Mini Truck campers (Keitaro)

[buckland]

Probably way off the radar for most but nonetheless and option for some. I have a 4WD/Diff-Lock Suzuki Carry 1991 truck. It has 40K miles on it and runs like a top. C rated AT tires. It can basically go anywhere ...just a tad slower. It is tiny but pound for pound it gets the job done at around 15 kilometers a liter. (come on do some math). Ok ... 45 MPG-ish. It is a dump truck too... handy around the homestead. Some folks add a little camper on back. A heater and stove... Have to say I like the minimal-ness of it. I love my Kei-truck. Off to the dump... carry and dump firewood, rocks, soil etc. Why do we need a 6 liter diesel to go buy a gallon of milk? Maybe I should change my handle to Tonka?....nah Matchbox is probably better.
Just for fun: Just click on the YouTube link to watch.

 

[ski3pin]

Pretty neat! Yes, why have trucks grown into these huge monstrosities we see today?

I had a red 1963 Datsun L320 when Julie first met me in 1981. It became her truck shortly after. She could throw anything she wanted in the bed and take off. It was her daily driver for close to 20 years. The kids at school loved "Mrs. Hendricks and her little red truck."

Now we yearn for a 1967 Datsun Fairlady roadster.

 

[buckland]

Simple is always better in the long run. I get a lot of smiles going by too. Parking is no longer a problem.

 

[ski3pin]

That is so darn cute..........and economical and practical.

How does it do when the snow is deep?

 

[pvstoy]

That is so darn cute..........and economical and practical.

How does it do when the snow is deep?

Being white it might look like a snow drift. Might need some snow poles attached to find it.

 

[buckland]

Actually I have had experience driving in mountain snow in Japan with one of these. I am pretty confident I won't get anymore stuck than I do with the Colorado! The Suzuki has C rated tires with snow tread (AT) and it has Diff-Lock.... a very handy option.... I think here they call it posi-traction? My wife's Subaru's ground clearance is scary low and it is remarkable in the snow. Better than my 4WD Colorado. That said ...I will put a cement block of 250 pounds in the bed for the extra traction. My mileage on a 50 mile drive today was 48mpg. If you zoom in on the license plate ...I had one made in Japan from the city I lived in Kobe and the script is Hiragana for "MA" sound (short for Massachusetts) YUKI in Japanese means 'snow'.

 

[buckland]

The dump is real nice and the 3 sides fold down to give a flatbed for just about anything. Load limit is just shy of 1000 pounds.

 

[pvstoy]

I bet a lot of people also give you a double look for the right hand driver. Weird to see nobody's driving the car if you don't have a passenger.

 

[JWL]

Living in Japan as a kid I remember those trucks all over the place. And working hard! Leave it to the Japanese to cram a whole lot of living in a small place.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

I spent 13 months in Okinawa in the middle 70s, where small vehicles like these were the norm. If they came with left hand drive, I’d like to have one.

A bit of an aside… Japanese TV was full of American cops and robbers programs, all of which were overdubbed with Japanese sound tracks. It was entertaining to see a muscle car ripping around, with the engine zzzzzzz noise of the small cars their public was used to.

 

[buckland]

Nothing like seeing John Wayne strut out into the street for a gun fight and start talking Japanese.

 

[Sagebrush Reconnoiterer]

When I worked in a large borax refinery near Death Valley (1987-2004) we had a fleet of Daihatsu Kei trucks, both in right and left hand drive. They were governed to 25 miles per hour, as plant speed limits were 13 miles per hour.

Driving on the right side isn't that hard, and I quickly acclimated to shifting with the my left hand. Steering column wands and primary controls were the same as any left drive vehicle. Back in 1991, I circumnavigated Jamaica in a Daihatsu van, right hand drive.

I haven't contacted DMV about licensing one of these trucks in Nevada for the highway; internet information is confusing. I'd love one as a ranch truck on my property instead of a side by side. I currently use my Toyota 4Runner for all truck needs, but carrying gas and the like in an SUV body can be smelly and sometimes messy. And sometimes it's a pain to hook up my utility trailer just to take my trash cans to the dump.

My favorite would be a Toyota Hi Ace, as they're available with a diesel engine and robust 4WD system. A dump bed would be nice. Japanese sourced Kei trucks seem to sell at reasonable prices.