Bloomington is the Eugene of the midwest and is a fitting place for me to have spotted a truck likely sold on the West coast. One simply doesn’t see Mitsubishi trucks of this vintage in this part of the country, and with most Toyota and Nissan trucks of this vintage disintegrated, this somewhat rust free, brand X competitor deserved a few shots.
This being a pick-up, there’s not much in the way of unique technology to sink your teeth into, but Mitsubishi was one of the few who offered a turbodiesel option for the US, and it was more highly regarded than its gasoline powered counterparts and reportedly quite tolerant of increased boost, with 2.3 liters serving up a whopping 80-86 horsepower and 125-134 lb/ft of torque. I would imagine a truck so-equipped would carry some badging to boast such a fact, so this truck probably has the ubiquitous Astron 2.6 or, perhaps, a Sirius 2.0.
Mostly it’s the styling which appeals to me. All the compact pickups of the ’80s looked good, and the Mitsubishi, with its forward canted grille and that cool logo, aged well and had somewhat of a sporty flair.
The dual sealed beams look a little forcefully integrated when you consider the older design, with its quad round units, which we never got over here. Still, Mitsubishi was determined to bring its full lineup over here, and a hasty updating was due.
This steering wheel, with its round horn buttons and beveled hub, doesn’t help hide the fact that Mitsubishi had to try hard to drag this interior, with its softy defined contours, into the ’80s. Such gimmicky touches just help to remind me that to get the true Mitsubishi experience, a turbocharged 2.6 from the Starion is necessary, and since so many of Mitsubishi’s rear-drive coupes have had their engines swapped with the Eclipse’s 4G63, there have got to be more than a few lying around. Now that would be a fun project.
An unusual interpretation of “rust-free”. Personally I would go with “rust-bucket”, looking at those door sills.
Everything’s relative, and given our lower standards, I absentmindedly overlooked the rust.
Indeed. When I was growing up in the UK, it was normal for cars to have perforated panels and exhausts falling off. Here in the North Island of NZ the only rust you will normally see is on vehicles that have been launching boats, or have come from somewhere colder. I’ve just got used to this, and forget that rust is still a thing.
…we had these utes in NZ ..not a bad vehicle ..though some of the Mitsi’s of that era had an oil-burning tendency ..but not all oddly.
…same thing was true for the same era Mazda’s (and the re-badged ‘Fords’)
(some bizarre story about the engine blocks (being trial cast in the Philippines at that time) being ‘green’ or having too much porosity in the cast iron material, literally bleeding engine oil internally into the cylinders, combined with the use of super ‘light’ piston rings ..all in an attempt for friction reduction and power and fuel use improvements)
Mazda used the Mitsubishi 2.6L for a time until developing their own sohc 3-valver in the mid-late 1990s
Mazda’s home brewed 2.6 12 valver I-4 was being used by 1988 or so from what I can tell, if not 1987. My brother has a 1989 MPV with that engine, 230k on it, headgasket done at 175k, followed by the head (warped by the initial overheating) soon afterwards. With the new head, the engine burns a negligible amount of oil, and is a very torquey unit. My brother can coax up 24-25 mpg out of his van on the open road. The original worn out automatic transmission doesn’t help. It’s a rusty parts runner and mountain bike hauler, still makes a trip from PA down to North Carolina annually for a big MTB race down there. It was once my family’s main car and took us all over the Eastern seaboard.
Rust bucket means rust ALL OVER, with little left of the bed, frame, and floors. This would qualify as “minor rust” here in Michigan.
Yep, same here in Minnesota. It’s all relative.
It’s a shame that Mitsubishi discontinued the Mighty Max. It seems as though all the car makers are discontinuing the compact truck in favour of full-sized pickup trucks. That’s too bad. People should be allowed the option of a small truck if he needs it or a full-sized truck. I think they should’ve kept the compact truck for those who need it, or want it. I’d buy one if it were available with a diesel engine.
Can’t remember the last time I saw one like this badged as a Mitsubishi. There are still a few to be seen here on the East Coast but they’re all badged as Dodges.
If you remember the last Mitsu truck sold here though, which I’m trying to remember the model name of (Raider maybe?), it was rather large by my recollection. Not full-size but not a true compact either. I think the Ranger was the last of those.
The Mitsubishi Raider was so large because all it was was a regrilled last-generation Dodge Dakota. Greenhouses do not lie.
Nice find, Perry – I can’t say when I last saw one of these.
I would agree with your Bloomington/Eugene comparison but for the parking enforcement, which is conducted in Bloomington with all of the ruthless efficiency of some of the more successful fascist regimes. 🙂
Thanks. Everyone in town is up in arms about the parking meters, and they admittedly put them EVERYWHERE, but I guess the city has to pay for maintenance and its employees’ labor somehow, and given how crowded it is downtime, all the time, I can’t imagine how much worse it’d be without the meters. I’m sure it reduces the numbers of CCs I might see, however.
That is too funny about the parking enforcement in Bloomington, and the “ruthless, fascistic” manner in which they go about it. In most of Indiana (especially the southwestern part where I live), the people in Bloomington are thought of a bunch of idealistic tree huggers who are dead set against any type of progress. I guess they need to generate revenue everywhere they can, since a good chunk of the town is the IU campus and not taxed.
This was sold as the Plymouth Arrow Pickup as well. I always liked these much better than the later, blocky styled Mighty Max and Dodge D50.
The last pickup Mitsubishi sold here was indeed called Raider. It was a warmed-over Dakota.
Front clip from the Arrow fastback featured a little while back. That makes me like this even more. I prefer the twin roundie face. I’ve never owned a ute, and never needed one; but I really, really like a well styled one. Nice find, Perry.
I think my mother’s sister had a Mighty Max, or a Ram 50, extended-cab model for a time after she left the Marines (so, late 80’s/early 90’s). That’s all I have to say about that.
I like these. Always did. Drove a D50 all over Guam for a while. Guy at a package store where I did the refrigeration built a one ton diesel out of one of these (orig gas).
I still see quite a few around Houston but you need to know what you are looking for. Small trucks are like the universal Japanese Machine (UJM) motorcycle. See one and think you are looking at a Datsun. Looks like they used my 81 Datsun steering wheel. It’s amazing what hangs around when there isn’t much rust.
Saw a Dodge version several years ago
I owned the the Dodge D50 version of this ’86 truck for 12 years—same color, same wheels, same interior down to the steering wheel. IMO, these were the best looking of the small trucks back in that time and the only models with a standard 6.5′ bed. The Dodge version had the “Spring Special Package” which included the chrome slotted wheels, the cloth seat and the sport steering wheel; it also had quad rectangular headlights. It was equipped with the 2.0, 5 spd trans, manual steering and A/C installed by the dealer. I sold it in 1998 to my neighbor who drove it for 6 more years until he bought my ’98 Dakota. Handled well and got 24-28 MPG.
That NZ truck with quad round headlights and the Mitsu badge over the busy early silver grille looks so weird to me – early Dodge D50s had the same grille texture and skinny bumper with the single square headlights and no forward badging except a small “DODGE” script on the hood above the left headlight.
One of my buddies ca. 1982-1984 in Virginia had the Plymouth Arrow version of this truck. . . . . 2.0L.
I want one of these simply so I can sound like I drive a Super Hero truck.
Need help moving? No need to fear, MIGHTY MAX is here!
My neighbor has a Dodge-badged Diesel version. Last year a For Sale sign appeared on it and I was tempted …. probably would have bought it if it were 4wd. then the sign disappeared. I saw him the next day and asked if it was sold. He told me he had noticed a leaky rear main seal and thought he should fix it first, so took it off the market. That was year ago and he still drives it regularly. I think the “leaky seal” was just an excuse to keep it …
I would suppose in the mid-west, this Mitsubishi has “fixable” rust . . . and wouldn’t really be considered a rusted out truck. Hawaii and Guam, what few of these vintage trucks that survive, the A-pillars and the windshield headers along with the seams on the beds are Swiss Cheese. There are a couple dozen 70s/80s Chevy LUVs, Mitsus/Dodge Ram 50’s and Toyotas still out and about.
If you want clean, California is (still) car heaven. If a California car has bondo, it’s because it’s been wrecked . . .