Just a few blocks from the Zap truck was something a bit more conventional, a Ford Courier. Everyone knows that these were of course rebadged Mazdas, although the later versions of the Courier like this one did offer the Ford 2.3 L four as an option.
This is a long bed version, which makes it a pretty handy truck to have a round. And there are still a few of these around, as they’re tough, simple, and easy to fix. And obviously, wheels from other vehicles fit readily.
A more thorough look at the Courier and its history is here.
While I’m not much on small pickups, I’ve always liked these. Seeing this does remind me of a story…
When I was a teenager, our closest neighbors had a white ’70s era Ford F-150 and a white 1973 Olds Delta 88. One morning, a row of eight Ford Couriers just like these were lined up in the field beside their house. When I asked the neighbor about them she joked the Ford and Olds had had a litter of pups. In reality, they had purchased them at auction, all of them having belonged to the US Army Corps of Engineers.
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I thought this generation Courier was one of the first Japanese pickups of the 70s that looked North American. Not sure if this was fully intentional, but I always saw a family resemblance in the similar wheel arch shape and the body side creases, between the Courier and the Fairmont/Zephyr. Besides the upright, squared lines.
You’re right. It looks very “American”. When these were new, I (not being a Ford expert.) didn’t realize they were Japanese!
Same for me. At the time, I thought this generation Courier was styled by Ford in North America. It didn’t appear to be marketed as heavily as other North American Ford products, making me wonder later if it was an import.
Funny, I don’t know if it was the color, or angle, but I noticed the same thing.
Came here to write that in close up, that front 1/4 view looks like the styling clay for the first cut at the ’78 Fairmont.
Mazda b series pickup is still in production here.used to come with 1600 cc motor.since 2005 they have upgraded to 2000 cc motor& fuel injections.they also make the double cab pickup pickups& ambulance.fuel efficient& reliable workhorses.
Where is that? We have the bt-50 in chile (same as other Latin ameri countries, Asia and Australia), a successor of the b-series, and directly related to the new Ford Ranger
The BT50 with a minor restyle is the current Ranger.
Wait. Is it Iran?? A quick google search and I found this: http://bahmanmotor.ir/index.aspx?fkeyid=&siteid=3&fkeyid=&siteid=3&pageid=346&showitem=5
Bahan Motors in Iran still produces these!!! I Want one! I would have never imagined that this generation Mazda pickup would outlive all other b-series.
Here is a pic of the 2017 model
Just discovered that the 1970 Nissan Junior is also still produced there, as the Zamyad Z24. We need urgently an article about long-lived cars produced in Iran or an Iranian COALer! And I thought Brazil and Argentina were like a parallel universe…
Amazing. Or not, considering the other living fossils there.
Yes, a proper survey of the Iranian auto market is something I’ve never seen.
The headlight bezels look like they’re from a ’65 Galaxie.
It looks like a ute version of the Nissan Gloria which looks like a down sized Galaxie or Aussie Fairlane.
I see you must be from Iran! Can you tell us more about the car scene there?
You must be referring to the Bahman Cara 🙂
http://ripituc.blogspot.cl/2016/01/bahman-cara-iranian-mazda-b-series.html
The city I worked for had these. Nothing fancy, noisy inside and rode harshly. But they could take a beating, and did so with utter reliability for many years. When the city considered them “used up” and retired them, several were bought by city employees and a couple are still out there, still in City Orange.
I worked for the local county water authority in the mid-1980s, and the first vehicle assigned to me was a Courier. Most of the vehicles in the fleet were full-sized pickups, but they bought a couple of Couriers as an experiment to see how something smaller and more thrifty would work out. I guess they decided that they didn’t work out, because everything purchased thereafter was full sized.
It was incredibly basic transportation. Equipped with a 3-speed automatic, 0-60 times were measured with a calendar, not a stopwatch. No power steering. No A/C (which was missed in hot Virginia summers). But despite being slow, it was a nice driving little truck. It handled nicely and had a small turning circle — which matters in a work truck. The bed (shorter than the longbed version in the photo above) was big enough for my tools and supplies. The colleague who drove it when it was new — then driving a Dodge pickup with a malaise-era, emissions-control-choked 318 — said he missed driving it, and I could see why.
We’re spoiled by all the great vehicles on the market today, all of which are more comfortable, safer and more efficient than the Courier. But there’s a part of me that misses the sort of simple, basic, durable transportation this little truck offered.
Reminds me of “The Mule”, a blue late 70’s Courier that belonged to a friend in college. So nicknamed because it would carry just about anything asked of it, but it wasn’t particularly pleasant in doing so. Always followed by a trail of blue smoke from the significant oil it burned.
The Mule was eventually donated to the Appalachian Service Project. This was circa 2003, but who knows, perhaps it’s still burning oil somewhere in the hills of West Virginia to this day…
ASP! I used to raise funds for them in the early 1980’s! Even went down there one year with our church group.
Nice truck. It’s a reminder that pick up trucks do not need to be 7 feet high and 5000 lbs to be useful. I’m a big fan of compact trucks, having owned two S-10’s. They can do all the work that a full size truck does 95% of the time, but more efficiently, and with car-like size and maneuverability.
+1
Been quite a while since I’ve seen one of these, I don’t think I’ve seen one this millennium.
Not much of a fan of the Courier. For this era, I’d rather have one of the rebranded-Isuzu, quad-headlamp Chevy LUV trucks.
Of course, for sheer reliability, Toyota small pickups all the way. The only thing that will kill one of those is midwestern winter rust.
Had a 74 model as my first truck. Was on Guam so the rust took over. Bought another and turned it into a trailer when it died. Think that may get another life as a teardrop. Use them till nothing is left.
There was a long-lasting one of these in my family back then, but the Great Lakes road salt eventually did it in. None on eBay right now, but an un-rusty “salvage title” one in San Jose—how much can it need to make it roadworthy, right?
It’s always fun to see how manufacturers recycle model names. From 1952 to 1960 Ford’s “Courier” was their full-size sedan delivery, after which the S.D. went to the Falcon platform (like the Ranchero). I promised Paul a writeup about this back in 2016—I’d better get to work!
We had Couriers at work, early ones and late ones. I liked them when they were new, and I liked them when they were old. They hung on longer than the other compacts. I was really disappointed when the last one went away in 1995.
I drove a couple of these when I worked for a plumbing company. They were a little bit tight for me, as I’m a big guy, but they drove OK. Around 1981, a coworker driving hers was hit by an old Trans Am, and the Courier folded up like a piece of wet paper, almost severing her right foot when the firewall folded over on her ankle and “pinched” her foot all but off. After seeing pics of the truck, and her foot, I decided to never sit in a moving Courier, Luv, or any other tiny truck of that era again.
Yeah. Not everybody needs a gas-guzzling monster truck to haul a dishwasher. I
n 1990,when my rusty, troublesome ’71 Audi wagon was nearing permanent retirement, I bought it’s replacement – an ’87 Isuzu Pu’p. That turned out to be the most reliable vehicle I’ve ever owned. Recently replaced by a ’96 Toyota Tacoma.
But here I guess, small trucks have gone the way of station-wagons.
Many years ago, a neighbor had a red Courier. It was a bit strange seeing a Japanese ‘Ford’ pickup, with a Pinto engine underhood, equipped with a Japanese carburetor and alternator!
Happy Motoring, Mark
We had some of the Bseries Mazdas as runabouts for a powerstation fitters shop I worked at, tough little utes just throw a timing chain in when they start to rattle and the go for ever. These could be loaded far past the weight the manufacturers recommended and they still go slow, sure, but I was on hourly pay and steam turbine parts arent deadline stuff
CC effect! On my early morning walk, I came across an identical copy of this truck. I was amazed at how small it seemed in comparison to later “small” trucks! 🙂
Today’s “small” trucks are the size of a 1966 F-100
I’ve written elsewhere about how in about 1979 or 80, our neighborhood and high school parking lot became filled with these for about a year.
This was due to ford having purchased a large equity stake in the nearly bankrupt Mazda from Sumitomo Bank and then trying to goose production by offering really cheap leases on these to Ford corporate employees.
Don’t recall exactly but the lease was 59$ or 79$/mo including insurance and maintenance and I don’t think there was a color choice (you just kind of got what hit the lot from Japan.)
nice to see a few are still out there .
apart from rusting, these are little anvils on wheels not even teenagers could kill .
i’d like to try one of those iranian datsun mini trucks .
-nate