Recently the makers of the Nissan Patrol – the stylish and rugged SUV sold throughout the Middle East and Australasia – offered fans in the Middle East a chance to win one of hundreds of prizes by using their creativity to submit a challenging but feasible feat for the Patrol to take on. From scaling some particularly rugged landscape in the Middle East, to some other difficult stunt, almost anything goes.

Nissan is the same company that, in 2012, had the Patrol scale an enormous mound of earth shaped to resemble a sound-wave from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, emphasizing the Patrol’s elegant handling by pairing it with elegant music.

Hundreds of entries have been received to the latest competition and, with 10 finalists now selected, Nissan is asking fans of the Nissan Patrol in the UAE and elsewhere to choose a winner by casting a vote for their favourite idea on the Nissan Middle East Facebook page.The winner will receive an all-expenses-paid trip for two to Japan, as well as the opportunity to tour Nissan factories while there. The winner might also get to see his or her “challenging but feasible” idea used in a television commercial or in a Nissan marketing campaign. All 10 finalists will receive a Nissan Patrol weekend test drive and 200 participants will receive gifts from around the Middle East.The Patrol was actually designed with the Middle East in mind, as it underwent more than 13,000 hours of testing in the region before its launch. It is also not the first time that Nissan has dipped its toe into the Middle Eastern market: the company has an impressive 55-year history in the region, first selling automobiles in Saudi Arabia.

The 2013 Nissan Patrol is part of the growing market of high-end SUVs with luxurious interiors and the kind of sophisticated styling often associated with Mercedes or BMW. The Patrol features serious brawn, too, including 3,500-kg towing capacity and a 5.6-litre V8 diesel engine.