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

Originally part of a thread called Mazda Rant/Rave thread! which was previously called THE B-Series Thread...

I have re-purposed this thread yet again as an all-Mazda rant-and-rave thread...

AS IT SITS NOW: The original thread was a Mazda B-series truck thread that I started way back in February 2017 (Almost 5 years ago as of this update! ). I started the Mitsubishi rant/rave thread sometime in 2019, and accidentally had that merged with my main MegaThread...



I started up a new Mitsubishi thread in January 2020 (immediately after the merger of the original), by which point I also already had a Nissan rant/rave thread that I started in April 2019; I then also started a Honda rant/rave thread February 2021 and a Subaru thread in March 2021. A little over a week ago I started a short-lived Suzuki rant/rave thread. All of those threads have since been merged into this one!

I know it says "Japanese Vehicles", but if I find any unique Hyundais or Kias, they will also be going here.


Nissan Section officially starts HERE

Mitsubishi section officially starts HERE

Honda section officially starts HERE.

Subaru section officially starts HERE.

Suzuki section officially starts HERE.

Mitsubishi Delica review starts HERE.

First minitruck thread starts HERE.

 

April 29th, 2017:

I spotted this one in the spectator lot at the Spring 2017 Raceway Park Car Show/Swap Meet. I was walking around taking pictures of any cool vehicle I could find, and I came across this. The owner and his friend were hanging out next to the truck, and I immediately asked "Is that a 1990 Mazda B2600?"

The owner was impressed that I knew exactly what his truck was right down to the year, and asked how I knew. I told him that my dad had pretty much exactly the same truck.

So, here you go...

1990 Mazda B2600i 4x4; Unknown if it's LE-5 or SE-5 (my dad's was LE-5), 2.6L 4-cylinder/5-speed stick (240K miles), ICE COLD A/C (converted to R134a), repainted (obviously), factory sound system replaced with Blaupunkt AM/FM cassette and 4 new speakers in factory locations).

First, some lower quality iPhone 5S photos I took to text to my dad...




Interior (Also taken with iPhone 5S)…




And some photos taken with my Nikon D5300...

 

@HomerTaco
@98tacoma27
@Plain Jane Taco
@Salty_Dog

Anybody want to check out my Mazda B-series pics?

 

Sorry Charlie, not a fan of these trucks.

 

I'm trying to find a pic of mine.

 

My Supermodel Wife with my 1992 B2600i, aka "Big Moe." Circa 1993 or 1994.

Not the best pictures; scanned from photographs.

 

Nice! You guys still married?

 

That's sort of an odd question but yes; 32 years last month.

 

Had a 2400i for a very short time

 

Had a Mazda B2200 and it was a good truck. But if you want to talk Mazda trucks you better do it right. Always wanted one of these.
Mazda Rotary Truck

 

I've owned 2 of them....an '89 B2200 that I bought used in '91.

And an '86 B2000 I bought in 2012 has something to tinker with. Sold it a couple of years ago.

I was always of fan of the B's.

 

The reason I asked is because it was just you and Scooter at Carlisle last month. The way your beautiful wife is posing with your Mazda in those pictures leads one to believe that she is at least something of a truck person. I'm a bit surprised she wasn't there with you two is all I meant by that question...

 

LOL! She is not anywhere near a car or truck person. I've taken her to a few events over the years and she said she was bored to the point of madness.

She drives a plain vanilla Honda Accord. Showroom stock. The only "mods" are a couple of sheep-skin pads for the seat belts. I offered to put a decent set of wheels and tires on it at my own expense but she said "No, thanks."

She did some modeling back in her younger days; nothing big time. Things like fashion shows at the local shopping malls; that sort of stuff.

 

My dad had a 1986 B2000!

My Uncle Jeff who owned the 1991 Toyota pickup bought the 1986 Mazda at some sort of auction for next to nothing with very minor front end damage. I don't think it was an insurance auction because my dad seems to remember that the truck had a clear title. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't an insurance auction would more than likely mean the truck had been totaled by an insurance company because the cost to repair it exceeded the value of the truck? My dad's first Mazda may have been absolutely no-frills with no A/C or power options, but it was only 4 years old with relatively low miles when my uncle bought it, and the damage amounted to it needing a new front fender if I remember correctly. My Tacoma was 6 years old with just over 53K miles (older than the Mazda with higher miles), and got almost $3,000 in damage when the drunk guy hit me (nowhere near being totaled). So anyway, my dad would normally never buy a vehicle without A/C, but he got this 4-year old Mazda from his brother for only two grand! The price was right, and he needed a reliable vehicle to get to work. He'd just bought my mom a brand new fully loaded 1990 Camry LE V6 that did of course have A/C, so the lack of A/C in his commuter vehicle didn't bother him that much. He may have even bought the Mazda before the Camry because my parents had sold all three of their previous vehicles (a 1985 Ford Escort, a 1983 Toyota Celica GT, and a 1983 Datsun 280Z) before we moved from California. We were also living in a 2-bedroom apartment until my parents could find a house, and my dad needed cheap transportation quick. Our apartment had central air, and the house we ended up buying also had central air.

My dad owned that Mazda from 1990 until 1992, and he absolutely loved that truck. In addition to being faithfully reliable, my dad describes it as being quite fun to drive for a pickup truck. It had a 5-speed manual transmission, no power steering, and power brakes, in addition to no A/C. My dad is pretty sure it had an AM/FM radio when he got it, but he seems to remember having a cheap tape deck installed at Circuit City. We actually drove it up to Connecticut during the summer one time in 1990 or 1991, to see my Grandma who was still living in Greenwich at the time. That was a MISTAKE, with no A/C! My dad drove, my mom obviously rode shotgun since there was no backseat, I was in the middle in my carseat, and all of our luggage was in the bed. I have no idea why we took the vehicle WITHOUT A/C on a 3-hour drive up to Connecticut, but my guess would be that it was before we bought the Camry and it was our only choice. Needless to say, once we had the Camry, we never took the Mazda on long trips, especially during the summer. Even if the Mazda did have A/C, why would we want to drive it instead of the 4-door sedan with a backseat? My mom did drive the Mazda from time to time, having become quite accomplished at driving stick since my dad taught her in the aforementioned 1983 Celica, but she generally only drove it when she had me with her because I liked riding in it so much.

In 1992, my dad still loved the truck but was becoming quite tired of not having A/C. He found out that it would be possible to have A/C installed, but that it would cost about a thousand bucks. Keep in mind that was literally half of what he paid for the entire truck! I vaguely remember him looking at new Mazda B-series trucks (which were virtually identical to the 1986 but with EFI instead of a 2bbl carb), and he also looked at the Jeep Comanche. He really liked the Jeep Comanche, which was in it's last year of production, but ultimately decided he wanted something with a backseat for when we went on family boating trips. Since 1990, he had been towing our 16-foot outboard boat with the Camry (he never even attempted to tow with the 4-banger, manual steering/manual brakes Mazda), and the Camry actually did quite well. However, a truck would obviously be much better suited. He decided he liked the Dodge Dakota extended cab, and bought a V6/5-speed 2WD model in green with the top LE trim. It had every option except power windows and locks, and as my dad found out the hard way, a posi-traction rear. With no 4-wheel drive and an open rear, the Dakota absolutely sucked in the snow, and after the 1993 "Storm of the Century" he decided he should get a 4x4. He traded the Dakota for a new S-10 Blazer in June 1993.

 

Do you two have any kids?

 

My '86 looked like this one....only much rougher. I'll see if I can dig up some pix of the actual rig later. I have no pix of the '89

 

Rotary Engine Pick-Up, otherwise known as a REPU!

 

Did either of yours have A/C?

My dad's 1986 had no A/C, but the A/C in the 1990 B2600 kicked ass!

 

My '89 had A/C. But '86 had nothing....no A/C or power anything, including steering.

The purest of all the truly compact trucks were the B's IMHO.

 

Just the four-legged ones.