JCD BLOG

In this fourth article in our series on what is the best Kei Truck / Kei Van to export from Japan, I’d like to look now at the whole Kei Van thing. But first, I’d like to throw in my two cents worth on one of the most popular of all Mini Trucks: The Daihatsu […]

The next couple of years should be exciting for BMW M enthusiasts because a number of new M models will be released. These models will likely include the BMW M8, M3, X4 M and X3 M in 2019 and the X6 M, X5 M and M2 CS in 2020. That’s a lot to look forward […]

In Part 1 of our two-part series, we introduced air-cooled Porsche 911s from the 70s and 80s. This second article leaps forward to the water-cooled 2000s before concluding with a pair of air-cooled models from the 90s that Japan Car Direct sourced at Japanese used car auctions and exported to enthusiasts abroad at highly reasonable […]

Now let’s look at the
Mini / Kei Campers
This kei class, the mini campers, is the fourth main category of camper cars in Japan, and creativity runs wild here. Look at this Suzuki Every van conversion:

or this Suzuki Carry truck conversion:

And I’ve seen kei camper conversions even wilder than these.
Now, on a technical point, these kei-based […]

Motor Homes, Van Conversions, and Mini Campers Compact but Packed (With Features)
If you live in the USA or Canada or Australia, with their big, wide, endless roads and you want to buy a used camper van, why import one from Japan? And if you are in the U.K. or Europe, with their narrower roads, you […]

Now let’s climb into that little Sambar truck that came to us as a courtesy car and have a feel of what it’s like to drive on and off road.

Sitting in the cab of the Sambar, you’ll note the big front picture window that seems like a mini version of what you get on a […]

The Honda ACTY that we used on my father-in-law’s farm went in for its Shaken inspection and the courtesy car that came from the garage was an old Subaru Sambar mini truck, a 1994 KS4 with 4WD and the N/A EN07 engine.

As a fan of old, used Japanese mini trucks and mini vehicles, I never […]

My friend had been boasting to me for a while about his 2000 model 4WD Suzuki Carry mini truck.

He knows that when it comes to light 4WD and off-road vehicles, I’m into Suzuki Jimnys (I’ve had three) and Mitsubishi Pajero Minis (I’m on my first one now and am so pleased with it that I […]

For guys who are thinking of buying a Japanese kei truck, or kei van, one of the first questions that comes up is: “What is the best kei truck / van?”

This is not an easy question to answer. One guy will just say: “Suzuki is the best. End of story.” The next guy will say: […]