What happened to small trucks?

[vtsnowedin]

I had a Ford pickup that had cost the owner $1,995 new back in the day! (1963). Same price as a VW bug.

At that price it was definitely the stripped-down model. No cigarette lighter. No ashtray. No radio. Single-piece rubber floor mat. Single speed wipers. Sheet metal for the interior door panels. No armrests! 6 cylinders and a 3-speed (column shift) that was geared too tall in 1st gear for truck use, probably the same transmission as a Ford Galaxy, then not really geared for freeway use either (3.78) because the engine noise in the cab was tiring.

They sell trucks like this today in the 3rd world, why not here?

You wouldn't sell a dozen of them a year here. Now fix the gear ratios and add arm rests and variable speed wipers etc. you should have a market for small trucks and you will as soon as gas goes back up in price (and it will). The auto makers will jump through hoops on fire to deliver what we will buy but until a lot of people want a economical truck there is no point in them making a bunch of sales lot ornaments.

 

[Bird]

I had a Ford pickup that had cost the owner $1,995 new back in the day! (1963). Same price as a VW bug.

At that price it was definitely the stripped-down model. No cigarette lighter. No ashtray. No radio. Single-piece rubber floor mat. Single speed wipers. Sheet metal for the interior door panels. No armrests! 6 cylinders and a 3-speed (column shift) that was geared too tall in 1st gear for truck use, probably the same transmission as a Ford Galaxy, then not really geared for freeway use either (3.78) because the engine noise in the cab was tiring.

They sell trucks like this today in the 3rd world, why not here?

I still well remember my first truck. In October, 1969, at the State Fair of Texas, I looked at a new 1970 Datsun pickup (that was Nissan's earlier name for you youngsters) and thought I might buy one. But then I saw an ad in the newspaper for a new 1969 Chevrolet pickup that was cheaper than the Datsun and I liked it a lot better; cost me $1,956 plus tax, title, & license. The dealer was trying to get rid of the 1969 inventory because they already had 1970 models on the lot.

Of course that truck was just as you describe the Ford; no cigarette lighter, no power anything, rubber floor mat. It did have a spare tire, rear bumper, (how many remember when those were "options" on pickups) and heavy duty radiator. But I had no complaint with the gear ratios or engine noise.

 

[dave1949]

I've had a 1980 Dodge/Misubishi D50 4cyl, 2wd, 5spd manual, and a 1994 Ranger/Mazda?? 4cyl, 4x4, 5spd manual. Got a lot of use out of both and combined, about 240,000 miles. They were both reliable and got better mileage than full size trucks of that age. I sold the D50 when we moved to Germany and the Ranger when I bought my tractor and needed to trailer it. Our 2007 Sport Trac is similar for being handy for small loads.

There is a use for small trucks but I'm not sure the market potential here in the US is enough to keep them around. It's a shame there isn't; a small truck that got good mileage and fairly simple and reliable would be a nice option to have.

 

[brown40]

There is still a market for small trucks, but from 2005-2006 gas doubled in price, and shoppers shopped for mileage except for work truck segment. The trend got picked up on and the breed died back--dealers I talked with all cited 'not much better MPG', and 'nowhere near the payload' compared to the 1/2 tons. There is still a segment out there for weekenders, 4wd folks, commuters, and people that don't want the giant footprint to manage, but pump shock put a hurting on them. If they can get a product out that can hit 30mpg, come in 1/2 to 2/3 the cost of full-size instead of 80-90%, and haul 6-7k safely there's a tremendous market of boaters, atv'ers, campers, etc that would jump on that. 15-20 mpg is too much for an occasional user to bite on.

 

[ruffdog]

My dad had a Chevy Luv 4x4 with a manual trans. It was not fast, smooth, powerful, comfortable, or had any of the modern features. It was small and had a t-case with a good crawl ratio so it was great in the woods to get firewood. Back then a truck was looked at as a tool vs a comfortable, daily driven, status symbol. Yes, I know that the Luv was not much compared to todays trucks(like my Sierra), but I do miss the simplicity of life back in the day. Boats and campers were smaller, as was all of our demands.

 

[ultrarunner]

Boss had a VW Golf Pickup... it had a Diesel and he made a run every week to pick up engines... said his mileage was always in the 40 mpg range and he liked driving it on the highway... once it was up to speed it had plenty of torque...

The load would be short and long block Model T and Model A engines.

They have similar in Europe...

The first generation little Ford Transit mini van did well here... it was imported with seats so as not to be a "Truck" and then the seats are generally removed.

The import duties on trucks are very steep... really brings the price up.

 

[bcp]

...I saw an ad in the newspaper for a new 1969 Chevrolet pickup that was cheaper than the Datsun and I liked it a lot better; cost me $1,956 plus tax, title, & license. .

Inflation calculator says that would be $12,566.90 in 2015 dollars.

Bruce

 

[California]

I hope the VW Golf diesel pickup is a big improvement over the Rabbit diesel pickup of the 70's~80's.

A couple of acquaintances owned those and didn't have very good luck with them. I had been interested in buying one until I heard that.

My experience with a little Datsun1300 pickup wasn't much better. I bought it used with high mileage. It looked ok and got excellent mileage - until it didn't. Pretty soon it wouldn't run at all. The problem was obviously the carburetor so I rebuilt that twice - no improvement. Dealer prices for a carburetor were astronomical so it was pretty much a matter of fix it myself or sell it in non-running condition.

Finally in a magazine or something (no internet in those days) I read that the carburetor castings became porous after several years. I bought a junkyard core carburetor and transferred over all my new components to it. That fixed it. That was my first experience fixing a Japanese model and its carburetor was a lot more complex than a Stromberg 97 or Carter YF that might have cost $25 professionally rebuilt and ready to install.

 

[smstonypoint]

Inflation calculator says that would be $12,566.90 in 2015 dollars.

Bruce

Measuring inflation for items such as cars/trucks, consumer electronics, and some other products presents real problems for economists in that quality changes so much over time. Bird's 1969 truck didn't have ABS, fuel injection, electronic ignition, radial tires, air bags, and other features that are standard on today's trucks.

Steve

 

[ultrarunner]

What really happened to small trucks is they grew up and are now full grown.