Just can't get a good basic truck, like the old days!

[Hay Dude]

Nah, I'll pass, but if the right 8.1L Vortec came along, as an Extra vehicle, I would consider it. As a daily/primary, nah.

The 8.1/Allison was a better choice than the V-10/Ford transmission.

 

[Runner]

V10 Ford pickup anyone…?

Love mine.

 

[3930dave]

What was popular for a while was the little diesel Rangers and Toyotas. I never drove one but knew a few people who did and were getting around 40mpg with them.

And, of course, the VW p/u......

There are modern turboD versions of all of these (that mostly we can't get).... but for just a basic run-around personal vehicle (vs. hauler), I could still drive one.

Patrick Bedard (wrote for C&D for a long-time, qualified (then crashed IIRC) @ Indy) wrote a neat op-ed about what (strange) cars speak to you. He was stuck (back then) shuttling a vw diesel p/u across a good chunk of the USA one holiday weekend...... and had a blast driving it (seriously), had it up against the rev-limiter in top-gear much of the time. IDK if VW even had a gas option for those old p/u here ?

Rgds, D.

 

[Jstpssng]

IDK if VW even had a gas option for those old p/u here

Yes, they did. If memory serves me they were based on a Rabbit platform.

 

[John0829]

Yes, they did. If memory serves me they were based on a Rabbit platform.

A guy I worked with drove a diesel Rabbit until he just wore it slap out, unbelievable mpg and he drove it hard. Just like a Timex it kept on tickin

 

[QRTRHRS]

What was popular for a while was the little diesel Rangers and Toyotas. I never drove one but knew a few people who did and were getting around 40mpg with them.

I had a diesel Toyota and I did get good mileage but it was a non turbo slug. I had to time it just right to hop onto a busy four lane road. It did have plenty of torque which was rough on the manual transmission which I had to have rebuilt.

 

[QRTRHRS]

I had a Ford E450 box truck with the V10. It ran strong but changing the plugs out was a bear. Only issue that I ever had was at least for that model year, 04', was the temp sensor. It had a sensor in the front of the drivers side head but no actual liquid sensor. It went out while driving and cut the power to about half. I do not recall the symptoms that led me to the sensor as it was not overheating. When I got home and looked for the usual sensor setup and found none is when I dove into the setup. It had some parts supply people scratching their head as well. When I ordered the part in, the sensor in the box was not the correct one, it was a liquid sensor. The parts store reordered and the next one was correct.

 

[ultrarunner]

And, of course, the VW p/u......

View attachment 4107532
There are modern turboD versions of all of these (that mostly we can't get).... but for just a basic run-around personal vehicle (vs. hauler), I could still drive one.

Patrick Bedard (wrote for C&D for a long-time, qualified (then crashed IIRC) @ Indy) wrote a neat op-ed about what (strange) cars speak to you. He was stuck (back then) shuttling a vw diesel p/u across a good chunk of the USA one holiday weekend...... and had a blast driving it (seriously), had it up against the rev-limiter in top-gear much of the time. IDK if VW even had a gas option for those old p/u here ?

Rgds, D.

My boss bought the first diesel VW delivered to the local dealer ordered from press releases.

He used it to deliver rebuilt engines and had a cradle/lift in the bed.

It was super economical and a rebuilt engine handled with ease.

Boss was just shy of 6’7” and didn’t factor the comfort of a full size truck for his stature so I often made deliveries with the diesel… we did one comparison and he said easily 4 times the miles per gallon…

 

[ultrarunner]

For decades a gardener had a Corvair truck with the side ramp… it was a dream to load with built in ramp and he probably ran it for 39 years…

 

[3930dave]

For decades a gardener had a Corvair truck with the side ramp… it was a dream to load with built in ramp and he probably ran it for 39 years…

View attachment 4107744View attachment 4107745

Pretty much the perfect setup for that task , I can see why he kept it. Turning over vehicles that "fast"... sure he wasn't a relative of yours ?

Posting that VW today, had me thinking of the drop-sided Transporters, which your pic also reminded me of, again....

Rgds, D.