PennSilverTaco's non-Toyota Japanese (and Korean) vehicle Rant/Rave MegaThread!

I actually saw an MPV in the spectator parking area at Maple Grove Raceway yesterday!


July 14th, 2018:

Mohnton, Pennsylvania

 

I had a '84 Mazda GLC that got 55 mpg at 55 mph on a trip from AZ to OR and back. Started having mechanical problems at about 75 kmiles. Wouldn't pass emissions test without a hassle. Soured me on Mazdas, so I never tried any others.

 

My uncle had an '85 Mazda GLC that he bought brand new (even paid cash). He drove that car daily for 16 years (unknown miles), and he donated it in 2001 when it would no longer pass emissions testing. The car had factory A/C which may have needed to be recharged once or twice, but was working when he got rid of the car!

 

They're not around anymore because protégé5 owners took all the adj int wiper stalks and washer nozzles................

 

This is the vehicle I was picked up in. Mom had a 96.

 

Me posing next to my dad's 1990 Mazda B2600i LE-5 4x4, at our house in Virginia Beach, in January 2000...

 

Photos of me in the truck at the house in Virginia Beach, from about April 2000...

 

This is one of two Mazda B-series pickups my dad owned. The first one was a 1986 B2000 that he bought from his younger brother in 1990 and owned until 1992. The 1986 was about as basic as they came, with no power steering, no power brakes, and no air-conditioning! My uncle bought it from an insurance auction (or perhaps it was a wholesale auction) with minor fender damage, fixed the damage, and sold it to my dad for about two grand. My dad bought the truck because it only had about 40,000 miles on it and it was so new. $2,000 was a steal! However, my dad quickly grew tired of not having A/C. It would have cost about a thousand bucks to put A/C in the truck, and my dad decided to buy a new truck that did have A/C (a 1992 Dodge Dakota). The truck was sold to a family friend who kept it for a good number of years, and I have no way of knowing where it is now...

My dad bought the 1990 B2600i in October 1998, not long after we moved to Virginia Beach, and kept it until May 2000. The B2600i had over 90K miles when my dad bought it and did not appear to be in the best condition (it was originally from Illinois and had some rust), but the guy my dad bought it from was the original owner had all the service records since he'd bought it new. The truck ran and drove great, the A/C worked, and it even had 4-wheel drive! My dad just needed a reliable commuter vehicle with working A/C, and this truck fit that description perfectly. It developed a small oil leak at some point in 1999, but other than that it was a great truck. It had an adequate fuel-injected 4-banger mated to a 5-speed manual transmission, and like I said it had ICE COLD A/C. It had the LE-5 "luxury" trim, which it means it was better-appointed than the lesser SE-5 or base models. Despite having the so-called "luxury" trim, it had had very little in the way of creature comforts. It had air-conditioning the worked, intermittent wipers (pretty sure so those have been standard on the B-series since 1986, unlike a certain Toyota truck named after a city in Washington), and aftermarket cruise control. It overheated one time because the thermostat went bad, and the rear leaf springs had to be replaced, but that Mazda was a solid truck. In 2000, we had a 1996 Nissan Pathfinder that wasn't paid off yet, and the Mazda. My dad loved the Pathfinder but wanted to buy a conversion van so I could have a TV in the backseat for our regular road trips. He traded the Mazda for a brand new 2000 GMC Safari and got next to nothing for it. The license plates that were originally issued to the Mazda when my dad bought it were transferred to the Safari. When we traded the Safari for a new 2004 Honda Odyssey in May 2004, the plates were transferred to the Odyssey and stayed with the Odyssey until 2006 when my dad registered it in Pennsylvania. I am 99% sure I still have both plates sitting in a box somewhere...

 

In late 1999, I discovered Dukes of Hazzard reruns on what was then TNN (I believe it became Spike TV?), and immediately became obsessed with the show...

I am pretty sure I going for the "Duke Boys getting in the General Lee" look when I posed for this picture (taken sometime in March-April 2000 like the other two photos of me actually in the truck)...

 

My uncle's former shop truck, a 1988-1989 B2200 SE-5 that had an automatic transmission and a tape deck, but no A/C for some reason. This picture was taken by me in July 2010, at his old hubcap store in Allentown, Pennsylvania...

I believe he got rid of it in 2011...

 

@RLMoody

You said you like the old B-series trucks...?

 

My first brand new vehicle and second vehicle over all was a 1988 B2200. It was a great little truck! Wish I had some pics.

 

August 5th, 2017:

Carlisle, Pennsylvania

 

August 18th, 2018:

Pottstown, Pennsylvania

 

Here’s my 1995 B2300 that may be getting a cage and other desert racing parts. 4cyl/5spd

 

August 2nd, 2014:

Carlisle, Pennsylvania

 

Same truck, two years later...


August 4th, 2018:

Carlisle, Pennsylvania

 

August 6th, 2016:

Carlisle, Pennsylvania

 

August 6th, 2016:

Carlisle, Pennsylvania