In the late 80s and early 90s, a new customizing phenomenon began to take hold. The mini truck had been around since the 70s and by the 80s just about every manufacturer offered one. Mazda had the B-series pickup, Chevrolet had transitioned from the plucky Luv to the S10 (S15 for GMC), Toyota's mini pickup was so influential it actually changed the course of a war that was eventually named after it. This meant that there were a lot of cheap, sturdy, and easy to modify mini pickups were readily available. As a bonus, the beds lent themselves nicely to be lined with bass speakers, amplifiers, and hydraulic or air ride system controls.
Combine all of that with the over the top neon graphics style of the time and the custom mini pickup lowrider was born. It had all the elements of lowriders including dancing suspensions, wild paint jobs, and custom paint jobs, even hopping with dancing beds and other wild custom features. Pickups eventually got bigger, pickups like the S10 and the Ranger went away, the Tacoma got closer to full size and the custom minitruck became less common. That was not without leaving behind a legacy of some crazy custom jobs. Here are 25 wild customs mini trucks from then and now.
25 Graphic S-10
Wraps and decals have allowed for a lot of wild designs to appear on custom vehicles. This wild custom job embraces the graphic aspect of the custom mini truck in spades.
The squared off look of the S-10/S-15 lent itself to the slated front grill that extends over the headlights. Also common for custom mini-trucks was the fiberglass camper cover over the bed.
Most often this was used to cover the speaker array and hydraulic controls.
24 Axle Madness
One of the advantages of customizing a vehicle that is both cheap and readily available is that there are plenty of donor vehicles and body sections available to cut together.
A popular way for customizers to take advantage of this was to cut two beds together to make a longer bed with a second axle. This was so common that eventually double axle kits were available in custom truck magazines. More often than not the second axle was a 'dummy' axle.
23 Reverse All the Things
Sometimes you just have to leave your custom touch on everything. The doors open normal? Make them rear-hinged doors. Trunk hinges at the back? Change it to the front like an old European sports car.
The fabricator also added a rag top and a cover for the gear and controls for the air ride in the back. This particular custom job incorporates the modern trend of big wheels and low profile tires.
22 Minimalism
One of the drawbacks of fabrication is that most of the time your best work is covered up by bodywork.
All the hard work that went into making a clean custom frame and rigging for all the additions that were so painstakingly done.
Well, when it comes to custom mini trucks they often are useless as pickups once the work is done, so why not get rid of that bed altogether and show off your handy work?
21 Dump Truck Bed
Lamborghini or scissor doors are popular if tacky addition on a lot of customs and the custom mini truck is no exception. This one also features the knockoff wire wheels that are popular with traditional lowriders.
Dump truck articulation on the beds was almost a no-brainer when it came to mini pickups and it quickly became a common addition. For this, the bed cover takes over the role usually drafted for the fiberglass shell.
20 Dancing Beds
Once someone put a dump truck bed on a mini truck, the race was on.
First was to add a second articulator that would move the bed to the side, then scissor lifts that would lift the bed up completely over the truck.
This makes the truck a dynamic stop light and sideshow attraction and also has the benefit of allowing the fabricator to show off all their custom work on the frame at a show.
19 Scissor Look
With the combination of elements that went into custom trucks, there was a unique illusion that could be created. With the scissor doors, dump truck bed and hydraulics the truck can be posed to look as if it's actually folding itself in half like a caterpillar walking.
The golden flutes are a nice custom show flair. When there are judges at a show any extra bit of showmanship can do wonders.
18 Dance
Lowrider hydraulics were a practical addition at first. Most states have a clearance law on the books for how low a car can ride. Sometimes these laws were specifically aimed at lowriders.
Builders added a hydraulic system to raise and lower the car depending on who was around. I was only a matter of time before individually controlling the hydraulics on the wheels opened up the dancing car.
Combine that with an articulated bed and you have an animated lowrider.
17 Old Meets New
The custom mini truck borrowed on a lot of lowrider and custom traditions while embracing the style and trends of its time. With all the garish colors and wild additions, one of the ways to stand out is to go the other way and embrace traditions.
This truck has a simple two-tone paint and white wall tires with moon-style hubs. The elegant simplicity and cleanness of this custom really make it stand out.
16 Woodwork Stereo System
The dirty secret of the custom stereos in these trucks was that they never were for the occupants. They were meant to announce the truck's presence on the scene.
Normally these installs utilized shaped MDF wood and fiberglass to give clean looking curves and shape.
For this raised stereo deck the fabricator went for a classic wood finish which is only visible (and clearly audible) when raised above the cab.
15 Day-Glo Neo-Tribal
Even when the custom job was done in the 21st century the paint jobs and decals were definitely of their time. The color palette of the late 80s and early 90s featured a lot of 'dayglo' colors.
This was an evolution of the pastels of the early 80s made popular by shows like Miami Vice, featuring colors so bright they 'glowed' in daylight. The other was the mishmash of 'neo-tribal' designs, a collection of influences from various indigenous design and tattoo patterns.
14 Unfinished Work
For a period of about five to ten years, custom mini trucks were everywhere. Like import tuner cars of the late nineties and early 21st century, just about anywhere you went that had a youth car culture would feature a number of custom mini trucks.
Almost as if it was overnight, the custom mini-truck went away, ceding the ground to the import tuner and a rash of Fast & Furious movies.
The owner of Lengthy didn't finish his double axle custom before the truck ended up on BringaTrailer.com.
13 Double Custom
Lowriders have spawned more than just custom pickups, lowrider bikes have their own scene as well.
While most custom mini trucks have eschewed their truck utility, this fabricator has still found a way to have his custom truck also carry around his custom bike.
Since the truck has been chopped (body panels cut to give the truck a lower profile) the bike sits on top of the bed cover on its own custom mount.
12 Shine
The idea for any custom is to pop when someone sees it. That can be done with bright colors and flashy graphics or the builder can do it the old fashion way, with chrome.
Chrome is a cost-effective and attractive way to give a custom job real shine as it literally reflects light back. With the deep rich paint job with a polished shine and chrome highlights, this truck manages to stand out without the garish graphics of other custom minis.
11 Day-Glo and Leopard
Flame patterns have been part of custom paint for decades.
The idea is to imply that your hot rod is a ball of fire hurting down the road, a beast so powerful it catches fire as it thunders down the road.
This truck has taken the flame job and added not only day glow coloring, but a flame infused leopard print to go with it to give it that extra 90s look.
10 Mini Truck Camper
The RV is not a hot vehicle. More often associated with retirees visiting monuments and living out of Wal*Mart parking lots than hot rodders and lowriders it's a little unusual to see a custom job of this nature.
A full fiberglass shell replaces the bed and it expertly seems into the look of the truck. Hot rod touches like mag-style wheels, forced induction hood, and elemental fire separate this from the retiree set.
9 Digital Graphic Look
Early digital graphics were based largely on repeated mathematical patterns. With the rise of the home computer and the revolution that it represented, this kind of fractal pattern began showing up a lot in popular culture.
As lowriders were particularly popular a pioneered by Hispanic communities Aztec colors and patterns were also incredibly common on lowriders.
This truck combines those influences in a mini truck with a classic lowrider look.
8 Topless
Another common mod for the mini truck was to chop the top off to make the truck a convertible.
If you ever wondered why the Chevrolet SSR was a convertible, it was largely influenced by this trend.
For most custom mini trucks, however, they were less convertible and more a removable hard top, if they bothered to make the hard top something they could put back on. In this case, they've taken the extended king cab and used it to set the seating position long and low.
7 Tiger
When I was young I had a Matchbox pickup with a little plastic lion in the bed of the pickup. When you pushed the pickup along it would turn a gear that would make the lion 'walk' in a circle in the bed of the pickup.
Of course, a lion is the size of a full-size pickup bed, but it was neat anyway. More often associated with vans, this truck has gone with a tiger-themed mural with a claw tearing out from the inside.
6 Green Flames
Green flames are supposed associated with healing powers and the archangel Raphael. It's also supposed to be a way to find truth and wisdom, to take ideas and find the wisdom within them. It's also what happens when you superheat copper into a fire.
Pyro-technicians can get a cool green flame effect by adding elements like borax to a gas flame making it green as well. Or it can be added to a custom mini-truck to give it a cool all over flame look.
If you look too long, you will find yourself drawn into an optical illusion.