Mazda Drifter Revitalized as Bt-50

Do you remember that very long pick up truck?

The Drifter was first introduced in 1961. But its latest generation is now known as the Mazda BT-50 which is soon to be launched in South Africa's competitive automotive market.

Doreen Mashinini, the Mazda Marketing Manager, said that their company’s goal in developing the new Mazda pick up was to get the qualities that gained the previous generations of the Mazda B-Series pickup praise and distinctions from around the entire auto industry. He explained that they simultaneously need to adopt the true spirit of Zoom-Zoom by creating a new magnitude of driving standards and pleasure.

The manager added that the BT-50 comes with a complete improvement of the exterior as well as the interior. The company claims that the pick up is redesigned in order to persuade the customers who love adventures, and at the same time in order to offer practicality and other wonderful benefits.

The newly developed MZR-CD 3.0 direct-injection common-rail turbo diesel engine is matched to with the established 2.6-litre petrol and 2.5-litre turbo diesel units. The 3.0-litre power plant yields a claimed 115kW at 3200rpm and offers a maximum torque of 380Nm at 1800rpm. A new five-speed manual transmission has been adopted so that the greater power and torque generated by the MZR-CD unit will be supported.

Some of the features that will be available are the 4W-ABS and EBD systems. Some models will come with dual front airbags plus new side airbags that would protect the head as well as the chest when a crash occurs.

Mashinini concluded that the Mazda BT-50 is set to be the most powerful, comfortable sports activity vehicle Mazda has ever introduced in its entire existence in the industry.

The Mazda BT-50 will be locally and officially launched on July 2007.

About Mazda B-series

The Mazda B-series is also known as the Mazda Drifter. It is a 2-door pick-up truck that was first manufactured in 1961 by Mazda Motor Corporation, owner of Mazda OEM parts. The mark 7 is the current model, which was initially built in 1999 and can be manufactured with one of four body styles and one of two engines.

Mazda has used form first B-Series pickup truck the engine displacement to determine the name. In effect, the B1500 had a 1.5 L engine, and the new B4000 has a 4.0 L V6. Mazda used the ‘Proceed’ name in the Japanese market on the car’s compact pickup trucks. Moreover, another line of larger trucks is available which is called the ‘Mazda Titan’. Other names used for the pick up series include ‘Mazda Bravo’ in Australia, ‘Mazda Bounty’ in New Zealand), ‘Mazda Magnum’ / ‘Thunder’ / ‘Fighter’ in Thailand, and ‘Mazda Drifter’ in South Africa.

Mazda’s 33.4% of controlling interest is controlled by the Ford Motor Company. And as a result, the sharing of the Mazda B-Series and Ford Ranger are basically the same. Since 1970s, the Ford Courier name is also used and the line continues today in both Australia and New Zealand.

Nonetheless, the public should be reminded that the Mazda B-Series and Ford Ranger twins that are marketed in North America are unrelated to the ones sold elsewhere. These vehicles are built by Mazda and the models in North America are developed by Ford.

These are engineered by Mazda, whereas the North American models are developed by Ford.