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I seriously miss compact trucks, like the Mazda B-series, Ford Courier, Ford Ranger (before it became a mid-size in 2019). These kinds of trucks might more to

I seriously miss compact trucks, like the Mazda B-series, Ford Courier, Ford Ranger (before it became a mid-size in 2019). These kinds of trucks might more to your liking. Sure they aren't as small and cute as the imports, but your local auto store can still get you parts for them. They are fun to drive, fairly fuel efficient, and are capable of hauling material from the home center. I learned to drive stick, and how to pop the clutch when you have a dead battery, in a Ford Courier on the high plains of west Texas.

iancmceachern 4y ago
You can get the Ford Maverick
- munificent 4y ago
  A Maverick is just an open air hatchback. It's the same length as my 2002 Xtracab Tacoma, which is nice, but my Tacoma has a bed that's literally twenty inches longer.
  - saalweachter 4y ago
    I still long in my heart for a pickup that is as small as possible while having an 8 ft bed, but honestly once you also need to take children with you wherever you go, the compromise of a shorter bed with a good sized back seat (to accommodate car seats) really begins to make a lot of sense. I ended up just attaching a trailer hitch to my Chevy Volt and buying a lightweight 8ft trailer. As long as I just need to move big and not heavy, it's perfectly adequate, and the mileage when I'm not hauling is a lot better. And it cost me about $2k while keeping me out of the insane used truck market.
  - Maursault 4y ago
    > A Maverick is just an open air hatchback. Not always. Sometimes it's a weird little muscle car platform.[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Maverick_(1970–1977) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Maverick_(1970–1977)
- laweijfmvo 4y ago
  At 199.7 inches, the Maverick is a barely an inch shorter than the shortest Ranger (201.2).
- everdrive 4y ago
  I wish you could! They’re impossible to find.
jdmichal 4y ago
The MY2022 Maverick is what the new Ranger should have been. And the Hyundai Santa Cruz also was introduced in MY2022. Finally some steps in the right direction, at least.
- ajcp 4y ago
  I really like the cut of those new Santa Cruz. Every time I see one I'm like "yeah, that's the stuff"
  - harambae 4y ago
    I wish they would roll out a two (or two and a half) door version of the Santa Cruz like the original prototype [0]. My 2001 Ford Ranger hit this sweet spot beautifully but it was a DOHC and when the timing chain came apart it wasn't worth doing an engine swap. I can't find a replacement currently but am holding out hope for the Toyota Tacoma electric in a year or two. [0] https://www.motorbiscuit.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/hyundai-santa-cruz-crossover-truck-concept14jpg.jpg?w=1024&h=576 https://www.motorbiscuit.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/hyun...
  - soylentcola 4y ago
    Checked em out, but again...more seats and less bed is not what I need. I just want a car-like light truck for me to drive around the city alone or with a single passenger during the week and pick up sheets of plywood or drywall on the weekends. Don't want a big truck, don't need to carry a family of four. But Santa Cruz is at least a step in the right direction.
munificent 4y ago
I still drive a manual 2002 Toyota Tacoma and you'll have to claw it out of my dead hands for this exact reason. I really love the utility of a pick-up truck, but I absolutely despise the size of any of them in the US in the past couple of decades. I wish they still made mid-sized pick-ups that were actually mid-sized. A Tacoma is nearly the size of Tundra was twenty years ago, and a Tundra today is like the size of a damn schoolbus.
- JKCalhoun 4y ago
  Yeah, what the hell happened? And I miss my manual (1980's?) Chevy Luv.
  - tonyarkles 4y ago
    From what I understand, the two main drivers are: - safety standards (eg crumple zones) - emissions and efficiency regulations that vary with the footprint of the vehicle. Vehicles with larger footprint (= width x length) are allowed to have lower fuel economy numbers, which perversely means that one solution to a truck having poor fuel economy is to make it… bigger.
    - afavour 4y ago
      Another driver is everyone getting pickup trucks and the resulting market distortion. Farmer that needs to haul equipment? You need a pickup truck. Family of four that needs to do the school run? For some reason you’ll also be getting a pickup truck. And there are a lot more of the latter to market to.
      - argiopetech 4y ago
        There's a lot of room to talk yourself into a pickup. They aren't cheap. If you can afford one, you can also probably afford a boat or a trailer. If either is of more than diminutive size (even theoretically, as a planned future purchase), that basically narrows you down to a pickup or equivalent size SUV. If you also want to carry home improvement goods (concrete blocks, plywood, drywall, or anything longer than 8'), it's way easier to get those in and out of a pickup. I don't think most people use their trucks this way most days, but it's easy to convince yourself you will.
fredgrott 4y ago
The funny thing is the Ford Courier had the Mazda Body but a Toyota engine as I had one in high school.
ioseph 4y ago
It's so bizarre to me as an Australian that these are considered "compact". Here they are the standard utility vehicle for every tradesman (although the Toyota Hilux is perhaps most popular). Coming from my hatchback I find these long and awkward to park / merge. Sadly Dodge Rams and other stupid big US cars are starting to rear their ugly faces, although they look hilariously out of place on our roads. A popular term for them is "emotional support vehicle"
- lmpdev 4y ago
  I'm utterly baffled why Toyotas like the 79 Series LandCruiser hasn't taken over the United States yet It is the most American vehicle ever made Next to no electronics, far stronger than a Hilux, all standard dirt cheap parts that are all entirely serviceable in the middle of no where and most importantly for Americans: a massive V8 diesel engine Out bush I see quite a few 6 wheeler modified ones with double 220L (63 gallon) fuel tanks US Regulatory capture shooting themselves in the foot I guess
  - elihu 4y ago
    A couple reasons might be the chicken tax (25% tariff on all imported trucks) and if it's "too small" it might be in the category of light trucks where the EPA imposes very strict fuel economy standards. I blame regulatory capture for both of these things. Gotta protect American big truck manufacturers from competition from smaller, lighter, possibly cheaper vehicles.
ricardobeat 4y ago
The brazilian Ford Courier model was an amazing pickup. Its 1.6 engine was a beast for the weight (~1000kg if I remember correctly, you’d lose traction on launch very easily). I’ts kinda crazy that cars like that are not even made anymore. You can barely load a couple boxes into most of the currently popular extended-cabin abominations.
Spooky23 4y ago
I used to use an old Ford Ranger on a farm as a teen and it was a great truck. It was tough in its own way, easy to fix, and took alot of abuse. I rolled it once (not in it fortunately), and got it stuck in a stream. We dragged it out was a tractor, rolled it upright, waited for the carburetor to drain or something and got it back on the road.

iancmceachern 4y ago

You can get the Ford Maverick

munificent 4y ago
A Maverick is just an open air hatchback. It's the same length as my 2002 Xtracab Tacoma, which is nice, but my Tacoma has a bed that's literally twenty inches longer.
- saalweachter 4y ago
  I still long in my heart for a pickup that is as small as possible while having an 8 ft bed, but honestly once you also need to take children with you wherever you go, the compromise of a shorter bed with a good sized back seat (to accommodate car seats) really begins to make a lot of sense. I ended up just attaching a trailer hitch to my Chevy Volt and buying a lightweight 8ft trailer. As long as I just need to move big and not heavy, it's perfectly adequate, and the mileage when I'm not hauling is a lot better. And it cost me about $2k while keeping me out of the insane used truck market.
- Maursault 4y ago
  > A Maverick is just an open air hatchback. Not always. Sometimes it's a weird little muscle car platform.[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Maverick_(1970–1977) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Maverick_(1970–1977)
laweijfmvo 4y ago
At 199.7 inches, the Maverick is a barely an inch shorter than the shortest Ranger (201.2).
everdrive 4y ago
I wish you could! They’re impossible to find.

jdmichal 4y ago

The MY2022 Maverick is what the new Ranger should have been. And the Hyundai Santa Cruz also was introduced in MY2022. Finally some steps in the right direction, at least.

ajcp 4y ago
I really like the cut of those new Santa Cruz. Every time I see one I'm like "yeah, that's the stuff"
- harambae 4y ago
  I wish they would roll out a two (or two and a half) door version of the Santa Cruz like the original prototype [0]. My 2001 Ford Ranger hit this sweet spot beautifully but it was a DOHC and when the timing chain came apart it wasn't worth doing an engine swap. I can't find a replacement currently but am holding out hope for the Toyota Tacoma electric in a year or two. [0] https://www.motorbiscuit.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/hyundai-santa-cruz-crossover-truck-concept14jpg.jpg?w=1024&h=576 https://www.motorbiscuit.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/hyun...
- soylentcola 4y ago
  Checked em out, but again...more seats and less bed is not what I need. I just want a car-like light truck for me to drive around the city alone or with a single passenger during the week and pick up sheets of plywood or drywall on the weekends. Don't want a big truck, don't need to carry a family of four. But Santa Cruz is at least a step in the right direction.

munificent 4y ago

I still drive a manual 2002 Toyota Tacoma and you'll have to claw it out of my dead hands for this exact reason. I really love the utility of a pick-up truck, but I absolutely despise the size of any of them in the US in the past couple of decades. I wish they still made mid-sized pick-ups that were actually mid-sized. A Tacoma is nearly the size of Tundra was twenty years ago, and a Tundra today is like the size of a damn schoolbus.

JKCalhoun 4y ago
Yeah, what the hell happened? And I miss my manual (1980's?) Chevy Luv.
- tonyarkles 4y ago
  From what I understand, the two main drivers are: - safety standards (eg crumple zones) - emissions and efficiency regulations that vary with the footprint of the vehicle. Vehicles with larger footprint (= width x length) are allowed to have lower fuel economy numbers, which perversely means that one solution to a truck having poor fuel economy is to make it… bigger.
  - afavour 4y ago
    Another driver is everyone getting pickup trucks and the resulting market distortion. Farmer that needs to haul equipment? You need a pickup truck. Family of four that needs to do the school run? For some reason you’ll also be getting a pickup truck. And there are a lot more of the latter to market to.
    - argiopetech 4y ago
      There's a lot of room to talk yourself into a pickup. They aren't cheap. If you can afford one, you can also probably afford a boat or a trailer. If either is of more than diminutive size (even theoretically, as a planned future purchase), that basically narrows you down to a pickup or equivalent size SUV. If you also want to carry home improvement goods (concrete blocks, plywood, drywall, or anything longer than 8'), it's way easier to get those in and out of a pickup. I don't think most people use their trucks this way most days, but it's easy to convince yourself you will.

fredgrott 4y ago

The funny thing is the Ford Courier had the Mazda Body but a Toyota engine as I had one in high school.

ioseph 4y ago

It's so bizarre to me as an Australian that these are considered "compact". Here they are the standard utility vehicle for every tradesman (although the Toyota Hilux is perhaps most popular). Coming from my hatchback I find these long and awkward to park / merge. Sadly Dodge Rams and other stupid big US cars are starting to rear their ugly faces, although they look hilariously out of place on our roads. A popular term for them is "emotional support vehicle"

lmpdev 4y ago
I'm utterly baffled why Toyotas like the 79 Series LandCruiser hasn't taken over the United States yet It is the most American vehicle ever made Next to no electronics, far stronger than a Hilux, all standard dirt cheap parts that are all entirely serviceable in the middle of no where and most importantly for Americans: a massive V8 diesel engine Out bush I see quite a few 6 wheeler modified ones with double 220L (63 gallon) fuel tanks US Regulatory capture shooting themselves in the foot I guess
- elihu 4y ago
  A couple reasons might be the chicken tax (25% tariff on all imported trucks) and if it's "too small" it might be in the category of light trucks where the EPA imposes very strict fuel economy standards. I blame regulatory capture for both of these things. Gotta protect American big truck manufacturers from competition from smaller, lighter, possibly cheaper vehicles.

ricardobeat 4y ago

The brazilian Ford Courier model was an amazing pickup. Its 1.6 engine was a beast for the weight (~1000kg if I remember correctly, you’d lose traction on launch very easily). I’ts kinda crazy that cars like that are not even made anymore. You can barely load a couple boxes into most of the currently popular extended-cabin abominations.

Spooky23 4y ago

I used to use an old Ford Ranger on a farm as a teen and it was a great truck. It was tough in its own way, easy to fix, and took alot of abuse. I rolled it once (not in it fortunately), and got it stuck in a stream. We dragged it out was a tractor, rolled it upright, waited for the carburetor to drain or something and got it back on the road.