The Mitsubishi Delica is famous for its glorious cabover design and off-road capability. It’s also very versatile, as the van could also be had as a camper like this one for sale. It’s probably one of the coolest ways to take a road trip into the wilderness.
During my two trips to pick up cars in Washington state I spotted a lot of weird and unusual vehicles. Some were awesome Japanese import vans similar to Victoria Scott’s Toyota Hiace while others were things like motorcycle sidecar rigs. One was a camper in South Dakota that is quite an unusual sight in America: A turbodiesel Mitsubishi Delica.
The enchanting little camper sped down the road with its driver strapped in on the right side. I had to find out what these are like and as luck would have it, I found one for sale on Craigslist.
Off-road campers have become a huge part of the RV segment and just about everyone has an offering that claims to be able to go out into the dirt. But they’re far more expensive than this little thing is.
Like the bus I featured last week, large vehicles like this Delica camper are expensive to import. As a result, you’ll see fewer of them than say, Nissan Skylines.
Delica campers appear to be so rare that I found a total of two for sale in the entire country, including this ad. These campers look weirder in person than they do in pictures. If you’re an American, you’re used to blocky RVs clogging up interstate highways, so this compact camper with its soft lines actually sticks out more than you’d think.
The seller for this one, Japan Direct Motors, says that it runs and drives well with 109,000 miles on the odometer. Power is provided by a 2.5-liter 4D56 inline-4 turbodiesel making 135 horsepower and 236 lb-ft torque. That comes bolted to a manual transmission and a 4x4 system. This should make it pretty decent in the sticks, just be careful not to tip it over.
The seating area up front has a lot going on, from the big LCD screen taking up the space where the radio should be to the interesting patterns on both doors.
It comes with all of the amenities you’d expect to find in a camper, too. There’s a camera with a view behind the RV to help with reversing or to monitor anything that you have hanging off of the back.
Unlike last week’s bus, this also has a real shower and bathroom unit.
The stove also isn’t an afterthought, being an actual RV stove with a kitchen sink.
It has accommodations for four as two can sleep up in the loft above the cab and an additional two can take to the booth table that turns into a fold-out bed.
Overall, the interior really doesn’t have any real surprises. The floorplan isn’t huge and open like the bus, but that makes sense given the small footprint.
It’s like an RV that you’d find already here in America. What makes it special is that 4x4 turbodiesel powertrain and striking looks.
Of course, something like this is bound to come with a catch and there is a pretty big one. It’s $29,950. Also, parts for this can be a bit harder to find than say, a Ram ProMaster-based off-road camper.
But like the bus-turned RV before it, at least it’ll be something you’ll rarely see at the campgrounds. It’s for sale by Japan Direct Motors near Columbia, South Carolina, with a clean South Carolina title.