According to the ad, one owner has had this Mazda pickup for four decades now; that’s pretty amazing. It looks like it’s been taken care of, and its Pacific Northwest climate seems to have preserved it well. This 1986 Mazda B-2000 SE-5 Cab Plus can be found here on craigslist in Renton, Washington, and they’re asking $7,900. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Barney for the tip!
Mazda referred to its extended cab trucks as Cab Plus, and whatever you call it, it’s a handy amount of space behind the front seats. I wish my little truck had this, but Dodge never offered it on the early D-50 pickups. Todd Fitch has offered to customize my truck with his fabrication skills, but I think I’m just going to sell it instead. If I owned this Mazda, I don’t know if I’d ever sell it. Here’s a 1986 Mazda B2000 brochure.
There are the usual nicks in the graphics and probably a ding or two, but I don’t see any rust on the body. The Tornado Silver paint is dark enough that it’s hard to see the bottom edges, and the seller doesn’t provide any underside photos at all. The seller says it’s clean inside and out, so hopefully that means solid as well. We’ve seen five 1986 Mazda B2000 pickups here on Barn Finds, and only one Cab Plus version, and that goes back a decade. The fourth-generation Mazda B-series trucks were made from 1985 through 1998.
I love Mazda’s shift boots; they’re so tidy-looking. The interior is as tidy as it gets; what a beautiful truck. With 62,920 miles, this one is barely broken in; I’m sure with regular maintenance the next owner or two will get it past 250,000 miles easily, if not more. The Cab Plus space behind the front seats is the big selling point on this truck for me, along with its general appearance. The little seat bottom cushions fold up, and it’s a perfect spot for hiding camera gear or almost anything. We don’t get to see inside the truck bed, but I’m guessing it’s nice in there as well.
The clean engine (nice job on the presentation!) is Mazda’s 2.0-liter OHC inline-four with 80 horsepower and 110 lb-ft of torque when new. Backed by a 5-speed manual sending power to the rear wheels, the seller says everything works as it should and has a new slave master cylinder, a new clutch, and a new tune-up. In case you were wondering, the seller isn’t asking more than this truck cost new; this is about what it would have cost in 1986. Have any of you owned a Mazda pickup
Where on earth are these clean, low mileage, creampuff Japanese pickups coming from lately? This is NOT a complaint, but rather a compliment. It would be nice to see the underside, bit what you can see looks really great i would have very happily taken a Mazda, or a Mitsubishi, or a Nissan, an Isuzu or a……….. Well, you get the picture i knew a guy who had one of these. It was an ’88 I think. I remember being able to actually sit in the back ( alone) in relative comfort i think half way through the trip i spun myself sideways and stretched my legs. The interior looks great to me. I always liked the white spoke rims Mazda had too. If there’s no rust, I’d say this is a great deal. Truth be told thinking back to this time period, I think all the Japanese pickups were really good, other than rust issues, mechanically I don’t remember anyone ever complaining about them. Really nice find Scotty.
I had a B2000 & I loved it,except it was a gutless wonder that
wouldn’t do over 70 on the freeway on flat ground.
It was humorous that our Son got a ticket for doing 78 in it on
the freeway.I called & informed them that it wouldn’t do 78.The ticket
was dropped a short time later.
Seller has dropped the price to $5,900.
Steve R
Thanks, Steve! That’s more like it!
My son just bought an 88 b2600 4×4 reg cab longbox which is just as clean as this one for $5500 Cdn. It took some time but if you’re diligent on marketplace they show up!
This truck is crazy nice looked at craigs list post it is 5900 or offer if it wasn’t halfway across country I would go after it.
Lovely example from the mini-trucking era, wish I could buy something as simple and durable today.
Google says 2700 lbs, so those 80hp and 110 lb-ft are going to be working hard, or at least the “rowing” going on with the 5 speed.
Still, love this example and make it last well into 175k+ miles without doing a thing other than rust prevention of the underside.
Sidenote: a buddy had a “dwarf” like car called an Allison racer that used this exact powerplant in a “spec reqt, no mods allowed” class.
I remember the ads for these where they used the graphics from the SE-5 and made them into 5995 reflecting the price. Consider that marketing sticking in someone’s brain for 45 years and what a good deal it seemed at the time.
I had a B2600 4 x 4 version of this little guy as a company car. Ice cold air.
The only thing I felt bad about leaving was giving up that truck.
That little guy was perfect.
So, how much is this $500 truck?
Lovely looking truck. Although I was too young at the time to drive a car, I remember the Mazda B2000.
I was acquainted with a GM dealer in the 80s who bought a Mazda franchise in Emporia Ks. He was expecting a great repair business like GM issues. He was very dissapointed as he said the Mazdas didn’t need repairs.
Western Motors?
@driveinstile I agree with everything you said. I had an ’88 that was loaded out, even chromed wheels in that style. It was white and burgundy 2-tone and the exact interior as shown here (but with a newer design steering wheel with gray metal accent). I had mine while in college and many of my friends sat in the back (I did, too, if I had a designated driver) and, just like you said, could sit back there comfortably and turn sideways if there was only one in the jump seats. When we had our own young family, it was great for our boys to sit back there, too, and they loved it. It was a fantastic truck and if not for a very unfortunate accident, I’d probably still have it. Countless good memories were made in that little truck.
Beautiful truck, super nice interior. Strange, the first thing I thought was “Don’t spill coffee on those clean seats!” But hey, no worries: There are no cup holders (let alone the super/mega/double/team gulp size). Those were the days: pre-cell phone, pre-internet, pre-social media. Geez, I’m getting nostalgic here…
I had a B2200 SC 5spd. It was a solid little truck that hauled a ton of stuff for me and never complained. Regular maintenance items was all. I had fun with it, too. It responded well to flowmasters, indexed plugs, advanced timing, K&N, etc. There was no improvement in 1st-3rd but it made passing on the freeway easier with a noticeable difference in 4th and 5th. Wish I’d kept it but no, I had to have an F150 (which I still have and love!).
Great info, Mazda was really doing it right. (and got no respect back then)
Funny how someone said “pre-cupholder era”, which I was wondering if it was also “pre-Starbucks era”…
“indexed plugs”…. hmm, what does that mean? (but sounds really cool!)
Starbucks started on March 30, 1971, in Seattle, WA.
Indexed plugs refer to spark plugs aligned to face a specific direction in the engine. This orientation aims to enshroud the spark, optimize flame travel, and prevent fuel from wetting the tip.
Why Index Spark Plugs:
1) Better Airflow: Points the open gap toward the incoming air-fuel charge or intake valve for a cleaner burn.
2) Direct Injection Alignment: Keeps the ground strap from blocking the high-pressure fuel spray in direct-injection setups.
3) Clearance Protection: Ensures high-compression pistons do not strike the ground electrode.
4) Minor Power Gains: Can add 1 to 2 horsepower in precision race applications, though gains are negligible on stock street cars.
Source: Das Internet
This would be sweet parked next to my Miata in the garage!
The listing is gone, apparently; someone grabbed this Mazda’r B2000, presumably for more than $500…