There's much more room in the cab of the Ranger than in the MX-5 the OP started with. Can also add a lockable box in the truck bed. Also beats having your soft-top cut open :)

I'm a truck guy and I think OP is off about the practically of trucks, but those mini vans where all the seats go under the floor (Dodge caravan, not sure about others), have way WAY more cargo space than just about any pickup you'll see these days.

I have a Chrysler Pacifica and with all the seats dropped into the floor the cargo volume is tremendous. There’s still practical limitations on width and height due to the rear wheel wells, curvature of the interior walls, etc. A pickup can’t be beat for large bulky items.

Getting all the kids car seats out and back in is no fun though.

I have a bunch of whitewater paddler friends who are really into their minivans. Lots of space, lots of seats for vehicle shuttles, easy to add roof racks. Personally, I have an SUV but the minivans are nice for a lot of purposes.

Or even the old school mini Vans where you can remove all the seats

Way lower insurance rates too.

You aren't going to get far off-road in your Prius, are you? And isn't the load capacity of a pick-up truck going to be 2-3x that of a Prius?

Heh, I agree with you. But I also have friends though that don't use their truck to carry loads or off-road. I often wonder why they bought the truck, probably for the look?

I took "truck times" as being some sort of comment on vague preparation for societal collapse.