Trivia question: Who was first to market a compact pickup in the U. S.?

If you're talking about "compact" as we define it today, wasn't it Datsun... 1959 or something?

If you're talking about "compact" as we define it today, wasn't it Datsun... 1959 or something?

Or would the Ford Model T truck (and the like) be considered a "compact" pickup?

A Ford TT is double the size of a 1959 Datsun pickup.

A Ford TT is double the size of a 1959 Datsun pickup.

So is the Chevrolet Colorado...and yet it's a "compact" pickup.

If you're talking about "compact" as we define it today, wasn't it Datsun... 1959 or something?

i believe this is correct...

according to where i got the stupid question...

Trivia question: Who was first to market a compact pickup in the U. S.? Hint — think early 1970s. Answer: Nissan. However, the Datsun pickup was almost unnoticed because of the phenomenal success of Nissan’s 240Z.

  Datsun was later rebranded as Nissan, and its pickup has evolved into today’s Frontier. Nissan, a company on a major product roll after some very lean financial times in the late 1980s and early 90s, remains the biggest innovator in small pickups.

Ocnblu's correct (if this is your definition of "compact pickup") and it was in 1959...more than a decade before the 240Z came to the US...and a year or so before Toyota introduced the Stout.

If you want to get picky, Crosley and Willys had compact pickups well before the Datsun 1200 was imported.

The first International Scout pickup is in there somewhere, 1962?, earlier?

The first International Scout pickup is in there somewhere, 1962?, earlier?

The Datsun 1200 beat the Scout by a couple of years...but Crosley beat the Datsun by more than a decade.

Don't show that to Wildmanjoe, he'll have it up on blocks with 33s on it before lunch.

Don't show that to Wildmanjoe, he'll have it up on blocks with 33s on it before lunch.

If you did that, the tires would rub each other (side to side and front to back).

Dude's hittin' the bong hard. ***cough***

Ford TT is quite a different beast than the Model T pick-up. Same nose but much longer chassis & bed. I wouldn't call the Model T pick-up a compact relative to the time, tho.

'nissan' is flat wrong. I would love to find the guy who wrote this.

'nissan' is flat wrong. I would love to find the guy who wrote this.

Yes, the brand name was Datsun...but Nissan was the manufacturer. It's not "flat wrong."

Who was first to market a compact pickup in the U. S.? Answer: Nissan.

It is 'flat wrong' in that nissan/datsun was NOT the first manufacturer to offer a compact pick-up in the U.S..

Actually, neither was Crosley.

American Austin/American Bantam offered a pick-up that was truely compact beginning in '33.

It is 'flat wrong' in that nissan/datsun was NOT the first manufacturer to offer a compact pick-up in the U.S..

Actually, neither was Crosley.

American Austin/American Bantam offered a pick-up that was truely compact beginning in '33.

Yes..that would beat Crosley by about six years.

Just to clear-up a detail: First Scout was in 1961.

Just to clear-up a detail: First Scout was in 1961.

But was the pickup bodystyle offered in 1961?

Once again Balthy's right... this definately qualifies as a "compact" pickup.

haha Would it be a far stretch to say that today's Ranger is the first compact truck, but has gone through a helluva lot of refreshes?

Edited June 23, 200619 yr by NOS2006

The Ranger is one of the lamset products of the past 15 years

and that's saying a lot. Shame on Ford for not redesigning

that POS in like 1998.

IH Scout was -I guess- a pickup from the beginning ('61). There was a steel Cab Top, a steel Travel-Top and a vinyl Cab Top, all removable to expose the 5' bed.

Actualy I'm kind of surprised IH stuffed a 5' bed in a vehicle with only a 100" wheelbase.

I should clarify: the Travel-Top was ala a '70s Blazer: the roof covered everything rearward of the windshield. Both Cab Tops only covered the front seat area, leaving the bed exposed. Scouts of this generation were 3-passenger jobs at the most (don't know offhand if there was a 'bucket seat' version).

Edited June 24, 200619 yr by balthazar

Actualy I'm kind of surprised IH stuffed a 5' bed in a vehicle with only a 100" wheelbase.

IIRC They were only powered by a V8 or an inline 4 (litteraly half the V8)

so the hood did not need to be as long as the Chevys & Fords which still

had inline sixes in their base trucks. To hell with that though, Inline Sixes

are awsome!

IH Scout was -I guess- a pickup from the beginning ('61). There was a steel Cab Top, a steel Travel-Top and a vinyl Cab Top, all removable to expose the 5' bed.

Actualy I'm kind of surprised IH stuffed a 5' bed in a vehicle with only a 100" wheelbase.

I should clarify: the Travel-Top was ala a '70s Blazer: the roof covered everything rearward of the windshield. Both Cab Tops only covered the front seat area, leaving the bed exposed. Scouts of this generation were 3-passenger jobs at the most (don't know offhand if there was a 'bucket seat' version).

The pickup version was simply a matter of the top used (as Balthazar indicates) so it was "available" from the start. Buckets were available, if not at first, then soon afterward as most Scouts I've been in were bucket seat-equipped. There was also a primitive seat available which mounted in the bed area. So, passenger capacity would be 4-5 people.

wow this turned into a fun trivia question... lol, i ought to check my source before posting a trivia question