Well, maybe these folks do, come to that. This precarious-looking rig was spotted on I-45 in the Greenspoint area of Houston, on a sunny Saturday morning in 2003. Hope they made it to their destination, and didn’t have to stop short, or change lanes real quick, or make any sharp turns…
…so what’s the Curbside Classic connection? Well, underneath that giant heap of bric-a-brac was a Nissan 720 pickup, becoming rather scarce even at the time the photo was taken.
Following several generations of increasingly popular Datsun pickups, the 720 was one the earlier Nissan-badged vehicles sold in the States, built from 1980-1986 in both Japan and (from ’83 or so) the USA. Based on the bed and taillight configuration, the intrepid machine shown here appears to be a 1984 model, built at Nissan’s then-new Smyrna, TN plant.
www.thestreetpeep.com
Although sold in several combinations of bed and cab length, with both two-and four-wheel drive (earlier COAL piece here), the featured vehicle is the more prosaic (and cramped) regular-cab 2wd version, dressed up a bit in DX trim. Under the hood, presumably, is the Z24 103 HP, 2.4 liter four installed as standard for this year, giving its all to motivate that pile o’ gear down the highway.
Just for the record, here’s more or less what it would have looked like from the front, unladen. Having frequently driven a 4 x 4 version of one of these back in the day, I recall them as being just about as rugged and reliable as Toyotas of the same vintage, although less refined and with rather flimsy interior fittings (see below). Although the 4 x 4 was a real backbreaker, one of the hardest-riding vehicles I’ve ever been in, I imagine the 2wd versions were less so.
www.cardomain.com
There has been quite a bit of argument here recently as to whether there actually remains a market for small trucks in the US. I’ve generally been on the side that says yes, but can see a compelling argument for the contrary position in these photos. Speaking as a person who has inadvertently scattered some of his possessions across a busy highway, maybe two, or even three, trips might have been a better choice. I’m just sayin’.
I now declare today to be trucklet day at CC.
That’s third world country scary. Like something I would see in the Congo.
How did they get past a police car or bike?In the UK he’d be getting measured up for a set of bicycle clips if he was caught
It’s Houston. The police have their hands full for sure and overloaded vehicles are way down on the list of offenses. In fact, I’m not sure there is particular city ordinance against it. If it were a commercial vehicle the Department of Public Safety (state police) might take note but only if stuff was actually falling off the truck.
The opening pics look like something from an auto insurance campaign.
Can you say “Mayhem?”
“Jethro, I ain’t heard Granny hollerin’ from up on top for a while now. The old gal’s been awful quiet ever since we crossed the state line. Better climb up there, son, and make sure she didn’t fall off.”
I was thinking the same thing but didn’t want to say. Except this is Texas in the 21st century. I am sure it wouldn’t be the Clampetts in there…
No, it’s be more like the Joad family.
Or Sanchez…..
Wow, that 4×4 King Cab version takes me back. My father bought a red one just about like that, only with the roll/light bar behind the cab. He bought it to put a plow on for keeping a private road cleared of snow. You are right, that was one bone-jarringly hard ride.
I borrowed it for a couple of weeks to finish out my first year of law school when the differential in my 71 Scamp was howling. The thing had the widest turning circle ever, and with manual steering approved by Charles Atlas, was the nastiest vehicle to park EVER, with each parking approach requiring two tries because the thing would not turn sharply enough to make it the first time.
I also remember that it was not geared well for interstates – OD 5th was too tall to climb even moderate grades, while 4th made lots of noise without much more forward motion. One of these would have been a lot more pleasant in 2WD, I have always guessed.
It also did not like salty northwestern Ohio winters one bit.
As to the market for a ‘small’ pickup: I won’t necessarily say small, but I want a pickup that’ll carry a Harley FXR in the bed with the tailgate down, doesn’t need a step stool to get into the cab, has the ‘crew’ cab with jump seats for carrying luggage (I can live without that, if absolutely necessary), and will give me low to mid 20’s mileage on the highway with an automatic. Yes, I prefer my pickups with automatics, unlike my cars. The ability to haul a box trailer carrying, say, two Triumph Bonnevilles in the back is also desirable.
What I don’t want: A big, mother***king four door pickup with a hemi or V-10, lousy gas mileage, a cab wide enough that I have to lean over to hold the ‘ol lady’s hand while driving, and the need to use the interior handhold to get into the cab even on the base model 2wd pickup.
I found my perfect pickup a decade ago: A Chevy S-10 LT long cab, 2wd. Ran it for years until I started worrying about the mileage. As the Colorado was a definite step backwards, I replaced it with a Ranger XLT, same specs. Good pickup, although not as comfortable on a long trip as the S-10. Hopefully it’s going to last me a lot of years, as the pickings are getting awful slim.
And I’m still sick what they did with the last generation Dakotas. I had two of them before the S-10. Ran my sutlering business on them. Excellent trucks, excellent size.
Note to GM, Ford, Chrysler: I DO NOT WANT A F-150, SILVERADO, RAM 1500 NO MATTER WHAT KIND OF HIGHWAY MILEAGE YOU’RE EKING OUT OF THEM!!!!!!!! I want something smaller, maybe about the size of a 1968 Chevy basic pickup. That’s my idea of a ‘full size’ pickup – not the current generation of “look at me, I’m making up for the realization that my **** doesn’t work anymore” trucks.
You could always get a last year Colorado.
I suppose it never occurred to them that they could’ve made two trips instead.
Ran a business doing chimney sweeps (went into AC and heating from there) out of an 81 Datsun king cab with automatic. With a trailer I had a one ton truck. I thought it was the perfect size. It had the first Nissan 8 sparkplug engine, the 2.2. I literally worked it to death. At the time an automatic was rare but it sure worked good.
This is dangerous. two trips or a trailer makes it not dangerous. I probably looked like the Clampetts when I was rigged for work. Ladders etc on a contractor shell with three doors. Fragile head gasket finally killed it with overheating when a hose went on the Hardy toll road. It had 300k plus, original transmission, 2nd engine. Extremely short time between noticing it and overheating. Overheating was the death knell for these engines.
I now drive an S10 that I like less but it’s probably a better truck. As a 91, I only have a couple years left sweating the annual smog inspection.
Scary? As long as it is secured properly, it can be driven all day long. Ever haul hay? There’s no laws against height, just overhang. I saw a ’89 Accord coupe once, with at least a dozen pallet strapped to the roof, barely cleared the traffic lights. That old man had ’em secure, driving one- handed with a Pall Mall. A pro from way back.
Hay hauling seems to get, er, sketchy drivers. We get both lumber and hay haulers on the road this time of year, and I’d much rather encounter a logging truck than hay. Had to work one accident where the driver thought the 25 mph warning for the turn was for wimps. Nope. He lost the load and probably totaled the trailer when the load went over the edge.
Also, leaving town one day, a guy had a few tons of hay on his flatbed trailer. He had two straps, which kept some of the load from dumping on the main intersection out of town. Not enough to avoid a huge jam, though.
Hay doesn’t weigh that much and would eventually dissipate on the road. If that stuff is loaded or heavy spreading it around would damage a lot of cars. I remember going to a car show once where a guy had a truck and was a roofing contractor. He was rear ended pretty badly by a guy and half his stuff flew off the truck. Well the truck was still drivable so he pulled off the road down the ways a bit (they were travelling at interstate speeds) and evaluated the situation. Days later when he talked to his claim adjuster the claim adjuster remarked we got a serious uptick in claims that day apparently a s*it load of nails got on the road and we paid about 25 claims for tires and other damage. The guy bit his tongue hard and hoped the adjuster didn’t put two and two together.
Hay weighs a lot till it breaks loose. Saw a guy turning a corner with a big gooseneck (20ft at least). Several round bales on top and leaning badly. Those round bales weigh over half a ton. I don’t know if he got home with his load or not. Just glad it didn’t tip over on top of me.
Geez, talk about overloaded. Don’t understand how someone could load a truck like that and think its safe. Also, that steering wheel looks just like an 80s cadillac steering wheel, without the wood grain.
What’s really sad is that I’m willing to bet that at least half of that truck’s load consists of useless crap that will never get used. I hate to judge, but it amazes me to see the energy and money that Americans expend to move things that have little to no value, be it monetary or sentimental.
Three moves is as good as a fire…
I would have followed it until they got to an off ramp, that I would like to see.
The boxes, if loaded might look ok, but the kiddie toy at the top might get a little squirrely on you.
Looks like my Toyota when I moved to Houston 30 years ago. Made the Clampetts proud.