AS we have seen for a long time, the Japanese are masters at making compact cars. It has something to do with their road conditions which are narrow, and also led to the creation of the unique kei class in the country. The initial regulations in 1949 allowed kei car dimensions to be no more than 2.8 metres long and 1 metre wide. By the end of the 1990s, they were allowed to be up to 3.4 metres long and 1.48 metres wide.
Besides kei cars, which could only have 660 cc engines (in Japan), there was also a category of kei trucks which also had the same dimensional restrictions so they were pretty small. The Perodua Kancil was adapted from a Daihatsu kei car called the Mira so you can imagine just how small the kei trucks were.
While Toyota and Nissan did not make kei cars, the other carmakers such as Daihatsu, Mazda, Mitsubishi Motors, Suzuki and Subaru had kei cars as well as trucks (which generally used the same simple platform). They sold well during the 1990s and were even exported to other countries, including the USA, surprisingly.
Besides being used for commercial purposes, the kei trucks were also equipped to serve as public service vehicles such as fire trucks. Some of the carmakers had such mini fire trucks which would draw attention overseas. They were certainly tiny compared to regular fire trucks and would be able to fit inside the passenger cabin!
In the mid-1990s, Honda offered its Acty Crawler as a fire truck and it was available for 5 years. One unit, which had been used in the Nagano Prefecture northwest of Tokyo, was converted to lefthand drive after its public service ended and in December last year, it was shipped to the USA.
Now, with just 3,600 kms on the odometer, it has appeared for auction on Bring a Trailer.com and bidding has reached up to US$12,750 today (about RM57,070). Bids are accepted only until the morning of March 1, 2023.
According to Bring-a-Trailer.com, the vehicle has the original 656 cc 3-cylinder engine which is mounted at the rear. It has a 4-speed manual transaxle and a rear locking differential as well, along with 12-inch wheels. Tracks can also be installed on the rear wheels to travel over soft terrain.
It also has RealTime 4×4, which was available even back in the 1990s and useful in areas where there was a lot of snow and ice. The RealTime system would evolve into the intelligent AWD system found in models like the Honda CR-V today.
The fire truck was well preserved in its original condition (including the identification of the Nagano Fire Department on the doors) as the vehicle is also fitted with emergency lighting, a siren system, a PA system as well as mounts for fire-fighting gear. A raised platform is installed on the rear bed to provide fire-fighters with a high point to spray water from or for climbing up to buildings.
Despite their small size, the kei trucks are allowed on US roads as they meet the basic requirements and those older than 25 years can be imported with few restrictions. In most states, they can even be used on the highways although there are a few that do not allow them to do so. Generally, they are used as basic transporters and popular due to their low cost of maintenance, continued reliability and compactness, making them useful for getting around cities.
