Mazda mx3 as TRUCK

[MrMazda92]

I agree, IF you need it. But, seriously, how many truck owners really need their trucks, and how many "need" them only to go to the mall?
But about needing a big displacement V8, no, sorry, that's BS.

Bear in mind Ryan, he means in general. Not in your specific town, but in general. People buy s--- they don't need, and will never use to nearly full capacity.

[Inodoro Pereyra]

I agree, IF you need it. But, seriously, how many truck owners really need their trucks, and how many "need" them only to go to the mall?
But about needing a big displacement V8, no, sorry, that's BS.

Bear in mind Ryan, he means in general. Not in your specific town, but in general. People buy s--- they don't need, and will never use to nearly full capacity.

Yep, exactly. Be careful Blake: if you keep understanding me like that, you're gonna end having to see a shrink...

One of my roommates owns a GMC 2500 pick up. Practically since the day he moved in, he started b!tching about his truck consuming a lot of fuel, and making a major dent in his economy. Being, as I am, a 100% purpose oriented guy, the first thing I advised him was to get a cheap compact car, to do the commute. The moment I said that, he started making stupid excuses, ending with the well known "with this truck, I can transport anything I need" BS. After almost 2 years in the house, I'm yet to see him carry ANYTHING in the truck bed, besides his stupid ego.

[MrMazda92]

Heh, people like that just enjoy complaining.

[Ryan]

I see the people who buy trucks who don't need them. I too think its dumb, just don't hate on people who really use them, they have their purpose.

The MX-3 still only qualifies as a cruck.

[MrMazda92]

I see the people who buy trucks who don't need them. I too think its dumb, just don't hate on people who really use them, they have their purpose.

The MX-3 still only qualifies as a cruck.

I don't hate on the people who actually use them... More power to them, just like the people who buy a fast car and actually drive it for what it is. It'd be like getting groceries in your lambo, and doing nothing else with it... Ick.

[Inodoro Pereyra]

I see the people who buy trucks who don't need them. I too think its dumb, just don't hate on people who really use them, they have their purpose.

The MX-3 still only qualifies as a cruck.

I agree. But if only those who really need them actually used them, they would be even more rare than the MX-3.

About the 3, call it whatever you want. It's still a much more sensible option, for most people, than a big pick up truck.
Who knows? I might end up building myself one in the future (but a properly made one, with a tailgate, among other things) to haul my stuff around...

[Ryan]

I still think you'd be better off with a little 4 cylinder truck Then you don't have to worry about damaging it, and its not a few hundred hours of labour to convert it, and its all laid out already, suspension, brakes, etc....

[Inodoro Pereyra]

You're probably right, but, what would be the fun on that?

[Ryan]

Fun of that nature is proportional to money, so instead of "how much fun would that be?" say "how much money would that be?"

probably lots

[Inodoro Pereyra]

Maybe.
But money is only good if you can enjoy it, right?

[tehbrookzorz]

With some skill and thriftyness, it wouldn't be that costly...

I mean, for the average guy, yeah, I don't recommend doing it. If you have a welder, a lot of patience, and don't mind fixing your own screw-ups... You could probably mash some wrecker bits together and make a semi-functional, ugly as sin, redneck frankenstein of an MX-cruck.

A four-cylinder mini-truck from the late 80s or early 90s might cost you about the same though...

[Inodoro Pereyra]

It's very difficult to predict how costly a project like this could be.
Normally, in anything car related, it's a work vs. money thing. The more work you're willing (and capable) to do yourself, the cheaper it will be. I do have the skills and the will to do it (for me, that's fun, not work). Unfortunately, a few months ago I had to sell all my tools, so now I'd have to redo my whole tool set, before I can even dream to tackle a project like this one.
But we'll see. Right now, I have more urgent things to think about. Maybe in the future...

[mikeinaus]

why dont auto makers just start releasing "utes" ( australian utility coupes) in north america? can someone say sport cruck?
speed, handling and gas mileage of a car with the practicality of a truck. GENIUS!

[Inodoro Pereyra]

why dont auto makers just start releasing "utes" ( australian utility coupes) in north america?

Because here nobody would take them seriously.
The 3 I named before (the Saveiro, Express and Fiorino) are very popular in Argentina, and I think (not sure) in most of South America, and they're excellent trucks in every respect, yet here people would laugh at them.
I have a lot of respect for Americans in general, and I think the main reason this is a great country is because its citizens GENUINELY love it, but they really need to understand "buying American" just because it's American is not patriotism: it's stupidity.
There's nothing patriotic about buying a 3 ton, 10 mpg beast, and then wasting a big chunk of your salary at the pump (which, incidentally, is financing the pricks that attacked the towers), so the American car manufacturers can sit on their a$$es and keep producing the same garbage they made 60 years ago, just because they have no real incentive to evolve.
But, most of all, Americans need to realize that times had changed. Driving a 7.3 L, 3 ton monster is not cool anymore, and it's not "living large": it's wasteful, and idiotic. Even the Unimog (by all accounts the most rugged, most versatile medium sized truck ever made in the World), has never been produced with a V8 (only straight 4's and 6's), and never with an engine bigger than 4.8L, and yet it can haul a sh!tload of cargo, and there's basically nowhere it can't go.

But then, you show an average American a truck that occupies less than 2 parking spaces, and it's a "cruck", not a truck, and a car that weighs less than 1 1/2 tons is a chick car...

I would personally LOVE to have access to a small truck here. I have driven all 3 I mentioned, and loved each one of them. I'm not holding my breath, though...

[_-Night-Shade-_]

why dont auto makers just start releasing "utes" ( australian utility coupes) in north america? can someone say sport cruck?
speed, handling and gas mileage of a car with the practicality of a truck. GENIUS!

Haha when you said "utes" I couldn't help but think of the movie My Cousin Vinny and how Joe Pesci says "youths" but it sounds like "utes" But those are hot, I would definitely drive one.