Nissan Hardbody Values on the Rise

A few weeks ago, I saw in the latest issue of Hemmings Magazine the Nissan Hardbody pictured here sold for $9,900. Right then I made a mental note to do a post on Nissan Hardbody values.

If you aren’t familiar with the little truck sold in the US by Nissan from 1985 to 1997, you might be thinking Hardbody is a funny name. That’s because it’s not really the name of the truck. Officially the truck is the Nissan D21, named after its chassis code. The truck was nicknamed Hardbody due to it’s double-walled truck bed and tough looking exterior.

The nickname stuck. Nissan even began referring to the truck as Hardbody in ads, omitting the D21 name entirely. Today you’ll almost never hear anyone say Nissan D21. Many people probably only know it as the Hardbody, unaware of the truck’s real name.

Based on what’s been happening with Toyota trucks and SUVs built between the mid 80s and mid 90s, it’s no surprise to see the sales prices of Hardbody trucks on the rise. Hemmings reports an average sales price of $6,000.

Classic.com shares some more detailed data on Hardbody transactions. They are reporting 35 sales with an average price of $11,166. With a lowest sale price of $2,700 and a highest sale price of $27,000. The most recent sale in their data was for $11,250 (as of November 27, 2022).

The Classic.com average sales price is almost double what Hemmings is reporting for average sales price. I would attribute that to these vehicles still being in the awkward phase between normal trucks reaching their end in salvage yards and future classics that are being preserved and/or restored.

I expect we will see a strong demand for these trucks with a continually shrinking supply for the next few years. This should lead to a gradual increase in sales prices, especially for trucks that are in good or great condition.

One interesting thing to note though. When I was preparing this post, I checked the current listings for Hardbodies on Hemmings. The truck shown above that sold for $9,900 is now listed on Hemmings for sale at $26,500! That’s not quite the gradual price increases I imagined. That may take awhile to sell at that price. Another note, the blurb on Hemmings mentions body damage that was repaired. The new listing omits that. So as always, buyer beware.

That’s it for now.

Stay rad. 😎