Interesting Potential "Barebones" Pickup

[Joezeppy]

This reminds me of the first new vehicle I ever bought - a 1991 Chevy S10 pickup. Regular cab, 2WD, 4 cylinder, 5 speed, 14" steel wheels, vinyl bench seat, no radio, no power steering, and crank windows. Black with red interior. I added a stereo/cassette player, sunroof, bedliner, aluminum cap, and 15" x 8" chrome wheels. Sold it in 1995 when we had our 2nd kid on the way. but at the same time.

 

[old RV guy]

My first vehicle was a 1959 VW Van, no fuel gauge, just a 1 gallon aux tank which you dumped into the gas tank when it started sputtering. Best vehicle I ever owned.

 

[DutchmenSport]

This reminds me of the first new vehicle I ever bought - a 1991 Chevy S10 pickup. Regular cab, 2WD, 4 cylinder, 5 speed, 14" steel wheels, vinyl bench seat, no radio, no power steering, and crank windows. Black with red interior. I added a stereo/cassette player, sunroof, bedliner, aluminum cap, and 15" x 8" chrome wheels. Sold it in 1995 when we had our 2nd kid on the way. but at the same time.

My first brand "new" vehicle I ever owned was a 1985 Chevy S10 pickup. Like you it was manual 5 speed, no Air Conditioning, no electric windows, an AM radio only, no carpet...just a rubber mat, crew cab seat (not bucket seat style). I added a truck bed cap and used it for camping. My wife and I pitched a tent and then slept in the bed of the truck.

That's me in 1986 at the age of 31 at Fort Belvoir, Virginia where I was stationed in the Army. That is my 6 month old son I'm holding in front of the Chevy S-10. No power windows for sure, but that truck sure made a great camping vehicle!

Wow, how we change over 40 years... this is me now (last October 2024)...

 

[whiteva]

"we had to go to Bossier City, LA."

I was stationed at Barksdale AFB. Excellent base, KC135 and B-52 D's Golf course wa so so in the 70's.

Cheers

 

[Oldgator73]

"we had to go to Bossier City, LA."

I was stationed at Barksdale AFB. Excellent base, KC135 and B-52 D's Golf course wa so so in the 70's.

Cheers

Barksdale was our first assignment and then back again when Hickam was cancelled. The base wasn’t too bad but it’s in Louisiana.

 

[ButchW1]

We had an 86 Samurai. I was stationed in Alaska I had a follow on to Hawaii. My wife and kids we were in Las Vegas. When I was home during my mid tour we purchased the Samurai to take to Hawaii. That assignment got cancelled and we had to go to Bossier City, LA. We used the Samurai there for 18 months when we transferred to Japan. We couldn’t take the Samurai to Japan because of the SOFA agreement. Had to sell it. Wish I had it now.

They are fun cars… Pretty simple to work on, but I’m getting to old to be doing a lot of it…Some shops don’t even know how to work on a carburetor.. And parts are getting kinda scarce…
Butch

 

[DonTom]

They are fun cars… Pretty simple to work on, but I’m getting to old to be doing a lot of it…Some shops don’t even know how to work on a carburetor..
Butch

I recall a few years ago, I needed a carb for one of my older ICE cars, I got several bad ones in a row, all with different issues.

Here is more info. on that cheap EV pickup truck/SUV.

Looks like it will be a hot seller, unlike Tesla's Cybertruck.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Derby6]

Looks like it will be a hot seller, unlike Tesla's Cybertruck.

-Don- Reno, NV

No, No, No. Read the article. Tesla cybertruck had over a millions of reservations. Didn’t work out / meant nothing. And a $50 refundable deposit, heck I tempted to reserve one.

 

[DonTom]

. Tesla cybertruck had over a millions of reservations.

Yes, I know several who had such. Not even one of them ended up with a Cybertruck. But yeah, it looked like it would be a hot seller, but the opposite happened.

I expect the cheap truck to do better.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Adventurous Traveler]

Cool looking vehicle, and at $20K it would be a game changer. However, I have read in the past that government-mandated safety and other regs already add over $16K to the base price of a vehicle today, so that wouldn't leave much room for profit if that is true, or if the gov't mandates are even higher today.

 

[Lou Schneider]

Cool looking vehicle, and at $20K it would be a game changer. However, I have read in the past that government-mandated safety and other regs already add over $16K to the base price of a vehicle today, so that wouldn't leave much room for profit if that is true, or if the gov't mandates are even higher today.

So my Mitsubishi Mirage only cost $2k to make and sell including a 10 year, 100k mile warranty and free service for the first 2 years? Amazing.

 

[DonTom]

Cool looking vehicle, and at $20K it would be a game changer. However, I have read in the past that government-mandated safety and other regs already add over $16K to the base price of a vehicle today, so that wouldn't leave much room for profit if that is true, or if the gov't mandates are even higher today.

We really should only look at the out the door price of those who buy them. There are two prices for new vehicles, the BS price and the real price you actually pay.

-Don- Portola, CA (another electric motorcycle ride)

 

[Joezeppy]

So my Mitsubishi Mirage only cost $2k to make and sell including a 10 year, 100k mile warranty and free service for the first 2 years? Amazing.

I had a 2015 Mirage. $11k brand new. My daughter drove it for 6 years and then traded it in on a Toyota Rav4. Kick myself every day for not buying it back from her. Loved that little econobox!

 

[tlmgcamp1]

They are marketing a "truck" but don't mention cargo or towing capacity and impact on range. Those are the things someone considering this would deem important

 

[DonTom]

They are marketing a "truck" but don't mention cargo or towing capacity and impact on range. Those are the things someone considering this would deem important

Expect around half the range when towing, but great preference going up the hills.

"The truck will come with a choice of two battery packs: a 57.2 kWh battery pack with rear-wheel drive and a target range of 150 miles and an 84.3 kWh battery pack with a target of 240 miles (386 km). The truck has a NACS charging port and will charge to 80 percent in under 30 minutes, peaking at 120 kW, we're told. The wheels are modest 17-inch steelies, and the truck is no speed demon—zero to 60 mph (0–97 km/h) will take 8 seconds thanks to the 201 hp (150 kW), 195 lb-ft (264 Nm) motor, and it tops out at 90 mph (145 km/h).

So figure around 75 miles with the 57KWH battery and around 120 miles with the 84 KWH battery for the average size tow. Speed has a lot to do with it also, but I think EV cars test at 65 MPH. Much better range at slower speeds and vice versa.

" Payload tops out at 1,433 pounds and towing at 1,000 pounds. "

See here.

That probably won't work for most here.

BTW, when I was charging up my motorcycle today in Truckee, CA, there was a Ford Lightning charging right next to me.

Looked like a decent pickup truck and for the specs. Three times the price, but you get what you pay for.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[tlmgcamp1]

Expect around half the range when towing, but great preference going up the hills.

"The truck will come with a choice of two battery packs: a 57.2 kWh battery pack with rear-wheel drive and a target range of 150 miles and an 84.3 kWh battery pack with a target of 240 miles (386 km). The truck has a NACS charging port and will charge to 80 percent in under 30 minutes, peaking at 120 kW, we're told. The wheels are modest 17-inch steelies, and the truck is no speed demon—zero to 60 mph (0–97 km/h) will take 8 seconds thanks to the 201 hp (150 kW), 195 lb-ft (264 Nm) motor, and it tops out at 90 mph (145 km/h).

So figure around 75 miles with the 57KWH battery and around 120 miles with the 84 KWH battery for the average size tow. Speed has a lot to do with it also, but I think EV cars test at 65 MPH. Much better range at slower speeds and vice versa.

" Payload tops out at 1,433 pounds and towing at 1,000 pounds. "

See here.

That probably won't work for most here.

BTW, when I was charging up my motorcycle today in Truckee, CA, there f was a Ford Lightning charging right next to me.

Looked like a decent pickup truck and for the specs. Three times the price, but you get what you pay for.

-Don- Reno, NV

Payload of a 1/2 ton pickup with the towing capacity of a sub-compact. I wonder what that's about?

 

[Oldgator73]

I would use something like this around town. Maybe a fishing truck and something to carry garden stuff and lumber back from the store in. But then again I can get a Ford Maverick crew cab for not much more with a bunch of stuff on it.