In 1993 I bought a manual transmission Chevy S-10 pickup for a hair under 10 grand, the first new vehicle I ever bought. I think the only upgrades it had over base model were the stereo had a CD player, it had AC, which was a requirement in Texas, and it came with floor mats. Indexed to inflation that's, what, about $23k-24k? If that vehicle existed they'd fill every rural high school parking lot in the South. The closest thing to the form factor is the Jeep Gladiator, but it costs about double that. The rest of the "small" trucks in the US are closer to the size of the Silverado/F150 of that era than to the S-10/Ranger.

The REO Trucks might fill this niche, if they turn out not to be vaporware.