Japan’s Kei vehicle class was conceived to ease delivery congestion on city roads, and offered reduced registration fees to those whose business needs included street delivery. They were limited to a maximum engine size of 660cc and maximum horsepower of 47kW. The current Suzuki Jimny’s ancestor, the LJ10, was a 4WD Kei car. It would fit in the wellside of a Ram 1500, no problem.
It got a bit weird when tiny-truck fans here, in Australia and the USA worked out that these pint-sized marvels could pack a ton of performance.
Nihilo Concepts is an American company at the heart of the Kei car (and truck) tuning and modification craze.
A couple of years ago the company built this flagship/showroom on wheels to demonstrate its work.
“We decided we needed an urban assault vehicle for Nihilo, something that would test our skills at fabrication and represent the soul of the company. We have always liked the looks of those Dakar chase trucks, you know the ones, all-terrain, can carry lots of stuff and go anywhere at high speed, so that was our inspiration.”
The idea was to build a vehicle that was four-wheel drive and could carry Nihilo parts and swag out into the pits and outlying areas at the races.
“Something that would catch the eye and imagination and just make you smile.”
Built on a 1982 Honda ACTY mini truck 4x4 chassis from Japan (right hand drive) the truck has a 75mm suspension lift and rolls on five custom-built bead lock rims with oversized tires.
It has a full custom roll cage and rack system designed to hold a spare tire and protect the cab.
There is a roof hatch so ‘swag’ (merchandise) can be tossed to the crowd while traversing the pits.
It’s loud: three full size train horns warn other motorists away. The mirrors are not just full-sized, they are oversized truck mirrors.
The front and rear bumpers are custom Nihilo designs.
There’s a Rhino liner in the custom-built wellside and a cargo box goes over the top.
A ladder gives access to the roof rack.
There are several companies importing and modifying nifty 4WD Kei class utes and vans. TradeMe is a good place to start looking.
