Ridiculous Rebadges: Japanese American Cab Overs Edition

"Amoore100" (amoore100) 01/25/2016 at 21:13 • Filed to: Ridiculous Rebadges, Ford LCF, Mazda Titan, International CityStar

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Welcome to Ridiculous Rebadges, a series of articles in which I go through and examine the details and circumstances surrounding some of the more infamous and some of the more esoteric vehicular rebadges throughout automotive history

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Last week’s article here on RR featured a Mitsubishi that looked like an Alfa that was succeeded by an Accord, all wearing the badge of Malaysian giant Proton. This week we head back to the United States though for a rebadge that actually came from overseas. Chances are, if you live in the United States, particularly in an urban area, you’ve seen some of these trundling around town/construction sites: the Ford LCF and the International CityStar. If you’re like me, you probably just assumed it was a rebadged Mitsubishi Fuso or something like the Chevy - Isuzu thing that they do. However, these mini-cab overs actually were more unique than you might have imagined. Marketed between 2006 and 2009, these trucks were based off of a Ford F-Series chassis (predictably) and used powertrains from either Ford or Navistar depending on which brand you chose. However, when it came to the cab and interior, Ford availed themselves of their ownership of Mazda. They looked East and found that Mazda was producing the Titan, a small cab over most known here for creating the name “Titan Dump” when mated to a dump truck body. Several were imported here and they started rolling off the assembly line in General Escobedo, Mexico. However, the diminutive Japanese design of the cabin mixed with the American powertrains meant the truck was cramped, noisy, and thirsty. Wikipedia also notes that they were sold by an uneducated dealer network, but it’s rare to find a salesman who actually cares about vehicles nowadays, so that’s not a major surprise. All these factors led to poor sales, and thus, the LCF and CityStar were pulled after just three years. Perhaps if they had kept the Mazda engines as well these cab overs would have at least the fuel economy and relative refinement as the Mitsubishis and Isuzus that still sell today.

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Fourth Generation Mazda Titan

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[First image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons]

[Second image courtesy of autos.goo.net.jp]

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Ford LCF (Low Cab Forward)

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[First image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons]

[Second image courtesy of adamsofcharlotte.com]

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International CityStar/CF

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[First image courtesy of media.navistar.com]

[Second image courtesy of topspeed.com]

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Sources:

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Birddog > Amoore100 01/25/2016 at 21:47

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Craziest RR yet!

It’s a bit like the old Ford C series Cabover that was built by Budd. The C cab was also used by Mack for a while.

gawdzillla > Amoore100 01/25/2016 at 21:55

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something something crash rating safety something

Amoore100 > Birddog 01/25/2016 at 22:05

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Wow, that’s an interesting story in and of itself! I was thinking of covering several similar articles like this, making it essentially a truck month after December which was Australian month. Hopefully next week will be the Kenworth - Peterbilt twins which are just rebadged DAF cabs...

XJDano > Amoore100 01/25/2016 at 22:17

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I have an Isuzu or ford in my driveway right now. I’ll share some photos tomorrow morning when it’s light outside. They are diesels and out of all the 16' trucks we rent those have the worst ride.

Amoore100 > gawdzillla 01/25/2016 at 22:25

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Yeah, yeah, who cares about those.

Amoore100 > XJDano 01/25/2016 at 22:27

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Haha, hard to say but the let’s just say that these Fords weren’t renowned for their refinement, comfort, or much of anything, but they did come with diesels...

The Powershift in Steve's '12 Ford Focus killed it's TCM (under warranty!) > Amoore100 01/26/2016 at 10:36

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I remember hearing about these because of rumorn that the F-150 would get the diesel V6 these used (basically, a Powerstroke with two cylinder lopped off of one end). Hearing how awful those engines supposedly were - loud, rough due to the 90 degree cylinder angle, and neither fuel efficient or powerful - I’m glad Ford moved on to the Range Rover 4.4L diesel. Not that it matters much, since that didn’t hit the market either.

Amoore100 > The Powershift in Steve's '12 Ford Focus killed it's TCM (under warranty!) 01/26/2016 at 18:49

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It seems that 90 degree V6s just haven’t worked ever in history, with the PRV and now this as evidence. If neither this nor the LR V8 ended up in the F150, what did it eventually have?

XJDano > Amoore100 01/26/2016 at 21:29

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Isuzu because ford has the longer grab bars. Pay no attention to my trash.

These side / turn signals are the best. Only other car that I owned was an 88 Thunderbird. When the blinker is on it cast a light of to the side where you will be turning.

Amoore100 > XJDano 01/26/2016 at 22:30

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Agreed, side cornering lights are a very intelligent design, especially in something big like that. The interior seems pretty clean for a work truck! I guess you’re renting it for some sort of hauling purpose?

XJDano > Amoore100 01/26/2016 at 22:55

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Oh, it’s trashed pretty good. Most bottles and big stuff gets pitched.

My work (construction/demo) rents from Budget, it’s kind of cheaper than having our own fleet. There are 4-5 trucks we get all the time that they took off the lettering and such. In our summer busy months we’ll have upwards of 30 trucks.

The Powershift in Steve's '12 Ford Focus killed it's TCM (under warranty!) > Amoore100 01/27/2016 at 08:06

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The most successful 90* V6s I’m aware of are both from GM - the original 3.8L Buick and Chevrolets 4.3L. Both of them had balance shafts and the 3.8L went through three or four major revisions before it was considered smooth and refined. The 4.3L never was that refined, but it’s a truck motor, so I don’t think anyone cared too much. GM has a new version of the 4.3L V6 based off of the Gen 5 LSx block.

I also think Mercedes’ old V6 was a V8 minus two cylinders, but it didn’t have a great reputation for smoothness either.

For went with Ecoboost for power and fuel economy over diesels. The Ecoboost engines aren’t as efficient as diesels, but they’re cheaper and more powerful, and in a world of low gas prices, that was good enough for Ford.

Amoore100 > The Powershift in Steve's '12 Ford Focus killed it's TCM (under warranty!) 01/27/2016 at 23:21

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Well GM has long been about taking a bad or outdated idea and trying to make it work to the best of their advantage. IIRC the 3.8 developed quite a reputation for durability and tunability in its later iterations, and the 4.3 was relatively good in industrial use. Europeans haven’t mastered the 90* V6 perhaps because they’d rather use some other design that works better than attempting to improve on an engine that doesn’t have the optimal design. The Ecoboost path makes sense, the turbos seem to be powerful enough and the economy of a diesel seems negligible especially with higher diesel prices in the U.S. compared to Europe.