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I had never heard of this tiny pre-Minica kei van prior to reading about it on the Japanese Nostalgic Car forums, but now I must have one! More »
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Before Honda discovered Jazz, or got Fit, they had a pet Bulldog. Right now, Nice Price or Crack Pipe wants to know if $5,500 for this Kei Cur will get your tail wagging. More »
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Japan's Kei cars are universally cool. So small they fit into a separate tax segment and require no proof of parking, they're a Tokyo urbanite's best friend. Now the new Nissan Roox looks like it's trying to fit in anywhere. More »
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The Ramones used to sing the kei kei kei took my baby away, and if that's true Nice Price or Crack Pipe has the car they might have used. More »
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Get ready to get small, and get your Kei car on. There's no need to hit Starbucks today, as Nice Price or Crack Pipe is bringing you some hot cappuccino! More »
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This is Down On The Street Bonus Edition, where we check out interesting street-parked cars located in places other than the Island That Rust Forgot. Next up are some high-quality photographs, courtesy of Wimbles. More »
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The Honda Life, one of the oldest minicars, dating back to the 1970s, is getting an upgrade. As a Kei car, the Life is limited to a 660 cc inline three-cylinder normally aspirated or turbocharged engine mated to a four-speed automatic transmission. Both AWD and FWD versions abound, including the base-model Life G-Type, sporty Life Diva and premium-level Life Pastel. In addition to being the first Kei car offered with a backup camera, the Life can also be outfitted with a motorized front seat that can lift passengers with special mobility needs out of the car. As with most Japanese minicars, you'll have to wait ten years and move to Canada to get one of your own. In the meantime, enjoy a nice Pontiac G3 Wave. Press release below the jump. More »
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Kei cars are pretty cool, but what about Kei trucks? Have you envied the Japanese their ability to buy pocket-size 4x4 trucks that can go anywhere and carry decent loads while doing so? If you're willing to sacrifice street legality and stick to off-road use, it turns out you can buy late-model kei trucks for non-insane prices right here in North America. We're totally lusting after that VW Transporter-style Suzuki Carry. Thanks to Teargas for the tip! [Gung Ho Trucks] More »
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You don't see any Honda 600s on the street these days, although they didn't sell too badly back in the early 70s. You see them at car shows, and that's about it. That leads me to wonder where this example I spotted at an East Bay self-service wrecking yard has been hiding all these years. It looks like the interior is packed with engine parts from several other Honda 600s (or maybe Honda motorcycles), so maybe this was a "last resort" parts car that was finally used up by a 600 freak and discarded like an empty sake bottle. Not many parts left, but a few bits and pieces might be worth salvaging. More »
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Yesterday's all-Corvette Choose Your Eternity poll resulted in the '68 just barely edging out the '69, no doubt due to the Jimi Hendrix connection. Now it's time to try a different type of theme; we haven't yet seen a selection of cars based on a model year alone, so today we're going with two vastly different- yet vastly cool- choices from Anno Domini 1958, the year Nikita Krushchev became premier of the Soviet Union. More »
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In addition to barging into a Tokyo Toyota showroom and shooting the latest Century, the folks at Japanese Nostalgic Car Magazine proceeded to take their act down the street to the nearest Subaru dealership, where they got some nice photos of the new R2. Make the jump for more photos and Ben Hsu's description. More »
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We love us some weird Japanese-market car ads, and this one for the Cerbo Cervo is downright puzzling. The Cerbo Cervo makes with the rakish side-mirror moves, and the ladies are just on it like ants on candy. More »
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Job one when we made our way into Bamberg on the first day was to replace the anemic and poorly appointed Mercedes B-Class rental (seriously, how does that thing wear a star?) with a far more capable and comfortable Audi A4 mit 2.0 TDi. While we were on this mission, we came across this spectacular beauty. Making kei-cars look like my Lincoln, this "Substop" delivery truck was like manna from bizarro heaven. We're pretty sure that it's worn as a backpack during delivery runs. The utter hoonage that could result from matching this with a Hayabusa mill and cheater slicks is unfathomable. They should be distributed in pairs, one for each pocket. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=337398&view=rss&microfeed=true Yes, Honda actually had to advertise their incredible 1971 600; apparently the lure of an air-cooled two-cylinder motorcycle engine powering a car approximately half the size of a typical American sedan just wasn't enough to make buyers stampede Honda's showrooms. The claim of 40MPG seems somewhat pessimistic, given that much larger Civics got 40 on the highway a few years later. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=315375&view=rss&microfeed=true It's not quite up to the level of the brain-melting Starlet ad, but this Japan-market ad for the Mazda Carol keicar makes us feel like we're stuck in a vintage video game. And that's a good thing. More »
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Perhaps the best part of living in Tokyo with your parents as a 29-year-old Web developer is the wide variety of vanlike vehicles at your disposal in the marketplace. Even at the micro, keicar level, such movable basements can provide the young, single male with the privacy mom and dad's flat never could. Mazda hears the call, and has just updated its Scrum wagon and microvan line. The top line PZ Turbo now comes with a chrome grill and new interior fabrics with which to woo the young salarywomen away from the oxygen bar. Just think, in 25 years you could even import one into the US. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=283696&view=rss&microfeed=true Apparently "minicars" are "the thing" in Japan. Who knew? Well, we did. [Yahoo! News] More »
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If this ain't the Craigslist find of the day, we don't know what is. Yes, it's an NSU Prinz from 1960. The seller seems to be in the know about classic Teutonic microcars, as he's tagged the post with Goggomobil. He also notes that you cannot drive the adorable slice of Neckarsulmium back to your abode from his place in Mendocino. But with a Prinz, that's no big issue. Just stuff the diminutive machine in your pocket and be on your merry way. One of all y'all requires this machine and simply must have the cash to spare. [Craigslist] More »
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It's a keicar so we pretty much are obligated classify it among things better than Triscuits with butter cream frosting. It's a Honda, so it scores some more points due to our natural bias toward the brand. It's boxy, which is often a plus in our book — witness our affinity for the turbo K-cars from Chrysler. But most of all, it's called a That's. In some alternate universe, Time Lord John Davidson rolls in a TARDIS version of one these little fellows. More »
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I love me them little JDM micro-mini kei cars. The little things are just totally so adorable, and Mazda's just released shots of their new re-design of their tiniest model. It's called the Spiano and it's a re-badged and re-branded Suzuki Lapin. That's right — this boxy little retro-styled mini-Mazda's not made by the FoMoCo-owned automaker, but instead they've contracted with Suzuki to fill their tiniest of model line-up holes. It's a practice we're told is pretty standard in Japan, especially to fill order of low-volume niche products. And it doesn't get more low-volume than the Spiano — a micro-box with a sales target of a mere 300 units a month. But hey, you can't beat a price range that runs from just under $8,500 all the way up to a not-so-high $11,392 — and we bet it gets pretty decent gas mileage too. One more picture of the interior and the press release after the jump. – Ray Wert More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=266030&view=rss&microfeed=true I tell you what, these Japanese-market car ads are addictive! This one for the Subaru Stella combines kawaii, video-game sound effects, and general jitteriness for powerful effect. Hmmm... Dekotora Stella! – Murilee Martin More »
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Given that we once fell in love with a girl almost solely because her favorite episode of Beavis and Butt-Head was "Buttniks," it's no particular surprise that we would love the Suzuki Cappuccino based on its name alone. The droptop, RWD keicar makes us want to quit our job, move to the Land of the Rising Sun and become an itinerant salesman of salt and pepper shakers while spending what little free time that lucrative career would afford us performing conceptual pieces heavily influenced by the realms of kabuki, baroque and Jazzercise. Would you like to see our portfolio? It's in our bunghole! – Davey G. Johnson More »
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You want to be the baddest -amino driver in your prefecture, yet your street is too narrow for even a Coronamino? Despair not, Japanese car-with-truck-bed diehards! There's a vintage keicar solution for you, in the '62 Mitsubishi Minica pickup. Initially marketed as the Mitsubishi 360 and available in van, wagon, or pickup versions, this fine machine featured a rip-snortin' air-cooled 2-banger; Mitsubishi was having none of that newfangled Otto Cycle nonsense for the Minicamino, serving up a thick slice of two-strokedness with each one. – Murilee Martin More »
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We make no secret of our love of weirdo, diminutive JDM vehicles. Especially rad are the strange one-off, short-production models of which the Nissan S-Cargo is one. Only 12,000 units were produced during its five-year run. Powered by a 1.4L, 72-horse dynamo, the thing just reeks of fanciful Japanese geekery. We're not sure if we want an S-Cargo, but we'd totally take one for a spin. Or out for some snail bait. – Davey G. Johnson More »
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Wow. We were big on the puppy-featuring Honda Step Bus concept, and of course, we've gone on record as being massive fans of the Mitsubishi Starion, Lancer Evo, Fuso Super Great truck and of course the mighty Daihatsu Boon X4 (which, yes, isn't a Mitsu product). But what happens if you apply Fuso-style studcraft to an AWD-available keicar? Why nothing less than the crazy-rad Town Box. No Paris Hilton jokes, please. We desperately want one. A Town Box, that is. – Davey G. Johnson More »
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Cousin-of-tha Jalop Sean brought a Honda Beat back to Dublin from Japan. One sad day, while driving home, a postal van drove out in front of him on a blind corner and well, the Beat has sat under a tarp at his dad's house ever since, it's 660cc mill relegated to dinghy-anchor duty due to the car's smashed up front end. Now Paukert the Exclaimer gives us an idea: Why not swap NSX parts onto it like these fellows from Nihon Automotive College did? They also apparently have constructed some manner of keiamino. Meanwhile, we want a Daihuatsu Boon X4amino in the worst way possible. – Davey G. Johnson More »
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Don' you know Daihatsu's loco? Oh man, this thing is amazing. We don't know if it's quite as crazy-stupendous as the Boon X4, but anything called an "Esse Custom" that vaguely resembles a Lilliput-built modern-day Le Car pretty much requires our vote. Daihatsu may very well be the coolest division of Toyota. In any event, they're at least tied with Hino. You can have your Lexuses and Scions. We'll be perfectly pleased with a Boon and his attendant Esse with a dekotora Ranger FT Dakar truck to cary them around on. – Davey G. Johnson More »
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Rated at near 50 mpg thanks to its whopping 657cc five-valves for each of its three cylinders super powerplant, this mighty Minica Toppo might be just the thing for inner-urban travel while wearing an towering chapeau, or similar style of hyphenated driving. This keicar may also make the perfect holiday gift for your friend, Hello Kitty. We're saving our bottle tops for the Minica Dangan ZZ-4 to pop up on a search one of these days. – Mike Bumbeck More »
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With the Mugen-tuned Civic coming to a Honda dealer near you, the company's name is sure to attract attention outside the JDM-Honda universe. As Mugen's package for the new Honda Life keicar (660cc) indicates, they'll slap a body kit on just about anything, no matter how tiny. While the Mugen-kitted Life won't be winning hearts in the US (keicars are a distinctly Japanese phenom), nor will it be burning a hole in the Suzuka tarmac anytime soon, Mugen's association may lend tuner cred to the smallest of JDMs. Cosmetics include larger front and rear bumpers and air intakes, Mugen wheels, side skirting, exhaust, suspension kit and turbo boost gauge (yes, there's a Life turbo). Now all it needs is a shoehorned-in Hayabusa or GSXR engine, an empty stretch of Nakasendo Highway and a really loud horn. – Mike Spinelli More »
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First one to come up with the right answer gets a kiss. Even if you're the Loverman. Bumbeck, however is ineligible, as he inspired this post. Well, not the kissing part. That was Johnson's fault. Or maybe it was David Johansen's fault. Yeah, that's it, blame the antagonist from Mr. Nanny. More »
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Mitsubishi's press peeps dropped us a note this morning (as they sometimes do) indicating the company will carry its supply of eK Wagons to Nissan into the next generation of the boxy keicar — set to arrive down Tokyo way in the second half of this year. Nissan sells the current generation of the 660cc eK as the Otti in Japan. It's a pretty straightforward transaction, and not a groundbreaking news story, though we're feeling an obsession with Japanese keicars coming on, and you may just be cursed subject to it in a big way. We'll see. (Send 'em to tips@jalopnik.com.) More »
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Ladies dig Carol, or so says Mazda. That's why, according to Mazda Japan, the company's created an edition of its Carol keicar (660cc) to appeal to "feminine sensibilities." The Carol G II, the company says, has exclusive beige upholstery, remote-controlled door mirrors and a choice of six body colors, like Metallic Lavender (pictured) and schoolgirl-skirt plaid. The company is expecting brisk sales, despite reports of groping by Mitsubishi Pajeros. Price range is 834,750 to 1,015,350 Yen ($7,138 to $8,682). More »
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