Well, I'm late to the thread, but let me tell you about my perfect truck. 1961 VW Type II panel van. 3/4 ton rear axle, stock brakes and torsion bars. Over the years I have:
- With a fresh 1600cc engine with Kadron carbs and extractor exhaust, during break-in (the only time it went 55mph) through the coast range: exactly 60 miles with exactly 2 gallons of gas.
- Top speed of 85 (it would top the coast range (empty) at 75mph, but it lifted the inside rear wheel because there is a left turn at the summit. I had my mechanic decamber the rear end so it would keep all 4 tires on the ground).
- I could back up uphill on wet leaves. I yarded a dead horse out of a barn, uphill.
- A friend had a 1950 Ford pickup with a load of stuff in the bed broken down at the bottom of a freeway overpass. Uphill from a dead stop--the only problem I had was at a traffic light downtown, there was a Mustang in the other lane. I forgot what I had on the back and when I side-stepped the clutch it snapped the tow rope.
- 2/3 cord of firewood (the drop on the suspension looked better).
But diesel would be a problem [Vanagon]; and a $4K Type II would be a basket case. When I got to page 3 I was going to suggest the Dodge Rampage instead of the Caddy (2-door doors instead of 4-door doors, and Dodge used the same VW engine, but with cylinder bores spread out for larger displacement). Both are unibody, no frame.
All that said, I respect your decision.