Few days after its official introduction to the South African market, a TopGear SA team of five Nissan Navara Warriors by Premcar have embarked on a record-breaking expedition into South Africa’s most extreme hinterland.
“Last year, Nissan Africa conceived Daring Africa, an eight-country, 8 000km odyssey linking our continental LCV manufacturing hub in Rosslyn with our passenger vehicle facility in Cairo,” said Maciej Klenkiewicz, Nissan South Africa and Independent Markets Africa Managing Director. “Setting an off-road world record seemed like the logical next step for our African Navara.”
The record attempt was a concept that excited Premcar CEO Bernie Quinn: “We originally designed, engineered, and tested the new Navara Warrior by Premcar in Australia for Australians, as the world’s toughest Warrior for the world’s most uncompromising drivers. There is no better way to prove the new South African edition’s worth than by setting a world record on its new home ground.”
Based on the 600km Namaqualand Eco route, the intrepid team in their Warriors will spend the next four days cutting a more than 1,000 km route over barren mountains and through rocky valleys, along the raging Gariep river, South Africa’s longest waterway, and back out into the desolate expanse as they make their way to the river’s end, the Atlantic Ocean at Alexander Bay by Sunday, March 30, 2025.
“TopGear is a brand that is synonymous with doing daring things. We wanted to tell a story about this tough, yet beautiful terrain and its vast landscapes, as part of our mission to tell automotive stories that showcase South Africa,” explained TopGear SA publisher Avon Middleton. “We needed something that could withstand the harsh landscape and deliver on reliability. Considering that the Warrior was launching this year, it made for the perfect vehicle to trace the Orange River with, and ultimately, set a new world record.”
“A daring undertaking of this magnitude requires careful planning, grit, and the right machinery to achieve this goal, and the Nissan Navara Warrior looks poised to see the record through,” adds Lerato Matebese, TopGear SA Publishing Editor.
Selected media flew out to Upington in the Northern Cape today to be met by the TopGear SA team and be taken to the iconic Augrabies Falls for lunch before heading into the desolation of the old Mission Station town of Pella where the quest will begin.
“These are some of the harshest driving conditions imaginable,” enthused Ramy Mohareb, Nissan Africa’s head of communications. “We are confident that the Nissan Navara Warrior by Premcar will make history by becoming the first vehicle to undertake the longest off-road trail in the world in a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS attempt.”
The Warrior, a Nissan-approved conversion of the Nissan Pro4X conceived and perfected by Australian after-market specialists Premcar, has created a version of the Navara that is taller, wider, and with a greater ground clearance than the factory-built vehicle.
Shod with LT 275/65/R17 MAXXIS RAZR AT tyres instead of the factory-specced 255/65 R17 AT, the Navara Warrior has improved approach and ramp breakover angles and increased front and rear tracks. Other additions include the distinctive Warrior styling externally and internally and the installation of a sports bar at the back. Off-road capabilities are further boosted by off-road focused shock absorbers and a higher ground clearance.
“Last year, we took the built of more Nissan Navara from Rosslyn to the beaches of Mozambique and on to one of the highest waterfalls in the world in Zimbabwe, up into Zambia, across past Lake Malawi, into Tanzania past Kilimanjaro and then into Kenya. We ended with a trek from the Valley of the Kings in Egypt to Hurghada on the Red Sea before ending at our assembly plant in Cairo itself, in the shadow of the Pyramids of Giza. The journey was dubbed Daring Africa because the engineers and the sales team all believe that the Navara is the passport that lets a person dare, whether they are a business operator or a weekend adventurer,” said Mohareb.
“This trip along the Gariep through the Namaqualand is Daring Africa 2.0 if you like. The Navara Warrior will be true to its name and give the 4×4 aficionado even more reason to dream – and to dare – as we continue to celebrate this incredible continent in which Nissan has been present and served for more than 60 years,” concluded Maciej
