#1 Kei Truck: Suzuki Carry

[Ming]

Lil' writeup on the Carry:

The Suzuki Carry has been the number one selling truck in the "Kei" (small vehicles powered by engines under 660cc's) truck category now for 36 years, with over 3.8 Million sold.

Due to its popularity, you might even have the chance to see one in the U.S., albeit most likely limited to off-road farm use. Japan's road registration penalizes cars over a certain number of years old regardless of how nicely they still run, so the used export market for Carrys and other Japanese cars, particularly in Asian countries, is huge. It also works to the advantage of Japanese car companies that have to continually provide new cars to customers who might have stuck with a perfectly fine old car if not for the laws. There's a growing fan base for these cars in the U.S. Even used they offer a better bang for the buck than new off-road vehicles like the Polaris Ranger or Yamaha Mule.

The Carry is powered by a 3-cylinder, 0.658 Liter DOHC 12-Valve engine with 48hp and 63 torque, mated to either a 3-speed auto or 5-speed manual transmission. Given that many parts of Japan are mountainous and tough to navigate with narrow roads, I'm guessing that the manual option is the most popular in rural areas, while the AT is more for the cities. The powertrain appears ridiculously underpowered on paper compared to those 300 horsepower trucks we see regularly on U.S. roads, but one trip to Tokyo will prove that "Kei Trucks" like this one are more than up to the task of doing what a truck is supposed to do...carry things (pun intended)!

Perhaps if we used more vehicles like this in our cities, we'd have less of a problem with emissions, fuel use and we'd even reduce the "invisible" cost of transportation that is added to goods when they're hauled around in unreasonably large and fuel-inefficient V8 powered vans or pickups that are chosen over the unibody alternatives (like a "cargo" minivan) that don't have the tough frames and durability that a pickup offers. The Carry is durable and fuel efficient, and perhaps most importantly for businesses, is inexpensive to purchase.

But until the U.S. government (NHTSA) allows Kei cars into the U.S. without excessive requirements of umpteen airbags and high crash safety standards that jack up the cost (while they still allow motorcycles to be sold new that have no such safety features), the Carry and its Kei bretheren may forever be locked out of the U.S. market, with the exception of niche uses like farm & off-road utility.

http://suzukiphile.com/index.php?blo...&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

[Ming]

BTW, it wouldn't be a first for America to sell a truck like this, historically speaking. Good ol' Crosley manufactured the Farm-O-Road back in the 50s'. And the "roundside pickup".

So a tiny, inexpensive pickup is just as much a part of Americana as a $50,000 Ford F-350 Super Duty Lariat Crew Cab Dualie 4x4 gas-guzzling giant.

[Butz]

What can the Carry carry?

63 torque

Never knew such little torque existed!

[Ming]

Originally Posted by Butz

What can the Carry carry?

Never knew such little torque existed!

It's amazing what you'll see them loaded up with in Japan, and similar trucks I saw in China.

What the photo below says:

"48 Full Apple Containers!"

"40 Full 20-liter plastic tanks!"

"60 cases of beer!"

[Butz]

Don't forget all the sake, tofu and ramen noodles
At least better than Fullsize Pickup trucks carrying nothing but the driver

[likearock00]

Originally Posted by Butz

What can the Carry carry?

Over 1200 lbs.

I'd love to see someone pull up to a Ritz-Carlton in one of those!

[Ming]

Often they have some kind of hoop tarp canvas cover that goes up above the roof line, like on military trucks. Fine for Japan road speeds and in Tokyo but maybe not on our highways.

[AndrewGS]

I wonder if an LS2 would fit between those frame rails?

[solman98]

It's a Bongo truck

I used to drive something similiar in Korea. I liked the one's with the little 12" dually's.

[prowlerjc]

When I was at USC for my grad degree in the early nineties, they had a fleet of Daihatsu micro-trucks like those. They were great for groundskeeping and building repairs.

[vsd]

The San Diego Zoo uses those. On campus they have a fleet of GEM's which are about the same size as those, they seem to get the job done.

[socalcookie]

My school's IT service uses kei vans. They look like cool little cars.

[Ming]

I know that California, etc. can make laws that ban (just the sale of?) certain cars due to emissions or whatnot, but what if they were to ALLOW a car to be street legal in city use, registered for on-road use in California only or something like that?

[Wolfman01]

Originally Posted by Ming

Often they have some kind of hoop tarp canvas cover that goes up above the roof line, like on military trucks. Fine for Japan road speeds and in Tokyo but maybe not on our highways.

There are class 8 semi trucks driving the highways with fabric sided trailers. They hold up just fine in the U.S.