1986 Mazda B2000 Is Cheaper than Toyota and Nissan Sport Trucks

The small pickup sales wars got increasingly fierce as the 1980s went on, especially once Ford and General Motors jumped in with the Ranger and S-10. Mazda chose to take aim at the competition from Toyota and Nissan with this advertisement, boasting that the B2000's price tag was $1100 lower than those on its N50 Hilux and D21 Hardbody "sport truck" rivals.

What was a sport truck in 1986? Definitions were indistinct at best, but it appears Mazda meant a rear-wheel-drive shortbed pickup with some luxury and convenience features in its cab. Perhaps Mazda really did beat Toyota and Nissan by over a grand when you compare every single option, but such a comparison bogs down in impossible subjectivity right away.

Instead, let's look at the absolute cheapest version of each truck (i.e., you were lucky if they threw in the washer fluid on the deal). The 1986 Mazda B2000 started at $5995, the 1986 Toyota Truck started at $5998, and the 1986 Nissan Pickup started at $5999 (those prices would be $16,674, $16,983, and $16,986, respectively, in 2024 dollars).

That's a negligible four-dollar range, and the base 1986 Isuzu P'up undercut them all with its $5789 MSRP ($16,391 after inflation) anyway.