I honestly have not seen this face before. At least in my part of the country, we had to wait a few years past 65 to start seeing these strange rolling tiny trucks--everyone else still have gangly old F150s and such.
@Novaload: It was a few years later before these little things started to show up in Florida at all and then there were only a few of the models with larger engines.
The Chicken Tax did a good job of keeping them from getting a start in the market on this coast. As I recall, it was not until they started "making" them in the U.S. that you saw many of them on the road.
Go purchase this vehicle then have all engineers and designers examine it for weeks. No, months. As long as it takes for them to realize this is a proper work truck.
Note the lack of luxury car features from the time it was built. You get gauges, a few knobs, lights, and a radio.
@that ain't the way to have fun, son: You may need to strike it repeatedly with your marketing and product placement people, so they can understand it by osmosis.
@skitter: Yeah, but the sell here is everyone has their own damn iPodule so they don't need an old timey built in radio. Just stick a couple of cupholders and you're good to go.
I would snap that up in a heartbeat... the really old Datsun pickups are way cool, easy to fix and work on (lots of parts from later Datsun's can work on them), and when it's done it's fairly rare... Now if I just wasn't 6'4" - that cab's a little small...
So, it's short a carburetor and air cleaner, the master cylinder, the front bumper and a radiator cap? The sucker hardly has any rust. Just a solid old, nicely cared for pickup.
Looks like that Datsun has a few hundred thousand more miles left in it. A long afternoon's work, and you're back on the road.
I don't get why none of the automakers that are already established in the U.S. have come out with a mini-truck. That would be a particularly inspired move by one of the struggling third-tier brands like Suzuki or Mitsubishi. They'd have the field practically to themselves. If their truck was well-designed and reliable it would become an instant cult classic.
Alas, group think has thus far prevailed. Bigger is supposedly always better.
You raise a good point, but Mistubishi or Suzuki would need to build a small pickup in North America to be viable, not import it from overseas. There has been a 25% tariff on imported pickup trucks since 1963. The tariff was retribution for Europe tripling the tariff on chicken imported from the US - hence the name "chicken tax". Mahindra is attempting to get around the tax before selling their small pickup in the US. #1977
Thats a clown car for the shriners. Those of you who think its the nirvana hauler don't have to pull a 20+ ft fully enclosed and equiped race trailer on the weekends. And BTW, that F250 diesel gets ~20 mpg around town. #1977
@CobraGuy: If you can afford race trailer you can afford two trucks. I for one would never need anything bigger than the truck in the advert above. I know that because when I grew up we had one of those very trucks and we hauled a number of loads of wood in that thing and never had any trouble with that. Would still have it but rust is a common cruel, cruel demon anywhere with snow and ice. #1977
My dad had two of those for his construction company, as well as a couple of F-150s, in the late 1970's. I spent a lot of time riding around in them. As is typical, as you grow older you start wanting the cars your parents drove. I would love to get my hands on one of those. #1977
@f86sabre: It's too your benefit if your parents actually had cars that were cool or at least quirky and interesting. Otherwise, you end up wanting your very own gray, bottom of the line 1991 Toyota Camry. #1977
If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face was starred
If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face was unstarred
I would pay cash money for a Chevy Luv-sized body-on-frame pickup with a 2.0L turbo-diesel.
It would allow me to fill the bed for home improvement projects, pull a decent-sized pop-camper and still get better fuel economy than any other truck.
The Mahindra is still too big, but it may have to do. Jury is still out. #1977
lets see the Datsun King Cab tow 8 thousand pounds of wood with 2k worth of tile in the bed like I have done helping friends build their houses. There is a reason for large trucks. #1977
@zeeboid: Of course there are reasons for large trucks - no-one here is disputing that. On the other hand, why use a humongo three-ton beast with a 10,000-lb. rating just to schlep around dirty shovels and pickaxes, a few bags of Sakrete and a wheelbarrow, or a greasy rear axle from a project car? #1977
many of the automotive supercars that most of us would give our left nuts for get absolutly horse dung efficiency compaired to most 1500-2500 trucks out there... yet I never hear the same complaints about sports cars when someone sees a loan person driving one around
"Why would someone need that ferrari 430 Scuderia?"
the ferrari 430 Scuderia gets 11-16mpg after all... where as a 2009 Hemi ram gets 13-19mpg.
If some dude wants to buy a giant truck/suv that gets 10 city and 15 highway and use it to commute back and fourth to a desk job... who are any of us to bitch about it when most of us lust over less efficnet and less useful automobiles.
that dude with the giant truck... a vehicle that obviously makes that person happy... is doing it with twenty percent better mielage then the guy in the Lamborghini Murcielago (8/13). but no one cares about the lambo do they?
They see one and say "I'd kill for one" as the guy in the truck behind him gets people flicking him off and posting photos of it on bitter hippy websites (refering to FUH2.com )
Bottom line here.
If someone's choice in a vehicle makes them happy... whether it be a Murcielago or a Hummer H2... Big Deal.
Motortrend has a E92 M3 right now that is averaging 16mpg. Thats what I average in my 01 Suburban.
but guess which one gets complaints.
I'm just not a fan of Hypocrisy or bitterness about someone's choice in a vehicle that makes them happy.
When there is a website out there where bitter angery people post images of them flicking off high end euro sports cars or Gibson Custom Citations because of how wasteful they are... some of the hypocrisy will be gone, but we'll just have more bitter people who have their noese where they shouldn't be. in other people's busness.
@zeeboid: What we so often forget is that maybe that truck has a horse trailer or camper to pull every month or two, and the driver can't or doesn't want to pay for another daily vehicle. But I still shake my fist at them for making me unable to look ahead, thanks to their massive bodywork and tinted glass. #1977
@zeeboid: Who's being bitter or hypocritical here, and why the rant? Are you confusing Jalopnik with Greenpeace? As you said, automotive freedom of choice. You were the one deriding small pickups because they can't tow 8,000 pounds. I think the rest of us would like the choice of small or large pickups. Other than the very-dated Ranger, that choice doesn't exist in the US. It's big or nothing. We don't like that. #1977
@skitter: The obviously solution there is to get an equally huge vehicle that's tall enough to see around them. I for one am glad I bought a 4Runner now that I live in Middle 'o Nowhere, Georgia, because trucks/SUVs seem seem to outnumber cars by a large margin. It's bad enough that I have the only import in my whole office, at least I have a truck frame, RWD and a largish V6. #1977
If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face was starred
If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face was unstarred
@skitter: This is all very true. If anything, I'm even more frustrated by big trucks and SUVs I still can't see around. My rage is focused towards long-wheelbase TrailBlazers more than anything, because not only are they stupidly long and tall, but I get headaches trying to figure out why anyone would buy one. #1977
If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face was starred
If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face was unstarred
@tonyola: oooooooooh, I completly agree... the more choices the better.
however when it comes to capatalism, if you don't buy it... they will stop making it. which the current non-existance of the 1977 Datsun King Cab (and its 11.3 Cubic Feet Of Cab Space!) something tells me it's not around for a reason. #1977
A friend of mine has one of these, as a convertible. That top is the biggest POS imaginable, and it's a total wrestling match to get it up. The stays would rather take your fingers off than extend properly. And even brand new and perfectly erected, that top will only deter a few raindrops.
But it's Caterpillar yellow, and gone back to live in the wilds of Maine. A fair trade all around. #internationalharvester
Find a junk yard civic sedan and add 3 feet of the second rear passenger area to the middle of your hatchback and slap the trunk bed on after the rear wheels.
Trust me, it's a VERY GOOD idea and I think the commentariat would agree.
Novaload promoted this comment
Edited by The Dead Inside Grp. Co. Ltd. at 11/07/09 4:05 PM
The Dead Inside Grp. Co. Ltd. was starred
The Dead Inside Grp. Co. Ltd. was unstarred
@The Dead Inside Grp. Co. Ltd.: I'd prefer to put a truck bed on a mid-80s 4WD Tercel wagon. That way it's a Toyota truck, which means it should be Warlord Grade. #1977
@Murilee Martin: Well put - I'd hold off the Tercel for the Corolla wagons (MY 88) solely for the larger engine, electronic locking centre diff, and the space wagon tail lights.
They did rust though - mom made the mistake of sideswiping a fence with ours and the rust on the damage was instant - plus we had an exhaust manifold rust off. #1977
11/21/09
11/21/09
11/21/09
The Chicken Tax did a good job of keeping them from getting a start in the market on this coast. As I recall, it was not until they started "making" them in the U.S. that you saw many of them on the road.
11/21/09
Go purchase this vehicle then have all engineers and designers examine it for weeks. No, months. As long as it takes for them to realize this is a proper work truck.
Note the lack of luxury car features from the time it was built. You get gauges, a few knobs, lights, and a radio.
Thank you.
11/21/09
11/21/09
11/21/09
11/21/09
11/22/09
#tips
11/22/09
BTW, the Third Punic War was a long time ago, Dude. Time to move on.
11/21/09
11/21/09
11/21/09
11/21/09
11/21/09
11/21/09
Looks like that Datsun has a few hundred thousand more miles left in it. A long afternoon's work, and you're back on the road.
Murilee, I hope you grabbed the badges...
11/07/09
Alas, group think has thus far prevailed. Bigger is supposedly always better.
Idiots. #1977
11/08/09
You raise a good point, but Mistubishi or Suzuki would need to build a small pickup in North America to be viable, not import it from overseas. There has been a 25% tariff on imported pickup trucks since 1963. The tariff was retribution for Europe tripling the tariff on chicken imported from the US - hence the name "chicken tax". Mahindra is attempting to get around the tax before selling their small pickup in the US. #1977
11/07/09
It was just fine as a work truck, and with C4 seats, was fairly comfy for long trips, too.
"Fairly" is a relative term. I'm not about to trade either the beater E320 or my wife's RX300 for one if I need to road-trip. #1977
11/07/09
11/08/09
11/10/09
11/07/09
11/07/09
11/07/09
It would allow me to fill the bed for home improvement projects, pull a decent-sized pop-camper and still get better fuel economy than any other truck.
The Mahindra is still too big, but it may have to do. Jury is still out. #1977
11/07/09
11/07/09
11/07/09
many of the automotive supercars that most of us would give our left nuts for get absolutly horse dung efficiency compaired to most 1500-2500 trucks out there... yet I never hear the same complaints about sports cars when someone sees a loan person driving one around
"Why would someone need that ferrari 430 Scuderia?"
the ferrari 430 Scuderia gets 11-16mpg after all... where as a 2009 Hemi ram gets 13-19mpg.
If some dude wants to buy a giant truck/suv that gets 10 city and 15 highway and use it to commute back and fourth to a desk job... who are any of us to bitch about it when most of us lust over less efficnet and less useful automobiles.
that dude with the giant truck... a vehicle that obviously makes that person happy... is doing it with twenty percent better mielage then the guy in the Lamborghini Murcielago (8/13). but no one cares about the lambo do they?
They see one and say "I'd kill for one" as the guy in the truck behind him gets people flicking him off and posting photos of it on bitter hippy websites (refering to FUH2.com )
Bottom line here.
If someone's choice in a vehicle makes them happy... whether it be a Murcielago or a Hummer H2... Big Deal.
Motortrend has a E92 M3 right now that is averaging 16mpg. Thats what I average in my 01 Suburban.
but guess which one gets complaints.
I'm just not a fan of Hypocrisy or bitterness about someone's choice in a vehicle that makes them happy.
When there is a website out there where bitter angery people post images of them flicking off high end euro sports cars or Gibson Custom Citations because of how wasteful they are... some of the hypocrisy will be gone, but we'll just have more bitter people who have their noese where they shouldn't be. in other people's busness.
11/07/09
11/07/09
11/07/09
11/07/09
11/07/09
11/08/09
however when it comes to capatalism, if you don't buy it... they will stop making it. which the current non-existance of the 1977 Datsun King Cab (and its 11.3 Cubic Feet Of Cab Space!) something tells me it's not around for a reason. #1977
11/07/09
But it's Caterpillar yellow, and gone back to live in the wilds of Maine. A fair trade all around. #internationalharvester
11/07/09
11/07/09
Find a junk yard civic sedan and add 3 feet of the second rear passenger area to the middle of your hatchback and slap the trunk bed on after the rear wheels.
Trust me, it's a VERY GOOD idea and I think the commentariat would agree.
11/07/09
Everything's just gotten out of hand in terms of scale to the point where they're difficult to use for actual work. #1977
11/07/09
Kings ain't what they used to be. #1977
11/07/09
11/08/09
They did rust though - mom made the mistake of sideswiping a fence with ours and the rust on the damage was instant - plus we had an exhaust manifold rust off. #1977