The first generation Ford Courier was introduced for the 1972 model year and sold for a little over when introduced—close to the price of a Ford F-100. The Courier was manufactured by Toyo Kogyo (Mazda), and imported and sold by Ford Motor Company as a response to the unforeseen popularity of the small Toyota and Nissan (Datsun) pickups among young buyers in the West. Like the other mini-pickups of the time, it featured a sub-2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine, a four-speed manual transmission, rear wheel drive, a load capability of , and was fairly inexpensive compared to full-size pickups of the time. To circumvent the 25 percent chicken tax on light trucks, Couriers, like Chevrolet LUVs, were imported in "cab chassis" configurations, which included the entire light truck without the cargo box or truck bed, and were only subject to a 4 percent tariff. Subsequently, a truck bed would be attached to the chassis and the vehicle could be sold as a light truck.