Just because you haven’t seen mini trucks around lately doesn’t mean they’re gone.
Long ago mini trucks roamed the streets of North America as gas prices soared. They were a way to enjoy some utility without giving up your first born just to fill up the tank. On the West Coast a movement which came to be called by some mini truckin’ began to evolve. People would customize their trucks in a variety of ways, including slamming them like lowriders. As time has worn on automakers have abandoned the once-popular market segment. People naturally assume the mini truck culture is now dead. They are, of course, wrong.
In fact, the mini truckin’ culture is not only alive and well, it seems to be growing in popularity. To be clear, it was never a mainstream movement and likely never will be, but it certainly isn’t going away anytime soon.
The fact that the mini truck customization culture is still alive and well is a testament to the resilience of participants. After all, compact pickup trucks haven’t been sold in North America for quite some time. Ford brought the Ranger back acar fter killing it off, but there’s nothing small about the new generation. People are buying old compact trucks which have definitely seen better days, sometimes rescuing them from salvage yards, and turning them into rolling pieces of art.
If you go on pretty much any social media platform and search for “mini truckin” or “mini trucks” you’ll find quite a few groups dedicated to the culture. Occasionally you’ll find evidence of the movement’s continued existence in more mainstream car outlets, like when Gas Monkey Garage restored Krew Cut, a mini truck dually of considerable fame.
You might be surprised to find there are mini truck events held all over Canada and the United States, maybe even near where you live. Plus, there are car shows which are friendly and even encouraging toward mini truck owners participating.
What could keep the mini truckin’ movement going and maybe breathe even more life into it is a reintroduction of truly compact trucks in North America. Ford and Hyundai both are supposedly working on bringing their own versions of compact trucks to this market, with the possibility other brands could follow suit.
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