Rare Rides: Tiny 1987 Suzuki Truck Can Make You a Mighty Boy
What exactly do you get when you combine tidy Japanese proportions and the American sedan-cum-pickup idea of the Chevrolet El Camino? Well it’s not the Subaru Baja or the Honda Ridgeline. It’s the Suzuki Mighty Boy.
Think you can handle all this rarity? Read on.
Late last week, our own Chris Tonn alerted me to this Craigslist posting of something called a Mighty Boy. Much like our last Rare Rides Lancia Thema, this Suzuki is located north of downtown Los Angeles. Located somewhat south of Seattle, it’s near the border with that tree-filled state — Orégon.
The Suzuki Mighty Boy was a short-lived variation of the Kei class Alto. Though the Alto is still going strong in Japan, the quirky Mighty Boy lasted just six years. It was the only Kei car ever to feature a hood in front and a utility bed in the back (“coupe utility,” they called it). The apparent and considerable utility meant the Mighty Boy was a commercial vehicle, and could thus take advantage of lower tax rates.
Under hood is a transverse three-cylinder engine of 543 cubic centimeters of displacement. Front-drive was the only way to distribute the power, and it went through a four-speed manual transmission or a two-speed automatic. Presumably the first speed was “go” and the second was “go a bit more.” The engine provides a total of 28 horsepower. Think about that for a moment.
Our Mighty Boy today is one of highest trim. The PS-L received huge 12-inch wheels (the standards were 10-inchers), bucket seats, some luggage rails, and a real tachometer. It got one additional speed in the manual gearbox, for a total of five.
Unlike most Kei offerings, the Mighty Boy was distributed in two export markets outside of Japan. It found its way to Australia and Cyprus for three years, from ’85 to ’88. The manual version was the cheapest vehicle available Down Under at the time.
This one looks in great condition (44,000 miles). It would be a stand-out in any traffic situation, as Escalades and F-150s lose sight of the Mighty Boy under their massive hoods. See the photo above, comparing its size against the mighty El Camino.
Look at all this truck! It’s yours for $8,500.
[Images via seller]
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
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I frequently find myself making comments like: "this would actually satisfy all my needs". Can't do it.
This this trucklet must have been the inspiration for the X-90... the only real difference is that the X-90 has a trunk.