BruceAdama,
I think little trucks have been largely ruined. They are too big and too heavy. In a perfect world, I'd have a RWD S-10, S-15, or Ranger to run back and forth to work in. Those little trucks, with a manual especially, were perfect lightweight runabouts. My brother had an 89 Dakota. A true heavyweight for a small truck at the time, but it felt like a sportscar compared to a modern Tacoma.
At some point, a small truck went from a dedicated off-roader, or a street vehicle that could haul the garbage or a sack of mulch to something that had to tow and haul a whole family, two tasks they fail miserably at compared to their bigger, and almost the same price, brothers.
Maybe one day I can find a nice stripper version of the Canyon used, about the same time I get my Denali 2500! Maybe not, I'll just stick with my simple full-size instead.

 

If my priority was utility over ride height, I would totally go for something like a 2007 Ranger XL or something, but the height is the top of the most important things for me, followed by utility.

I hate what Toyota did to the Tacoma... the Tacoma used to be such a nice small truck, but as soon as Toyota made it larger, it sucked. I also miss the S10.