I have often thought that our transportation problems can be largely solved by the re-introduction of the pared-down small pickup truck, similar to the Toyotas, Datsuns and Mazdas of years past, i.e. the 1970s:
Then I came upon this article, which talks about Toyota’s current attempt to do just that, the result looking something like this:
The 70s light pickups look almost dainty by comparison, but that’s because Nanny Gummint decrees that even the simplest and most basic of cars need to have all sorts of safety equipment included. (By comparison, the earlier pickups had about as much safety equipment as a skateboard. My old Mazda pickup from that era didn’t even have seat belts.)
And as for selling such things for only $10,000? I’ll bet Mr, Free Market’s country house that not one American car manufacturer would even give lip service to the concept.
Not when a loaded F-150 sells for $75,000 and yields about $25,000 profit.
Afterthought: my last Chicago car was a Mazda B4000 (similar to the Ford Ranger of the early 1990s), and I loved it. I lost it in the Great Divorce Of 1996, and Ex-Wife drove it until (I think) 2012.
All the power I’d ever need, complete reliability, plus room for guns in the little extended cab. If I could get its clone (11,000 miles on the clock as it had when I bought it, for $9,000) I’d grab it now with both hands.
With each passing day I am regretting more and more my selling my 1991 S10 last year.
The first and last brand new ride I’ll ever own (had it for 32 years) and the best thing I have ever purchased.
Even at (then) age 68 I am capable of doing very stupid things.
OK maybe, but I doubt that anyone would buy them, much less pass any sort of current safety standards. As I recall they were hopelessly underpowered, with only minimal comfort levels, with sheet metal body work the same thickness and insolation as a beer can. ….. and not much carrying capacity.
OTOH there is somebody running around town locally with a Suzuki Mini Truck, but he may be using it exclusively for taking trash to the Recycle Center ( AKA – the Town dump). https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8KRz07bECdI/maxresdefault.jpg
2002 Toyota Tacoma extended cab 4×4. I miss that truck. Most of the mechanics were rather simple and it did everything I wanted it to do except survive the insurance scoundrels after a deer did body work on it at 130am. The truck was 12 years old with 235k on the odometer and still going strong. The best part was the lack of a note on the truck for ages. Gas, oil and away it went. Yes Toyota replaced the frame and I put a new rear end on it but other than that it was a great truck. The new one is nice, larger, more whistles and bells but the ’02 could still suit my needs quite well.
I have an 04 Ranger that I inherited. It has 150k miles on it and drives and rides like it did back in 04. It gets the same fuel mileage as my unloaded 16 F350 Diesel but it can’t tow the loads the F350 does.
that toyota IMV or whatever it is called looks like a sweet truck. Give me air conditioning, heat and a radio, headlights wipers and such and it sounds like a great little truck for Jerry Homeowner. Grab some mulch, top soil, lumber, pop it in 4wd in foul weather or to go off roading. The bolt on body would keep repair costs down. What’s not to like? Maybe it has limited towing capacity but other than that it would be a winner here in the states. I hope they make an extended cab version so there is room for me, my missus and my dog.
Back about 1980 in Chico, CA I bought a ’74 Ford Courier at a used car lot to use as a runabout beater/2nd vehicle. A short time later I installed a Weber carburetor and a header. Back then there were lots of used low mileage engines and transmissions being imported from Japan, so I had a shop swap the 4-speed tranny for a 5-speed from a Mazda.
A few years later I wound up driving it to the ancestral family stomping grounds in west Texas and back again. Those little 4-cylinder engines were bullet proof. I mounted a 5-gallon metal Jerry can in the bed along with an electric fuel pump for a little extra range. I plumbed it to the gas tank filler, and wired the pump to a switch mounted on the dash board.
Forgot to add: Individual letters spelled FORD on the front lip of the hood. I switched them to read “DORF”.
One summer I was driving across town when the windshield suddenly began to fog up. I glanced down and realized that I was sinking. Yeah, heater core sprang a leak. I do love me some K.I.S.S. Got home, disconnected the heater hoses, and ran the outlet over to the inlet, bypassing the core. Had a new core in less than a week. Even that R&R was simple, just a matter of a few bolts and a control cable.
I had exactly that model of Toyota, in the same green color. Mine was a 1976 model.
2 wheel drive, 4 Cylinder, 5 speed, A/C, sipped gas. I carried lots of heavy stuff during my failed attempt at homesteading, mostly firewood, and drove off-road into the forest to get it. We called it our Jeep Cherokee, and I would have kept it forever if a drunk hadn’t totaled it, while it was parked in front of my house.
The bed is a single layer of sheet metal, so if a cargo shifts and dents the inside, it dents the outside, too. But working trucks are supposed to look like working trucks. It adds character.