Factory-Fresh 1985 Mitsubishi Mighty Max Pickup Is Today's Bring a Trailer Find
Japanese mini-pickups had their heyday in the 1970s into the early '80s.
A relic from the era of these small but capable trucks, this Mitsubishi Mighty Max is ready to get to work.
Having been displayed indoors at a Mitsubishi dealership for much of its life, it has just 3900 miles on its odometer.
The Ford Maverick is an excellent little truck—but it is actually that little? Not really: It's 16-and-a-half feet long, and only a quarter of that is bed length. Gone are the days when tiny pickups boasted plywood-hauling capability along with fuel-sipping four-cylinder engines, manual transmissions, and zippy handling. But wait, here's a sturdy little pony from the past, and its golden-hued livery befits the twilight of the mini-pickup era.
This is a 1985 Mitsubishi Mighty Max, up for sale on Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos). This Mitsubishi is a stout-hearted and honest machine, a foot shorter than the Maverick yet with a two-foot longer cargo bed. And unlike most of its brethren, this mini-pickup wasn't worked to death over the years. In fact, it's a veritable time capsule, with just 3900 miles on the odometer.
In most markets, Mitsubishi sold its pickup truck as the Triton—in fact, it still does—which is a pretty fitting name for a truck with a triple-diamond badge up front. In the 1980s, the Mighty Max was also sold into the U.S. as the Dodge Ram 50, although Toyota and Datsun/Nissan were the top choices for most buyers looking for a Japanese pickup.
That didn't stop the first owner of this truck, who purchased it from Mitsubishi Costa Mesa in sunny California. It was meant to be a work vehicle, and still bears the mounting holes from having a cargo rack fitted, but sadly the first owner died before putting many miles on it. The Mighty Max sat stored for a while before being sold to a Mitsubishi dealership, where it was put on display in the showroom until 2011. Depending how long it sat in that showroom, this little brown truck would have seen some big changes at Mitsubishi. The lineup once held some interesting vehicles, but tow it's mostly just serviceable but not very interesting crossovers.
This little truck, though, is the kind of Mitsubishi to engender some serious affection. It's got a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, four-speed gearbox, and a bench seat. That lustrous brown paint is optimistically called Milano Gold. Options are modest enough to have the listing pointing out the presence of a glovebox. No fancy stuff. Just a truck.
These little Mitsubishis were a rarer choice than a Toyota or Datsun/Nissan in their day, and finding one in this condition is basically unheard of. You don't see 'em like this anymore, especially not at your local Mitsubishi dealership. This truly back-to-basics machine might just be all the pickup that you need.
The auction ends on April 30.
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