Japanese Mini Trucks

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Paul Gagnon

· #42 · Oct 8, 2007

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First picture is the passenger's seat o fthe Subaru pickup.

The van is a Subaru Sambar van with a "Combi kit", apparently these kits are available for (and very popular with) most of these small Japanese vans to make them look like a VW van. This one has the 660cc engine with factory available supercharger.

Also shown is the Subaru 660cc 4cyl with my hand and with the owner of the dealership standing beside it.

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MikeW

· #43 · Oct 10, 2007

So all of these Suburus and Suzuki mini trucks are actually manufactured in China?

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Paul Gagnon

· #44 · Oct 11, 2007 (Edited)

MikeW said:
So all of these Suburus and Suzuki mini trucks are actually manufactured in China?

I don't know for sure but I think that the ones being brought into Canada are made in Japan. Like most manufacturers they have plants in various countries around the world to produce vehicles and parts for local, regional or global markets. Hardly a surpise there.

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MikeW

· #45 · Oct 11, 2007

There are several sitting at a corner at the intersection of Bemidji Ave N and Hannah Avenue as you can see here http://maps.live.com/?v=2&cid=6066D0EABBBDF8E1!119&encType=1 (Click aerial and zoom out a little)

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kegwilliams

· #46 · Oct 16, 2007

minni's

http://kpr.craigslist.org/grd/444512214.html
here is the guy i was talking about if anyone is interested. i have no part just passing the word

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InfantryYJ

· #47 · Oct 17, 2007 (Edited)

Paul Gagnon said:
I took a couple of these for a test drive last week when I was at my Dad's. I drove the Suzuki and the Subaru. The hills around the dealership were a great test of these little trucks. The Suzuki was a 660cc three cylinder mid-engine, four speed. It was cramped, very gutless and felt a little unstable. The Subaru was a rear engine 660cc 4cyl, 6 speed and had a ton more power, a bigger cab and much better handling. The Suzuki had a low range transfer case but the Subaru did have a granny low gear. Both were inspected street legal. The modifications include DOT approved headlights, side marker lights and relectors and tires. They were a ton of fun to drive but the right hand drive and shifting with the wrong hand took a little getting used to. Price was ~$6000-$6500, if they were a little cheaper I'd seriously consider one.

I'll post the pictures a bit later.

If it was gutless, you had a defective one. I drove several variants of these in Okinawa, the truck model, the van and the panel van (looks like an ice cream truck) and if they aren't loaded, for their size, they're quite peppy. On the expressway, I got one up to 120kph. The hills of Okinawa are a good test as most of them are short and steep and each truck performed well for it's size, the only downfall is that once you load it, pick up is nil....and when I say load it, I've had the rear end squatting pretty good. BTW, they do make Jumbo cab variants of these too, kinda like an extended cab pick up. I was this close >< to buying one for a daily driver while over there, but couldn't bring myself to get rid of my Laurel.

In Louisiana, I saw several of them for sale, anywhere from $3000 and up.

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Paul Gagnon

· #48 · Oct 17, 2007

InfantryYJ said:
If it was gutless, you had a defective one. I drove several variants of these in Okinawa, the truck model, the van and the panel van (looks like an ice cream truck) and if they aren't loaded, for their size, they're quite peppy.

You are probably right, the Suzuki didn't run particularly well at idle either. There was such a huge difference in power from it to the Subaru that I was kinda shocked. The Suzuki was probably in serious need of a tune-up. Have you driven the supercharged Subaru?

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InfantryYJ

· #49 · Oct 17, 2007

Paul Gagnon said:
You are probably right, the Suzuki didn't run particularly well at idle either. There was such a huge difference in power from it to the Subaru that I was kinda shocked. The Suzuki was probably in serious need of a tune-up. Have you driven the supercharged Subaru?

I haven't driven the supercharged ones, at least not to my knowledge. The ice cream truck was assigned to me to use as I pleased for hauling my gear around and doing pickups on the island, then it was replaced by a van. We also had some of the pick ups that we used. My buddy had the Jumbo cab one that he bought, would fit his kids(7, 9) in the jump seats perfectly. I kick myself for not buying it, but I liked my laurel to much and knew the laurel was mechanically sound.

This is just the extended cab model, I couldn't find the jumbo cab, but it's twice the size of the extended cab. Without the lift of course

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[email protected]

· #50 · Oct 19, 2007

i have seen a lot of the Honda ones here in SE Oklahoma... they are considered impliments of husbandry in our state.

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Paul Gagnon

· #51 · Oct 20, 2007

[email protected] said:
i have seen a lot of the Honda ones here in SE Oklahoma... they are considered impliments of husbandry in our state.

I heard that the Honda ones are not full frame.

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4x4spaz

· #52 · Oct 27, 2007

http://bulldogoffroad.com/
There are some nice ones here...

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Spork

· #53 · Oct 30, 2007

My dad has a Suzuki Carry similar to the one posted earlier. It has farm tags and
I believe it was similar to a reconstructed vehicle procedure when he licensed it. He likes it more than the Kawasaki Mule he had before.

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Sillyneck

· #54 · Nov 6, 2007

where are you from? I was in jacksonville TX a few weeks back and every used car dealer in town had 4+ on the lot. Some lifted. some stock... didn't check any prices cause I don't care

but I think I saw more of those things on one street in that town than I have seen in all the years of my life incl pics on the net

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http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/rvs/477576975.html

shoyrtt

· #55 · Nov 13, 2007

$900 for one on Craigslist in SoCal.

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loupgarou

· #56 · Nov 18, 2007 (Edited)

there one cool:

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lscrawler

· #57 · Jan 1, 2008 (Edited)

I work at the VA Hospital and they have them to run around in .
You might check the government website. They auction stuff all the time like that.

There are a few in our town for sale but I dont know what they are asking for them.

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zbrockredneck1

· #58 · Jan 3, 2008

If anyone around the GA area wants a mini truck a buddy of mine just got 14 of them, and i believe he is selling them for $3000.

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wngrog

· #59 · Jan 5, 2008

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We have 3 of them on my farm. I can't say how much I love these things. We have been running them over 13 months now and my dad has put over 1000 off road miles on his, me about 300 miles and the Deck Van about 200 miles.

I broke a CV because I purchased it without good CV boots and I beat on it too hard.

These things kick ass.

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MudTJ

· #60 · Jan 8, 2008

There is a place in Jackson MS on lakeland drive that sells them and ive seen quite a few places in the Delta that sell them too, not sure on price. I have to imagine there are some places in alabama that sell them.

I put a lift kit on a Diahatsu brand one for a friend, it was a unibody. I guess some of them have real frames though?

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