FORD and Mazda have been partners since the 1970s, and the Courier light commercial ute was one of the first fruits of that union. It was launched locally in early 1981, and was built in Japan alongside its Mazda B-Series twin. The second-generation model reviewed here arrived in 1985 and continued through a raft of changes and improvements up until the Mk3 model's debut in 1998. Mazda has a heritage of building such light trucks, with models dating back to the 1960s, so while Ford is a bit of a Johnny-come-lately as far as entering the Toyota HiLux market is concerned, at least its entrant has experience and know-how in its DNA.