Another CL find that I'm considering, its an 89 Power Ram 50. I know they're basically the mighty max with dodge badging... and share motors at least with the starquests.
Good stories, bad stories, story stories? How do they compare to the other similar japanese mini trucks of the era (Toyota pickup, nissan hardbody, mazda ranger)?
They were the Parts Department delivery vehicle of choice for a long time. The 2.0s were tough, slow, & not particularly good handling or comfortable.
My father-in-law had a 4x4 D50. It was great truck. He did put a couple of headgaskets on it, I think it had a 2.6 but I could be wrong.
A friend of mine bought one new back in 86 or 87 --- 4wd, 2.6 liter.. He beat that thing mercilessly for years, both off road, and as a work truck. (he was a contractor) After 200K miles or so, he sold it to a friend, and he ran it for another 100K until he fell asleep behind the wheel and plowed it into a house. The house won.
It was one of the best little trucks I've ever come across. Not exciting to drive, but it just wouldn't die. I still think about buying one every now and again. Great truck
just avoid those pesky houses
needs more 4g63t
Watch out for rust as the frames themselves will rust to nothing , the sad part is the truck will still run and drive quiet well.
Over all not bad trucks for the era and you can put in an starlon turbo engine in the truck 
Paul B
A 2.0L model of the Ram 50 was my first car. I should have appreciated it more.
I was a parts delivery driver in '89 & '90 and these were the trucks we used - zero option (not even a radio) 5 spd short-beds. The early versions (up '88?) had carbs. The later ones had EFI. Even the old retired guys had trouble leaving the parking lot in the EFI trucks w/o chirping the tires.
Third gear was good for 90 mph... they would bury the 115 mph speedo with little effort.
Needless to say, I probably used up 6 or 7 of my 9 Lives of Driving during those 2 years.
If I were looking for a Locost donor and couldn't find a Miata, I'd look for one of these.
They had two possible engine variants. The 2.6 is the same 2.6 family used in Starquests, minivans, etc. The 2.0 is a SOHC 4G63 variant.
This one is a 2.6 I believe. Gonna check it out tomorrow probably...
Ignorant wrote:needs more 4g63t
I saw this thread, and immediately thought "How much is a used 4g63t these days? "
You need to check out the Project Zero G forums and see about putting a 4G63 in there. There's a guy making custom bellhousings for a crazy assortment of transmissions.
