Growing up in Michigan, I was indoctrinated into the Big Three lifestyle from a young age, so growing up, I had little firsthand experience with foreign cars. It would have been a rare day to see a 1990 Mitsubishi Mighty Max on the roads of the Wolverine State (although you might see the badge-engineered Ram 50), so it’s always a treat to live vicariously through the internet classifieds. Barn Finds reader Rocco B. found this Mighty Max on craigslist in Pacifica, California; once owned by the proverbial “little old lady from Pacifica,” it’s a 27,000-mile original with a stack of paperwork to prove it.
Here’s the odometer, just waiting to roll up 28,000 miles. While we’re here, you may notice the column-shifted automatic, a four-speed overdrive unit that must have sapped some power from the Mighty Max’s standard engine.
That engine is a 2.4-liter overhead-cam four cylinder with 116 horsepower. Everything looks stock in here except for, if I’m looking at things correctly, an aftermarket aluminum radiator. Like it or not, 1990 was 35 years ago, so a leaking original radiator is not as outlandish as it might seem for those who still think of the 1990s as yesterday. The upper radiator hose also looks new, so perhaps this truck benefitted from some cooling system maintenance – one less thing for the buyer to do. Notice the quaint mechanical clutch fan, an effective device from the days before the now-ubiquitous electric fan came along and hogged your amperage. Typically, a clutch fan is used in combination with a fan shroud, but pictures I’ve found online suggest otherwise for the Mighty Max.
You might find this of interest: the Mighty Max offered surprisingly mediocre fuel mileage for a four-cylinder pickup: 19 city/23 highway.
The interior is exactly what you’d expect from a base compact pickup with a radio and power steering as the only two options on the window sticker. While I’ve never been a big fan of white cars, harmonizing blue interiors look the best (in my opinion). With a bit of detailing, this interior will look like new.
Last month, I wrote about a Chevy S-10 and how America could use a small, cheap pickup today, and the same applies to this Mighty Max. If you live in a salt-free climate, there’s no reason (aside for maybe the eventual disappearance of replacement parts) that you couldn’t drive it indefinitely. It has the same six-foot bed as many new trucks, enough horsepower to get you around, and a $7,200 asking price, which is a fraction of any new truck. It looks like a winner to me!
Nice one, Aaron and Rocco! What I wouldn’t give for EFI and power steering on my 1980 Dodge (Mitsubishi) D-50 Sport pickup.
This is exactly what I wanted when I was in my late teens early 20s. Except with 3 pedals and a 5 speed of course, and maybe not white. My Dads firend bought one that looked like this but was tan and had a stick, he let me drive it and I wanted it!!! Still remember Dad crawling under it to have a look and said surprisingly, “Wow George, this has a full frame under it.” He wasn’t ver much into ” foreign” vehicles. The only one he owned was a 67 Beetle.This is an incredible find!!! I mean, where are you going to find a low mile no rust mint condition Might Max!! Its a very fair price in my opinion, I just would want to keep it in the garage and out of the salt for sure. Nut this thing in good weather, you can just hop in hit the key and go. Love it!!!
Nice little truck if it was closer I would take a look and possibly buy it I just don’t really want to go to California.
What a “PRETTY TRUCK!!!!!” This is what Stellantis needs to produce and sell today. I love the blue interior with the automatic transmission. Great combination. This is a truck I would buy and enjoy.
We have our absurd CAFE regulatory scheme to blame for the disappearance of truly compact pickups (and affordable wagons) from the US market (along with the proliferation of SUVs/CUVs), so we’re unlikely to see any here again unless those regs get overhauled, or they get reborn as EVs (like Alpha Motors has proposed).
https://me.engin.umich.edu/news-events/news/cafe-standards-could-mean-bigger-cars-not-smaller-ones/
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/10/how-cafe-killed-compact-trucks-and-station-wagons/
https://www.alphamotorinc.com/wolfrwd
90s? Heck, I still think the 70s and 80s were yesterday. Sweet little truck, automatic and all. Really just about all one would really need for your day to day chores. Keep tucked away for nice weather like so many of the jewels we see on this site.
These were the kind of trucks I grew up with. Datsuns, Rangers, Toyotas, etc. If they were to make a truck close these specs today and keep them under $15,000 they’d sell often and quick.
My next door neighbor bought one (in tan) but same spec. I just remember how smooth the truck was . These were everyone back in the early 1990s and then after their second and third owners rusted into the ground.
A lot of us, myself included have said that vehicle manufacturers should make trucks like this again. But we all know it’s not going to happen for several reasons. First and foremost the profit margin on a small truck is much less than its big brother’s. Secondly, buyers today expect to be cosseted in everything from touchscreens to heated and cooled seats. Windup windows, no A/C and having to use a key to unlock the doors won’t cut it these days. Another consideration is that all of the safety features and driver nannies that are required to be built into today’s vehicles; entails a completely different engineering approach to production of that vehicle than this little 1990’s trucklet. Actually, we kind of have the equivalent small truck for sale today: Colorado, Ranger and Tundra for example. these trucks are practically the same size as the full size trucks of the nineties. But these days, not as many of these are sold in comparison to the full size pickup. Most buyers today want a big fulI size behemoth that is way more than they need and is more like a SUV with the rear open than a real pickup. Lol, they can’t even fit a few sheets of drywall in the back. I would actually consider one of today’s mid sized trucks if they were available with a useful bed instead of a mostly useless little box. I guess everyone wants a four door pickup these days. I’m not one of them but I must be in the minority. This Mitsubishi is a nice compact truck that will get most jobs done quite easily and is fairly priced. I’m not looking to replace my old Dodge but if I was and not 3,500 miles away; I’d probably check this out. As always, the really nice stuff is on the west coast. GLWTS.
I think I saw this truck parked in Martinez CA. last fall. From what I saw it really was flawless. The Mighty Max/D50 were the nicest looking of all of the mini trucks. There was a 4WD V6 that was quite a little rocket at the time.
I would have liked to buy this truck as I had one. good trucks. That being said it is an auto. Pass
I worked at a Mitsubishi dealership in ’82 and I’d find some of these in the lot with some Dodge emblem or front grille on it. Must have been built on a Friday?
These were rebadged as the Dodge D-50 (first-gen models from ’79-80) and then Ram 50 (first-gen from ’81-86 and second-gen from ’87-94), similar to how Chevy rebadged Isuzu pickups as the LUV and Ford rebadged Mazda pickups as the Courier.
First- and second-gens of these were mechanically similar; this one’s a second-gen with the body and interior restyled as of model year ’87.
Now the new Ford ranger is a Volkswagen
These are great, rugged, smooth-driving little trucks; I’ve had an ’87 Dodge Ram 50 version for several years now, well-maintained by the original owner and coming up on 120k miles now. They’re prolly also the most obscure of the pre-millennial Japanese compact pickups, just the ticket for those who prefer driving something distinctive.
This ’90 model was a transitional year, first year they came with the 4G64 (2.4L Sirius-family) engine with fuel injection, then the following year they revised the FI system, so there can be a few quirks in troubleshooting and parts availability with the one-year-only FI system for this year. The MightyRam50 forum can steer you right with any questions regarding those quirks and otherwise, a great resource for “shop talk” about these trucks.
Correction: mine’s coming up on 175k miles now, proof these trucks can last a good long while if well maintained.
Love this! My dad had one just like this when I was in high school. I hauled mowers and tons of mulch, bumper dragging. Manual steering was fun. So cool.