Remember your first mini truck from back in the day?

[Old Young Man]

I loved having my 1974 Datsun pickup back in high school. I have so many fun memories of fixing it up with my friends. Post your pics if you have any of your mini truck!

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[Montana]

I had a piece of crap Ranger (early 90's). Loved the side, hated the fact that everything was falling apart. This was before I had done any work as a mechanic and everything was new to me. I'm certain that most of the issues could have been resolved, but it was still a high mileage probably 5th or 6th owner vehicle.

 

[Oscarcat]

My first was a used 1981 Datsun King Cab 5 speed without power steering but with A/C and a work shell. The NAPZ engine had two spark plugs per cylinder.

In 1982, the name Nissan replaced Datsun. Sadly, I don't have pics but the memory lives on.

 

[AwHeck]

Bought it new in early '84. Only options were a/c and radio. Fun little truck but a tin can. Only 12 mo/12,000 mile warranty and had a LOT of issues that finally were resolved at about 25,000 miles so I kept driving it. Had for 8 years and over 80,000 miles when I sold it.

 

[Headbanger]

1984 Ranger. Bought new for $6199.

 

[MavFord7560]

Here’s my ranger at 20 years old. Right before I gave it to my son. Also had a Nissan the year it switched from datsun. 1983.5

Had a new for $7000 1984 Ford Ranger with few options and a manual and the 4-banger. Knew nothing about towing/towing capacity and towed a 2000 lb+ boat all over Michigan and it did not work out well. Sold it at 30k miles.

 

[Jah.]

1982 VW diesel p-up . lacked power is an understatement . great mpg . was first pickup .

 

[LBCRacer]

1999 Ford Ranger 2.5L. Grandfather bought it from Kragen where it was a delivery truck. I was given it several years later with a bad transmission (No Reverse). Rebuilt the transmission and drove it through high school and college until the trans cooler blew and let antifreeze into the transmission.

 

[mshapeer]

I loved having my 1974 Datsun pickup back in high school. I have so many fun memories of fixing it up with my friends. Post your pics if you have any of your mini truck!

Bought my 1997 GMC Sonoma SLS on ebay for $3400 in 2004 - 94,000 miles, 4.3L V6. Got about 18 MPG. Bought it to haul building materials to my house as I did various projects. Drove it until it failed PA state inspection in 2022. Decided I would rather put the money into a Maverick than repairs. My stepson picked it up 2 months ago and is fixing it up.

 

[Rogue]

2006 Subaru Baja

 

[First Sergeant]

1980 Toyota pickup. Basic! 4X4 that would literally go anywhere you pointed it in the woods. Manual locking hubs, AM radio, no air, no electric windows, no extended cab, no power steering. Carb, no EFI. Pulles several trailers the biggest a 12 ft. camper, guessing it was close to 4K, single axel. SLOW, but dragged it all over the Idaho mountains back then.

1978–1980: 2.2 L (2,189 cc) 20R SOHC I4, 67 kW (91 PS; 90 hp) at 4,800 rpm and 165 N⋅m (122 lb⋅ft) of torque at 2,400 rpm.

Sold it around 2001, local kid, it had about 220,000 miles. Saw him about 6 months later, he had to put a couple hundred bucks into a new clutch. That was the ORIGINAL clutch. Typical Toyota for you. Probably still going strong. Just like the "energizer bunny" Haha.

 

[troydog66]

My first, and only small truck was a 1989 Chevrolet S10, 2WD, standard cab, 2.5 litre with a 5-speed. It had a tonneau cover and white letter Sears Trailhandler tires on stock S10 sport wheels. I sold it when it started to rust.
In addition to my Maverick, I also own a 1965 Chevrolet C10 stepside pickup, gifted by my late father-in-law. It is a COMPLETELY stock truck with 88,000 miles, 230 c.i.d. straight six, one bbl. carburator and original Delco AM non-push button radio.

 

[Xatorius]

For a little while I had this 89 D50 convertible that I inherited from my uncle. It sat in his garage for over ten years without being ran so it needed quite a bit of restorative work. Unfortunately I just didn't have the time or place to properly work on it and sold it a few years back.

 

[LSchicago]

First Mini truck was a 74 Mazda Rotary powered truck. No pics of mine, but looked like this:

It would hit 8500 RPM, and do 125MPH with 4.87 rear gears. Fun little truck, but never saved much gas. LOL.

 

[First Sergeant]

Forgot to note in the first picture the car beiind my truck was the wife's 1978 (if I remember) Datsun B210. 1.2 Liter hot rod. Got 38 MPG on the highway at about 65 mph. Air conditioning!! But if you turned it on at idle it would almost kill the engine! Haha. All these years with "high tech" and the Gub-mint regulations on fuel economy. Today? 35-37 MPG. No big changes. Yes, some emissions and safety progress, but a very good tuned and running vehicle back then did pretty good in terms of efficient/reliable/dependable/ Best of all, they were CHEAP (affordable). Don't know how a poor or low/middle income family can afford anything to drive today. I had a 18 month loan on that truck. Today, I pay cash, but I just looked on line and some are offering 7 and 8 year loans. In perpetual debt. Wow, times have changed!

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