The Hardbody badge has been dormant since 1997, giving way to a more modern era of Nissan trucks badged as Frontiers. An announcement by Nissan now suggests that this could change as early as next week.

Nissan announced on Thursday that "the next chapter of the Nissan Hardbody story begins" on September 14, next Thursday. This announcement came with no other details, and the only other context is that it was attached to a story about the history of the badge.

While a revival of a completely unique Nissan truck with the Hardbody badge seemed unlikely even before the larger Titan was apparently discontinued, a Hardbody-badged variant of the Frontier seems like a natural option. It would fit with the brand's recent push to play up its history, something most notably seen in the retro-futuristic new Nissan Z.

If that is what Nissan plans to unveil next week, we may already have an idea of what a modern Hardbody-branded Frontier could be. Last February, Nissan showed a Hardbody-badged build as part of a series of Nissan Design America Frontier builds. That was just a show truck at the time, but the concept of a Frontier with an aggressive lift, some clad fenders, and a few stylish Eighties four-wheeling nods would make for a product with significant commercial appeal if Nissan were to actually build it. In a world where the American Land Cruiser has steered away from luxury in favor of blocky design and practicality, a new Hardbody-badged Frontier variant would fit in well.

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