The Daihatsu Hijet is a Kei truck sold by the Japanese automaker Daihatsu since the 1960’s. “Hijet”, when translated into Japanese, is very similar to “Midget”, one of Daihatsu’s other mini truck offerings. According to Daihatsu, the name “Hijet” was created to imply that the vehicle offers higher performance than the Daihatsu Midget. The Hijet competes in the Japanese Kei truck market with the Honda Acty, Subaru Sambar, Mitsubishi Minica and the Suzuki Carry.
The Daihatsu Hijet is a long standing icon of reliability and usability in Japan. These are most commonly used on farms, golf courses, college campuses, construction sites or just for recreation. When compared to traditional UTV and ATVs, mini-trucks are generally slightly larger, offer more cargo volume and can accommodate impressive payload capacities. Known to punch well above it’s weight, this Hijet features OEM rainguards, 3 way fold down & removable sides for access or flatbed and a 4 speed manual transmission.
Mini trucks have been popular in Japan for decades and now that they are eligible to import to the United States it’s no surprise to see a huge rise in demand domestically. A vehicle that is as practical as it is fun to drive, we have seen many of these start to appear at local car meets with new and innovative modifications. On the other hand many people are starting to use these as work trucks. They are a great run around town pick up, able to park in tight spaces, have tremendous fuel economy and are a great advertisement for small businesses.