans to launch 12 new products in the next 20 months. This will be one of the most important.