We all have a vehicle or two that we have some odd fascination with. There’s no one redeeming feature or reason why we want it; it just hits us a certain way and the obsession is born. The Mitsubishi Mighty Max pickup is that vehicle for me. I suppose it’s because it’s the classic underdog; it’s not that sought-after Toyota Hilux that got the star treatment in Back to the Future but it’s likely just as capable and nearly as reliable. Plus, you don’t see the Mighty Max in the desirable 4WD configuration all that often, like this one-owner truck listed here on craigslist for $6,000.
Thanks to Barn Finds reader Jack M. for the find. The Mighty Max was seemingly overshadowed – perhaps unintentionally – by the far more popular 2WD version, which was otherwise known as a Dodge D50. The smaller trucks seemed to find far more takers at the time, which was likely why Dodge chose to rebadge the Mitsubishi in the first place: they needed a compact, fuel-sipping pickup to plug a gap in their lineup. Whether there was poor marketing on Mitsubishi’s part or simply too hard to go up against the benemouth known as Toyota, we rarely see these trial-rated Mighty Maxes.
There’s something about the Mighty Max that just makes me smile, with much of the attraction likely due to the fender flares and jacked-up 4WD stance. The seller’s truck remains in wonderful stock condition, right down to the original steel wheels. The interior is quite basic with no illusion of luxury inside, just a gray vinyl bench seat. With just 55,000 original miles and one owner, it looks to be largely un-messed with, down to the OEM shift knob, and a basic AM/FM radio – not even an aftermarket head unit.
Under the hood is a 2.6-liter inline-4 engine, which came standard on the 4WD trucks. It wasn’t powerful, pushing out a humble 109 b.h.p., but that was pretty much standard operating procedure for the era. A larger V6 engine would become available after 1990. The Mighty Max is located in Greenwich, CT, which isn’t exactly known for being spared winter conditions, so it’s notable that this Mitsu doesn’t appear to have much rust. If you’ve been looking for one, you know how rarely they come up for sale.
These are great trucks. I wanted a Mitsubishi pickup from the late 80’s for a long time. I would have been happy with a 2WD short bed base model with a stick. This one looks very solid. Something that’s unfortunately very rare these days.
Wish I could purchase this same truck new today 💁♂️
Preaching to the Choir Stan!!! We need more new trucks like this.