As we’ve been discussing Chrysler’s connection with Mitsubishi this week, the sighting of this blue Ford Courier by Cohort member Eric Clem is well timed. Built, as we know, by Mazda, this truck represents another rather fruitful (exploitative?) relationship with a Japanese automaker, almost as successful as the Colt.
This picture was taken in Arizona, helping to account for the fact that this truck is remarkably rust free, other than the obvious hole on the wall of the bed. I will say that out here in the midwest when I do see Mazda trucks, their beds are less rusty than those of their Toyota counterparts.
This is a second-generation (1977-1985) pickup and the turn signals mounted in the grille (and not the bumpers) mean it’s not a 1977, but beyond that, it’s difficult to pin down exactly what year this one is, although the Courier was replaced in the US by the Ranger in 1983, much like the LUV was replaced by the S10 a year earlier. Unlike the LUV, however, Ford offered a large displacement engine of US origin, the Lima 2.3, as an option.
I don’t know what engine is in this one, but seeing as the RX-7 shared a lot of its transmission design with this truck, a rotary engine swap would be both easy attained and truly inspired.
This one brings back a flood of bad memories.
In the early 80s I worked summers for the local water company. They bought one of these as a test to see if it was suitable for field duty.They hoped to save a few bucks on gas compared to the Chevy and Dodge pickups that made up the rest of their service department fleet. It failed the test, but they kept it around for a spare — and for summer help like me. The little four cylinder and its 3-speed automatic could barely keep up with traffic with an empty bed. With a bed loaded up with old, solid-brass water meters, it barely moved at all. And, naturally, the water company didn’t spring for A/C, so it was brutally hot to ride in during those hot Virginia summers.
I’m pretty sure it was equipped with the sliding rear window, like the example above, which helped a lot to bring fresh (but still hot) air into the cabin, but I still envied the full timers in their new, full-sized, air conditioned American trucks.
Stripage aside, that’s a clean design. I had the Matchbox version with the camper on the back.
The Mazda B2200 version of these trucks are great for farm use. The diesel engines have timing gears instead of timing chains. They are indestructible and so inexpensive to operate. The engine in mine long outlasted the body.
How about the injection pumps? The one in my friend’s LUV needed to be rebuilt–at 300k miles, of course.
I never had any problems with mine. On the note of injection pumps; I had an early 80 Datsun extended cab diesel pick up that required Cod liver oil in the injection pump. That may not be rare but I have never seen it required for any other vehicle.
I always found these to be the best looking of all of the little imported pickups, bar none. Of course, looks shouldn’t be everything with a pickup, but these were uncommonly attractive. I recall them as being relatively plentiful in middle America once upon a time.
The handyman who used to do some home repairs from my mother had a long string of International Travelalls and Scouts, but eventually settled into one of these – a blue one with a cap on the back. He seemed quite happy with it.
I drove for Sparks Auto Parts for a while and they had a first year Courier in mustard yellow , it was anemic but went right along , I still remember the big decal filling the entire rear window ~ ” . FORDS NEW 1800 C.C. IMPORT ” .
These things were unkillable and believe me , many have tried .
The City of Los Angles bought a whole fleet of them , mostly with automatics and in 1989 they were still chugging along just fine , battered but never bowed .
They could run with no coolant for quite some time before blowing the head gasket , the blue one Vitalino (ex F.I.L. with the bad knees) bought in the mid 1990’s got so hot the babbit in the OHC bearings _melted_ and dribbled down the cam towers as he struggled to make it home so I could fix it for him…..
$95 of Machine shop work and a head set of gaskets , slapped it back to – gether and it ran fine another several years before he clipped a parked ’87 Buick Sedan and ripped the R.F. fender clean off , he still wanted to keep it because it ran so well , but I junked it and got him a different cracker box pickup .
Seriously tough if cheap little trucklets they were .
-Nate
Yep, here in Arizona, rust moves slowly, and lots of cars never suffer from it at all. Paint, rubber, plastic, fabric–all of that rots in the sun here. But the bodies don’t rust, or at least not much.
As most cars were getting smaller the ’77 Courier was getting bigger. It was odd in that way. Whenever I see one of these I can’t help but think of the orange rotary pick up in the link. That was one of my all-time favorite finds here on Curbside Classics.
Perry I like the new links at the bottom of the articles. I hope it isn’t too much work to do that.
I’ll take a note of that. There have been a couple false starts, but given the positive response, we’ll begin to make more of an effort.
That Ford looks pretty good for a 30 year old Southwestern vehicle and I wonder what caused that rust hole in the side. These trucks have a nice design with the front fascia having a bit of similarity to 1970-1972 Dodge Darts and the oversized sideview mirrors are like bunny ears. Since this truck has 5-6 year old license plates I wonder if it is a recent transplant from Texas. The Volt in the background is somewhat interesting, but only because I never saw any on the streets when I was in Arizona in late 2012. The red Impala is more interesting though, I wonder if it is a rental or a private vehicle.
Teddy, It may well be an original Az. Vehicle.Plates in Arizona stay with the driver originally assigned. So this truck may have been sold and the newer plates obtained at that time.
My first truck was a 74(?) Ford Courier which I think was a Mazda B1800. Ran great but it was guam and the bed was so rusty it just about fell off. Sold it and bought my first Datsun when I left the island. Came to believe you couldn’t go wrong with a Japanese truck. They don’t exist anymore as I once knew them. Everything all bloated.
While teaching I picked up a Ford Courier with a blown engine. My class stripped it and I turned it into a trailer which I still use all the time. No intention to get rid of it. It turns the 4runner into a good truck when it’s hooked up.
My first car was a 76 1/2 Courier. It had the old body, but the back of the cab was like this one, rounded, not crimped. It survived me learning to drive a manual (trial by fire: Dad picked me up at work in it, handed me the keys, and said, “drive home”. When I got it in 83, it had no floor and no rocker panels. I fixed the floor with fiberglass and Kydex, and the rocker panels with spray foam. The foam expanded more than I expected though, making big warts where it pushed through my duct tape molds. The only real issue was the emission solenoid on the carb which failed between Philly and WV. Every timr I’d decelerate it would backfire like a shotgun.
I loved that Hank & Britt drove a Courier in Terriers. Great show that’s worth checking out (one season wonder….all episodes on netflix. HIGHLY recommended)
These little trucks, and even more so the Mazda B1800 were wildly popular at the time. Granolas and Hippies as well as Old Organic People loved Mazda trucks since they were tough and cheap. I recall in 1988 seeing the B2200 advertised at $5900 and by this time it was a pretty nice truck.
I had a summer job at a Mazda service department in 1987. The truck was by far my favourite Mazda vehicle. It was such a well-built and designed little truck. They ran for years and cost peanuts to run, hauled all you’d ever need was easy to park. Perfect little go-getters.
At work we had some early automatic Couriers, and we had a stick shift ’82. OK, not loads of power, but far more fun to drive than anything else we had. Since I’m slight of build, they fit me well. A great, honest little truck. That ’82 held up far better than the early Rangers that joined our fleet.
From 1979 to about 1992. Dodge dealers sold a Mitsubishi built compact pickup called the D-50 and later the Ram 50. There was also a Plymouth version called the Arrow pickup. During the late 80s through the early 90s, Mitsubishi dealers sold the Ram 50 as the Mighty Max and most of them were no frills regular cab models with 2.0 and 2.4 liter engines and 5 speed stickshifts. Also, Dodge dealers sold rebadged Mitsubishi Monteros as the Raider in the late 80s.
And any of those would be better than a Courier. I have a good friend with a 1985 Mighty Max 4×4 with the turbo diesel engine – it’s a great (but loud on the highway) little truck.
I worked on a 1977 Courier in high school auto shop . . . for the better part of a year. The owner was a teacher at the school, and had towed it in with a year-later engine in the bed that we were to install. Of course they had changed everything between the two years (which resulted in months’ worth of fabricating a whole lot of adapters, emission system exhaust block-off plates, etc).
What shocked me the most were the primitive brakes – drums on all four corners, with a pair of single-acting wheel cylinders at each corner, with NO AUTOMATIC adjusters!
My 1941 Chevrolet’s brakes were more advanced than that! It really opened my eyes to how primitive much of the Japanese technology was at the time (such as using point-type ignition systems into the 1980s while American cars had all switched over to electronic by 1975).
Actually you’re so wrong about the brakes it’s laughable :
The 1937 ~ 1950 Chevrolets used ” Huck ” brakes (rhymes with ‘SUCK’ and they certainly did) whereas the dual leading shoe brakes on that old Courier were head and shoulders above Huck ir even Bendix brakes .
-Nate
I remember the NZ TV ads for this model or the one after it. The office boss chap says to his assistant: “Miss Smith, fetch me a courier”. She says “Ok” and exits the office. Shortly thereafter she crashes through the walls in Ford Courier. As an 8-year-old I loved that ad!
NZ ads genuinely rule over ours, your industry is much respected from our side. Bugger.
No Youtube link? Awww…
Tom, with apologies to Elvis: “I searched (I searched), and I searched (I searched), but I couldn’t find…no way on earth to find that ad for thine” (Sung to the tune of “Crying In The Chapel”). 😉
In mid 90’s I had a first genration post courier ranger. An 87 stripper ranger. It was as basic as you can get. Vinyl, no radio, no power assist in basic functions but one of the most reliable cars ive owned. I wonder how these couriers were in reliability?
The badge in the grille shows that this Courier has the 2.3 engine. My dad bought one new in 1978, drove it for 10 years and then sold it to me. It was my daily driver for 13 years, and I kept it around for hauling duties until 2010. I gave it to my son two years ago, who now drives it 25 miles per day as his daily driver. It cost 5000 dollars new in the Fall of 1978, and has to be the best used vehicle I ever bought –close to 200,000 miles and still ticking!
There is a 1st gen one in this S.O.T.S. video I shot a while ago. A high school friend (ca1979) had one of these that took our shenanigans with aplomb….
This is a ’78. One can tell because of the marker lights in the grille and the drip rails that extend down behind the door. That rear part of the drip rail was done away with starting in ’79, as seen in this picture of mine.