There are plenty of ways to spend $3,000 on something irresponsible. You could buy a motorcycle with suspicious service history, build a gaming PC that'll become obsolete next month, or start browsing the absolute money pit that is the used car market on Facebook Marketplace.
That last option will probably land you a project with faded paint, sketchy wiring, and a relationship with rust that borders on codependency. Or you could buy this.
It's called the Massimo Mini Truck, and despite looking like someone put a vintage off-roader in the dryer on high heat, it isn't actually a truck in the conventional sense. Underneath that tiny Ford Bronco-esque body is essentially a go-kart powered by a 125cc air-cooled single-cylinder engine making a mighty 9 horsepower. It sends that fury through a three-speed semi-automatic transmission and tops out at 28 miles per hour. Which, in something this small, is probably plenty dangerous.
The styling is where things get especially entertaining. Massimo doesn't call this a Ford Bronco replica, and neither will we. But come on. With its round headlights, upright nose, chunky fenders, stubby proportions, and general vintage 4x4 cosplay, there's definitely some old-school Bronco energy happening here. You could throw International Scout and classic Jeep influences into the blender too. Whatever inspired it, the result is undeniably adorable.
And this isn't necessarily a toy for little kids. Massimo explicitly rates the Mini Truck for ages 16 and up. It seats two on padded water-resistant seats and gets a digital dash, headlights, taillights, turn signals, hydraulic disc brakes, four-corner coilover suspension, and 18-inch all-terrain tires. It'll even carry up to 300 pounds, although its 3.5 inches of ground clearance should probably temper any fantasies involving serious rock crawling.
The funniest part remains the price. Massimo wants $2,999 for it. That's technically enough money to put you within sniffing distance of the cheapest, sketchiest project Broncos floating around the used market. Obviously, a decent running Bronco costs considerably more, and your three-grand specimen may arrive with several mechanical problems and possibly its own ecosystem.
But the Massimo starts making more sense once you stop pretending it's transportation. It's a 28-mile-per-hour, two-seat, Bronco-ish go-kart that your 16-year-old is technically old enough to drive. And frankly, I'm not sure whether that's a warning or a sales pitch.
