I learned to drive with an 88 2wd Nissan Hardbody and my second vehicle was a 95 Nissan Hardbody. Fantastic trucks, the only problem was rust issues, but I live in New England so that is expected. No frills trucks, that cut right to the chase. I pushed those trucks through hell and back and they kept on ticking.
The second one saved my life too. I know I would have been dead in something else. I was driving back to college on 495 on Long Island late at night when a drunk driver in an F-150 pushed me into the median. I was traveling at about 70mph. Needless to say there was nothing I could do but hold on as the truck got sideways in the deep sand. The tires lost there bead and I went from 70mph to an almost instant dead stop. The truck launched into the air landing on the drivers side corner about 100 feet down the road, where I continue to roll along the median before landing on all four tires. I collected myself and casually crawled out the broken window. The only injures I had were cuts on my hands from the window.
It was the extremely solid build quality that saved my life.