Project 1988 Mazda
This truck started life as a stock Mazda B2200. My former boss and still very good friend Chuck bought it brand new from Mazda in August of 1988. It went straight to my dads shop for a lowering job. We cranked down the torsion bars and installed blocks in the back. While we were at it we cut down the bump stops.
The next thing I knew I was wanting to get one of my own. I decided against it and kept my 66 Ford, which by the way had a static drop, with a step notch. it was built in 1985 and the front bumper was 2&1/2" off the ground. it had a 460 and it was very fast. Anyway back to the Mazda....
We were going to some shows with a few local Dallas area truck clubs and we didnt get much attention. After a trip to San Angelo we were driving back thinking of what we could do to make the truck a show winner. My friend was drunk and told the people in San Angelo "we are coming back next year with the baddest truck ever". Well when the radio quit on the 6 plus hour trip back to Dallas I thought about cutting the truck in half and adding another cab back to back. The next day at work I took pics of the truck in front of the shop from both sides. I went and developed the pics and cut them up and taped together what the "limo" would look like.
Chuck was thrilled and all he wanted to know was "how much money do I need to build that?" I said "about 25 grand" He got the money and we got all the parts together without telling anyone except my brother Joe. One friday night we rolled the truck in the shop and pulled the bed off. We then set the truck up on stands and pulled the driveline, fuel and electrical lines and cut the frame. The was no turning back...
The next thing was adding the streched section of stock frame. At that time we used parts from a wrecked donor truck from the wrecking yard. We put the cabs back to back and used one back wall and the fender edges to make the rear of the cab. We then put both beds together and by Monday, yes the same weekend... the truck was rolling under its own power. it took the rest of that week to get all the body welded together and the floor and roof together. The pic below is September of 1988. We had the bed off doing bodywork and adding coil assisted shocks to the back to help with the weight and strapping all the lines with zip ties. we got it in primer and took this old ass pic...
The next thing was to get the paintjob. Back then the big thing was a splash and as you can see by the pics below the colors hot at that time were pink and white. Ts Kustom did the paint job. Tony Grato and his son Joey Grato did all the work. By then it was the middle of 1989. We had went to truck shows all over and every time we would get swarmed getting into the show by people looking and just totally tripping out. Back then just dropping a truck was what most people did...
The truck was a regular at cruise nights on weekends and wherever people hung out back then. It wasnt illegal to cruise then... Well after a little while Truckin' magazine called and wanted to fly out to shoot the truck for a feature. They came and we took the truck to downtown Dallas and the feature came out in the November 1989 issue of Truckin' This was before Minitruckin' by the way...
About a year later in 1990 Chuck decided to sell the truck to me. It was my baby, I built it, kept it up and took it to shows. I got it and drove it every day as my daily driver. in 1993 I decided to stretch it again. I cut it between the cabs and added 6 feet. I also added just a bit behind the rear doors to allow for a speaker box. I was driving it while I worked on it and it took quite a while to complete. The pic below is Heatwave in 1993.
The next step was to finish the bodywork again and I had it all done and almost ready to paint... Then disaster struck.... I slid off the road and hit a fire hydrant with the side of the truck which ripped the side skirts off. The front air dam rolled under the truck and the back panel below the tailgate ripped loose.
With a big show coming up in Memphis Tennessee I had to scramble to get the truck back together in time. I was supposed to have it painted but the wreck pushed that back to barely making the show with the truck together again. I did it and while I was in Memphis I stopped at Graceland for a pic.
1994 was a good year for me in that I went to many shows and had such a good time. I was still driving the truck every day and loving it. The pics below in white were at Heatwave coming down the hill to Emma Long park. in 1995 I decided that it had too much white and decided to add some aluminum wheels and some other colors. below is the 1995 Heatwave pics.
I also drove the truck on vacation down to South Padre Island and had a really nice time crusing the beach and the strip. man if the interior of this truck could talk Id be in so much trouble.
In 1996 I pretty much left the outside alone and did the interior updates and did a couch down one side and a bar down the other. it was red velvet, yea cheesy as hell.. I also installed a 6 foot sunroof of tinted lexan. it didnt open but it was cool as hell I thought.
In 1997 I started off great again. I had realized for some time that the truck was way out of style by then. But what the hell do you do with the thing?? cut it up and do it up again? naaa I cruised it and went to as many shows as possible.
The shows that year were pretty good and I saw all the latest trends and knew I had to sell my baby and build something else... yes I started displaying a sign that said FOR SALE. We went to Spring Splash in California with the cruise from Oklahoma. About 30 or so trucks and the editor of Minitruckin' Lance Martz. They took pics all across the trip out there. It was hot as hell at Lake Havasu. The pic below is in the parking lot of the London Bridge.
We headed back home as fast as we could. We took some pics in New Mexico on the way back.
This pic is of the back at some local Dallas show. notice the stickers in the window.
Heatwave in 1997 was another great year. This show changed everything for me.
I got an offer on the truck and in October the guy called me and said "hey man I have the money" So I sold the truck and decided to get out of minitruckin for a while. It wasnt long until I was looking for parts to start another project. I miss this truck as much as I miss the Dawgsled. Soon I will begin yet another project. Im really leaning toward another Mazda. I also want to build an old Ford truck.
For more info on this or any of the other projects on our projects pages, please feel free to email me at
Mike@Dallashotrodparts.com
