Mazda began selling its B-Series pickups in the US in 1971, badged because the B1600 (it was often called the Proceed in its homeland). We got here to know this small pickup a lot better when Ford began selling it with Courier badges in the next yr, and the Courier remained available here all the best way through 1982 (after which it was replaced by the Ranger). All that point, Mazda was selling the B-Series with its own badges in the US, and this sturdy little pickup was available here through 1994. Here’s certainly one of the last of the B2000s, present in a Colorado self-service yard recently.
Mazda badged its U.S.-market B-Series trucks with “B” followed by the engine displacement (except within the case of the rotary-powered REPU). A B2600 with Mitsubishi Astron engine showed up here as a 1986 model, with a 2.2-liter Mazda four-cylinder appearing for 1987.
That gave American Mazda truck shoppers three engines to pick from in 1987, plus two cab types, two bed lengths and a alternative of rear- or four-wheel-drive.
This being a B2000 Cab Plus with rear-wheel-drive, its MSRP was $7,995 (about $22,076 in 2023 dollars).
The little folding seats within the Cab Plus weren’t comfortable, but they were useful for storage.
This truck has the bottom five-speed manual.
It traveled just shy of 160,000 miles during its life.
It appears to have started off in Olathe, Kansas, which is near Kansas City and about 600 miles east of Denver.
During 1994, Mazda stopped importing its own pickups here and started selling rebadged Ford Rangers with B-Series badging. This made about as much sense because the Mazda-badged Ford Explorer.
James Garner claimed that two adults could fit within the Cab Plus rear seats. James Garner was 6-foot-3.
Take that, Toyota!
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This Article First Appeared At www.autoblog.com
