By 1983, the Mastin Rottweiler received a facelift, as well as the introduction of a new model. The previous Wagon trim was not longer offered, and instead the Rottweiler was only available as a pick up, in both half ton and 3/4 ton, reffered as 1500 and 2500 respectively.
Despise decent sales, the previous Rottweiler wagon was discontinued in 1982 and the new facelift models came only as pickups. According to inside comments, this was to offer the wagon as an upcoming model built upon an dedicated platform for confort with driving focused in pavement roads, instead of carrying loads on a mix of roads.
The 1500 was offered with the same Mastiff 4.2L V8 offered in the Vaquero, with 135hp and a 3 speed automatic transmission, with enough commodities to be used as a daily drive if needed. The heavy duty 2500 on the other hand, came with the L6 Diesel engine used in the Malamute pushing 150hp and over 300 ft-lb of torque directly to a 3 speed auto transmission, but the interior was more bare bones in comparison to the 1500, as this was built almost exclusively for work. Both came in RWD only with a manual locking rear diff.
The malamute was one of Mastinâs popular models, albeit a very expensive one (tho refaced model was much cheaper, as it was very stripped of luxuries). It was designed for very specific cases, where off-roading was as important (or more) than hauling or towing.
Still it had almost the same design as the last version, only this time the suspension was prepared for more extreme off-road situations, even it had a crawling gear (Crawling + 4 gears and high/low gear selector).
Powerwise, it came with the same L6 diesel engine as previous model, still very powerful and with enough low-end grunt to move the truck around. It had so much torque at low revs, that it could easy start from 3rd gear, and at crawling gear it was very hard to stall. 4X4 transfer case and locking front/rear differentials came standard, as well as the extra set of lights on the roof.
In 1985 Mastin presented its new SUV (still, the term wasnât use I believe) designed as more of a people mover with some light off road captabilities.
Summary
Based in an entire new platform, Mastin introduced the Leonberger in 1985, with 2 trims available. The Truck had double wishbones and live axle with coils on the back, with a more comfortable ride was the goal (in comparison to the Rottweiler where it was towing and carrying stuff).
The L6 trim came with the Grifon engine upgrated to 115hp, with a 3 speed automatic, RWD only. Despise its small size and power, it was captable of towing and carrying well over a metric ton.
The V8 trim came with the 4.2L Mastiff V8 engine with 135hp. Available only as a 4X4 with a 3 speed auto, and an upgrated interior. It also had a manual locking differential for some small off roading captabilities.
After a year negotiation, finally it was announce in late 1986 that Meliora will buy Mastin and the deal will be closed sometime mid 1987.
Both companies expect to benefit from each other, as Meliora can help Mastin to improve the R&D department and help Mastin to meet new enviromental regulations, while Meliora can use Mastin to cover other markets besides premium sedans and sporty cars.
The nogotiatons have been pretty smooth and both Meliora and Mastin will retain independant corporate identities.
After 8 years since the last generation was intruduced, by 1986 Mastin finally unveiled the third iteration of the vaquero, this time changing the classic UTE for a compact pick up with more utility captability than previous generations.
The 1986 Vaquero came in 2 trims, BT and BTX. Main difference being the BT came with a Meliora 4 Cylinder engine mated to a 4 speed manual gearbox while the BTX came with the Mastin Grifon L6 and a 3 speed auto transmission. The BTX was also a feet larger.
Same as previous generation, the chassis was a mix between monocoque and ladder, with front mcphersons struts and now equipped with rear leaf suspension instead of coils, reason being the new generation was more inclined to work than high speed driving.
After Meliora adquired Mastin, in order to make heads turn and announce the ânew eraâ of the company, Mastin/Meliora presented in 1988 the Gran DanĂŠs concept car (Great Dane), name based on one of the biggest dogs. The car was heavily based on the Meliora V12 concept, with some modifications, including a tune up version of the Mastiff V8 used in Mastinâs Rottweiler & Leonberger but thanks to Melioraâs help it was bored up to 5.5L and created around 350hp.
1988 Marked the last year of the off-roading Malamute, and instead of renewing a new model, Mastin opted for designing a new small offroading vehicule and create a separate offroad trim for the upcoming new Rottweiler model. The new model was called Boyero (an old name used for a Van in the early 70s) and it came in 4 distinct trims for the 1989 model year.
The Boyero was powered by the same Meliora Inline 4 as the 1986 Vaquero, but the sport and Tibet trims received an updated turbocharged variant with a slight power bump, and a much better performance at high altitudes.
The trims were Base, Australia, Sport and Tibet, all offering a 4x4 system and offroad tires. The Australia trim came with a roof rack, alloy wheels, Australia badgets on the sides and a AM/FM radio with a cassette player. The Tibet trim added an offroad winch, a snorkel, offroad skidplate and bigger brakes, and âTibetâ decals, both with 2 tone paints and either chrome or âblack steelâ painted bumpers.
The Sport trim included AM/FM radio with a cassette player, alloy wheels and no back seats, with sport decals.
Still based in the original 1979 platform, the Rottweiler received its third facelift in 1989, this time adding a full range of models for different types of customers.
The new trims were divided into work pickups with the main goal of towing and carrying payload, the Sport model (offered only in 1989 as a special model), the 4x4 (a direct succesor of the Malamute) and a custom option for fleets.
Mastin came up with a new system to classify the work line up, instead of the generic 1/4, 1/2 or 3/4 ton, the trucks were divided accordingly to their payload and towing capacity, the 1,000 trim was captable of towing and/or carrying up to 1,000kg, the 1250 up to 1,250kg and the 1,500 HD up to 1,500kg safely, each one offered with different gasoline and diesel engines. The custom option was available for companies and it allowed them to customize further the trucks as long as they buy 25 or more of the same model.
EDIT: I modified the D6 engine to be more close to a diesel engine (constant torque, early spool of the turbo and better fuel economy). I also swapped the engine sound on beamng for the sound of a Diesel engine, thanks to the small help/comment of @Private_Miros
After a positive feedback from the presentation of the Gran Danes concept car in 1988, Mastin & Meliora decided to produced the car, on a limited run. Initially around 1,000 cars were planned to be produced in a 2 years time span.
Given the car was not intended as a regular production car, Mastin took some liberties creating an interesting experience for drivers basically, the car was loud, uncomfortable and not very practical.
The interior was basic, it included a simple cassette player, no AC, race seats with minimum padding and adjustments, and some exposed parts (those who wasnât covered and simple thin carpet). It came with huge tires ($$$) that protrude from the car body. center lock wheels and a very stiff suspension. Coupled with a manual removable cloth roof. And it didnât had ABS. As it happens, the car was still very well received and production extended to late 1994, after that a new facelifted version was introduced, better suited for day to day use. Around 3,000 cars were produced, and this model (first gen pre-facelift) is the second most sought version of all the models.
The car was produced by Mastin and tuned (engine and suspension) by Meliora, its parent company, based mostly on the ill fated Meliora V12 Concept Car. Still, Mastin is mostly known for producing pick-up trucks and off road vehicles, so the Gran Danes was far from perfect. It had squeeky brakes, very long gearing, it was notoriously heavy and by using a soft roof the chassis wasnât a strong as a proper sport coupe car.
Introducing the all new 1990 Mastin Retriever. Taking the utility and capacity from the Leonberger and mixing it with the off-road and sport capabilities of the Boyero, the ultimate sport utility vehicle you will need.
The brand new Retriever, takes inspiration on the Golden Retriever dog breed, being a very versatile truck, trustworthy, athletic and robust. 2 different engines are offered, a 3.0L inline 6 and a 5.0L V8, both equipped with Meliora's M-Fuel Injection systemâ˘, improving power and fuel economy.
The Retriever comes in 3 different flavors, the base trim, the V8 4x4 (which includes a nicer interior, 4x4 system, discs brakes all around and the V8 engine) and the Off-road package, which takes the previous trim and adds auxiliary lights, a offroad skidtray, special off road tires, and a set of off road progressive springs with gas dampers.
Iâve been learning HTML and CSS for the past weeks for professional reasons, so the formatting of my posts also works as practice Regarding where, I took a couple of online courses.
EDIT: That said, Iâm still experimenting with what can be done on the forum, I will add my findings and tips to the CSS posting thread
itâs always hard to fill out all that space with fixtures on bigger car bodies.
