The word courier is defined as “a messenger who transports goods or documents, in particular,” and this little Ford pickup definitely qualifies for its name. Ford originally gave the Courier name to its full size sedan delivery model offered from 1952 to 1960. Those cars are quite rare and highly desirable now.
Starting in 1971, in an effort to deflect inroads that Toyota and Datsun were making with their small pickup trucks, Ford made a deal to badge Mazda’s B series compact truck with the Courier name and slightly modified body styles. Small as they were, these trucks got great gas mileage and were rated to carry up to 1,400 pounds. They were reliable runners, but generally slow performers with 74 horsepower on tap, and were prone to rust, as were all seventies era Japanese vehicles. By 1979, Couriers were a bit better looking than their predecessors, and offered a choice of two more powerful engines, a two liter and a 2.3 liter engine imported from Brazil, either mated to a fairly smooth five speed transmission. Ford sold the Courier badged Mazda in the US through 1982 (it was replaced by the US built Ranger after that).
Now that these mini pickups are more than 45 years old, there just are not that many of them around, especially in the rust belt states. So this clean example for sale here on craigslist in Tucson, Arizona is a pretty unusual find.
The ad for this truck is fairly entertaining. The seller says this truck is a DD (daily driver), and it’s said to both “restored” and “original.”
The truck shows only 55,051 miles on the odometer and that certainly could be legitimate. According to the seller, his father was the original owner. It is said to have had alot of mechanical work done to make it a reliable daily driver. And it definitely looks good in pictures.
With an asking price of only $4,000, which according to NADA is average retail for this truck, this Courier ought to be a nice useable and very practical classic for someone. It will be economical to operate and very easy to maintain. And being a southwestern car, rust free too. I find myself thinking that it’s pretty cool in its plainness. Anyone here interested in this little truck?
CORRECTION: The original Courier debuted in 1952 and lasted through 1965. It was revived in 1968 on the Fairlane line, but was for fleet buyers only. The USPO ordered a lot of these.
Nice clean little truck!
The Courier name was also used on Falcon and Fairlane sedan deliveries through the sixties. The Fairlanes are really rare, the only ones I’ve seen were the ones I worked on at the GSA Motor Pool.
I love old Mini trucks but I also love my 75 Silverado and can’t justify having two pickups… Otherwise I would be keen on this little guy.
Nice truck, I remember when V-8’s got shoehorned in place of the 4 cylinders
I had one of these with the Mazda engine that this one has. It burned more oil than gas with only about 50000 on it. I believe the other engine they put in was the 4 cylinder ford engine they used in the pinto sedan and wagon.
My uncle had a Chevy LUV, he stuffed in a 327,350,383 and even a 427 at one point. His son and grandson still drag race it. No longer street legal but its still in the family.
Sweet Lil truck!
One ugly truck
Better looking than a new Tacoma.
I have a 1978 Ford Courier with a badged 2.3 liter in it. It has a 5 speed transmission and great patina. It’s been in the southwest most of its life and still hitting a hundred easily on the freeways. I recently hauled a 400 hundred pound flat file on a 1400 mile trip. Great trip, nice to stretch here legs and mine too.