I love the little kei cars. They are a purely Japanese oddity, a legislated maximum 1.5m wide, 3.4 long and 2m high, with a 660cc 3-cylinder engine, turbocharged in the better models. The reason they are so popular is that they get a significant tax break, and form over a third of the new car market.
Another type of car is the aftermarket body kit car, which is used to transform an ordinary car into something that looks totally different, for example there are some tiny "MkII Jaguars".
The kei cars have all the features and conveniences of full-size cars, and may be designed to look like other larger cars, not necessarily by the same manufacturer or era, for example a current one looks like a 1950s Citroen HY van. Some are just plain cute, others brash and chromy. There are cars, convertibles, trucks, utes, but the most popular are probably the little vans. It's amazing how little space they take up parked, which I imagine is another reason for their popularity.
Here's a selection of the best I've seen...
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| Chrome |
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| Truck |
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| Modern SJ Suzuki |
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| Suzuki's Toyota FJ |
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| Fiat 600 Multipla? |
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| Best double-cab ute ever! Room for at least 3 shopping bags behind. |
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| Standard ute |
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| Land Rover Discovery |
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| Fiat? |
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| More chrome |
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| Fiat Panda Sisley |
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| How cute can you get? - the Lapin (rabbit) |
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| "Deck Van" |
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| 1950s Britain |
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| Mini Countryman |
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| Hotted-up Daihatsu Copen sports car |
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| 60s Austin 1100 |
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| Not an ordinary ute but an extra-cab, woo-hoo |
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| Chevy or Dodge? |
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| 50s Britain, a bit the worse for wear |
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| Two Mini copies and an original |
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| Citroen HY Van |
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| I can't quite place this - Audi TT or Citroen Pluriel perhaps |
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| Honda Beat, look how tiny it is |
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| MkII Jaguar (Inspector Morse) |
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| VW Combi |
