Nissan Australia celebrates 60th anniversary of historic Simpson Desert crossing

Nissan Australia celebrates 60th anniversary of G60 Patrol completing first motorised crossing of the Simpson Desert

Straddling across three different states, the Simpson Desert represents the largest parallel sand dune desert on earth and, even today, traversing its unmaintained 4x4 tracks remains an admirable accomplishment.

Sixty years ago it was even more difficult and treacherous, but today Nissan Australia celebrates the diamond jubilee of the first motorised crossing of the Simpson Desert, achieved by the Sprigg family in their privately owned G60 Patrol.

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This was no factory backed exercise, but instead a family excursion of sorts. It was famed Australian geologist and conservationist Reg Sprigg who bundled his family of four into the humble G60 Patrol, setting off from the Northern Territory's Andado Station, emerging in Birdsville Queensland, two weeks later.

With no established 4WD tracks or maps, the family averaged just 5km/h on their journey, travelling by day and camping under the stars by night.

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Riding up front on the bench seat for that historic two week trip was Reg's son Doug, then aged just seven.

"Mum was the one that did a lot of the preparations. They were an amazing team. Without Mum, Dad wouldn’t have been anywhere near as successful”, says Doug.

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Nissan recently caught up with Doug, now the second-generation caretaker of the 144,000-acre Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary, originally founded by his dad Reg, in South Australia, to reunite him with a perfectly restored G60 Patrol.

Driving around the expansive land initially protected by his father, Doug muses: "I have such fond memories of that G60. It was such a robust and reliable vehicle".

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"Dad used his 4WDs to go and explore different parts of the country and one of the places he came to in 1937, as a geology student, was Arkaroola".

"Driving this vehicle now, 60 years later, it's just incredible... Dad was amazing in his diversity of knowledge, and I didn't realise just how much I relied on him until he died. And suddenly, this amazing resource was gone.

"But jumping in this Nissan brings those memories back, it's been amazing".

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Watch the heartfelt reunion in the video at the top, and read more about the Sprigg family below.

Original story: How Doug Sprigg and his family fell in love with the Nissan Patrol

Nissan's Patrol helped the Sprigg family conquer the desert, and the bond isn't going anywhere soon

10 April, 2022: Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary isn’t the kind of place you’re likely to accidentally stumble across.

Hidden deep in South Australia’s red-dirt outback, some eight-hours drive from Adelaide and at least four hours from anything that could be described as a bustling town, the 610-square-kilometre wilderness sanctuary can be considered remote – even by Australian standards.

And that’s exactly how Nissan Patrol-owner Doug Sprigg likes it. A man so deeply in love with Australia’s outback it’s like the rust-red dirt flows right through his veins, Doug says he couldn’t see himself living anywhere else.

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Which is a good thing, because the Sprigg family have been the custodians of this unique site since acquiring it from the South Australian Government in 1967.

“There is nowhere quite like this,” Doug says. “Arkaroola is a 144,000-acre property, and it has an amazing diversity of geology, animals and plants in these arid lands.”

When Doug was just seven years-old he climbed into his father's G60 Nissan Patrol, one of the first examples to arrive in Australia, to complete the first ever motorised crossing of Australia's vast Simpson Desert in 1962.

Doug, his sister Marg, and his parents Reg and Griselda, squeezed into the front seats of the tiny-by-current-standards G60 and set off in search of oil and gas reserves that might be hidden beneath the seemingly endless sand dunes of the Simpson.

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Leaving from Andado Station in the Northern Territory, the family emerged from the sand dunes in Birdsville, Queensland, just under two weeks later – a monumental feat made even more impressive by the fact the family hadn’t set out to etch their names in the record books.

“In 1962 my dad took my sister, mum and I across the Simpson Desert, and that would become the first motorised crossing of the desert. I have such fond memories of that G60 - it was such robust and reliable vehicle,” Doug says.

“There were other vehicles out there at that time, too, taking different routes, like the French Line. But the Nissan was the only one that made it across to the other side without any issues.

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“And the modern ones are just brilliant, too. They’re just as robust, but a whole lot more comfortable.”

That cross-desert adventure ignited a love of country that still burns in Doug today, and that fuels his passion for Arkaroola and for the Patrol – which celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2021.

After acquiring the site, the Sprigg family had it gazetted as a wildlife sanctuary and historic reserve. The Arkaroola Education and Research Foundation has supports students in pursuing careers in botany, geology and paleontology ever since.

Today, Arkaroola welcomes tourists in droves who come to explore the stunning Flinders Rangers, or the deep gorges and towering mountains that cover much of the property, either on foot, by 4WD, or by one of the sanctuary’s planes – often piloted by Doug himself.