With Nissan dealers begging for a dedicated off-road 4Runner rival, we take a look at what it could look like if Nissan ...

as well as the Toyota 4Runner. For 2005, the Xterra underwent a complete redesign (along with the Frontier pickup truck on which it was based), gaining more power, refinement and creature comforts.

Nissan could also opt to develop a dedicated Frontier-based Xterra for the U.S. market, which may be a better fit to fight Toyota's Land Cruiser and 4Runner head-on.

Toyota's compact, pickup-based ... pine for the more serious dirt lovers such as the Jeep Wrangler and Nissan Xterra. The oddly sporty on-the-floor seating of previous 4Runners is largely gone.

The Xterra was essentially Nissan's counterpart to the Toyota 4Runner, which also shares its platform with a midsize pickup truck–the Toyota Tacoma. With two generations spanning from 1999 until ...