I brake for all JDM vehicles. More accurately, when I see a Japanese Domestic Market car or truck, I’ll try to slow down and savor the details. When I spotted this van in a Michigan parking lot, I did my obligatory swing-around, since I’d never seen a Daihatsu Atrai before. However, the most intriguing thing about this little green van was the license plate. This van sports a Municipal plate, meaning it’s part of a fleet, most likely from a local government. Evidently, somewhere in Michigan a fleet manager was able to break out of the boring-white-fleet-car routine.
Most municipal fleets look like this – dull, white, and uninteresting. Though it’s tempting to sneer once our yawning is complete, there’s a good reason for this lack of individuality: fleet vehicles are intended to be merely background material for a company’s or government’s duties. They need to get the job done without causing fuss. Every so often, however, someone will break the mold, and it seems that’s what we have with our featured Daihatsu. Some clever employee talked his or her workplace into buying a 25+ year-old Japanese kei van. Creative for sure, though this could be just what’s needed in a municipal fleet.
These photos were taken in a small city that’s also home to a private college. While it looks to me (through a cursory glance at Michigan’s state code) that Municipal plates are not applicable to private institutions’ vehicles, I can’t rule out that possibility, so this fleet Daihatsu could belong either to the city or the college. But the uses for both would likely be similar. Both cities and colleges tend to operate vehicles for light duty transportation of people or goods within a small area. And a kei van – in theory – makes perfect sense.
Prior to spotting this vehicle, the only Daihatsu microvan of which I knew was the Hijet, a nameplate used on kei vans and trucks since 1960. The Atrai is closely related, manufactured since 1981 as a passenger version of the Hijet van. Our featured car is a 3rd generation Atrai, sold between 1994 and 1998.
As typical with Japanese domestic vehicles, myriad trim levels were offered on this car, from simplistic to extravagant. This is one of the more utilitarian versions; from what I can tell it’s called an Atrai Appare.
This TV commercial shows the Appare model’s appeal to families – and the example featured in the ad is the same turquoise color as our featured vehicle. The Appare was produced between 1995 and 1997.
A glance at this car shows the hallmarks of sensible family transportation. Fancier versions featured two-tone paint, alloy wheels, splashy ’90s-era graphics, and glass-roof options. This example, meanwhile, eschews those unnecessary items and instead is a plain microvan.
Like other Atrais, this car came equipped with a 660-cc three-cylinder engine. Daihatsu offered turbocharged versions, though most were sold with the normally-aspirated engine like this example. However, this van does have the optional part-time 4wd system, something likely useful in Michigan winters.
Here we can see our featured Atrai showing off its capacity to carry tall cargo. Tall, narrow cargo, specifically. But in all seriousness, this is the kind of stuff that local government employees need to transport quite a bit, so a vehicle such as this does make some sense. And then there’s the efficiency of a vehicle like this. With city fuel economy around 35 mpg and a 12.4-ft. turning radius, this is an excellent choice for driving around a small town or campus. Of course these vehicles aren’t made for long-distance transportation, but in local fleet use, it’s unlikely such a vehicle would often need to leave a 5-mile radius.
Inside are designs and textures familiar to those who have experienced 1990s Japanese cars. Durable cloth, good quality but hard plastic trim, and lots of bubbly shapes abound inside this 1-box van. Interestingly, despite being a relatively value-oriented vehicle, the Atrai Appare came with standard air conditioning. Also notable is the 4wd button located at the dashboard’s top-center position.
The driver and passenger sit atop the engine – both seats tilt back to allow engine access.
In the rear, the environment is more utilitarian, with exposed metal pillars and UFO-style solid headrests. The two rear seats can move independently, providing for flexible cargo/passenger arrangements.
While this is certainly an unconventional choice for a fleet vehicle in Michigan, sometimes creative solutions can be highly practical. Assuming this vehicle’s operators can service it effectively, a kei van would likely satisfy the requirements for a municipal or college fleet. And judging by the van’s condition, it appears to have seen quite a bit of use. We’ll likely never know how this Daihatsu came to a municipal fleet 7,000 miles from Tokyo – I’m glad, though, that someone took a chance and ordered this vehicle for fleet use. Sometimes those dull fleets need a bit of excitement.
Photographed in Hillsdale, Michigan in June 2023.
This makes complete sense for this type of work.
Years ago when I was doing the fleet manager thing (as an added perk to my other duties), I found a vehicle of this persuasion. At that time I was working on a 110 acre complex and the mechanics were running around the place in a 3/4 Chevrolet. That made no sense and the pickup could have been better utilized elsewhere.
Finding one of these I almost purchased it but the deal fell through. It would have been ideal for running around a small geographic area as you mention.
By the way, this one is much nicer. The one I found was white.
I’ve seen occasional kei trucks and vans in business use before, but always in white, and usually new. I probably wouldn’t have found this one quite so interesting if it had been white. The turquoise really drew me in.
Hillsdale’s a private college for very smart, competitive students. It takes zero federal funds. Fleet manager is pretty smart too.
Definitely.
There is a gentleman in New Orleans who has a silver Honda Street kei van. I first noticed him crossing the Mississippi River bridge one afternoon. He was having a bit of difficulty on the upward incline. Some time later, I caught him at an intersection in the suburbs.
Utterly amazed how small this van is!! Considering how fast folks in my neighborhood drive, I’ll stick with my SUV for protection.
Excellent find and bio info! I’m a big fan of kei vans and pickups. The packaging is remarkably practical, for many people. As the level of refinement and creature comforts, even on ’90s versions, is impressive. The nearby university currently uses John Deere Gators year round, for shuttling maintenance staff, working between buildings. When a kei van or pickup, might offer more comfort and practicality.
We have an importer?dealer?rebuilder? of kei commercial in my town and there are a handful of vans and pickups, mostly Honda Acty, that I see on the road. I’ve posted a few Outtakes here. But there are also some California State owned vans, always white, that I’ve seen at our University as well as in more developed State Parks. Honestly, I don’t pay much attention but I think they’re all, or mostly, Subaru’s. I’ll keep an eye out.
Around here, a local bike shop has a Honda Acty, and a sandwich shop has a Suzuki Carry. Both are painted in bright colors with the company’s name prominently on the vehicles, so I think they’re intended to be attention-getters as much as transportation.
This showed up in my neighborhood, sometime between New Year’s Eve and early on NY Day. Not exactly kei, I suspect, but still a welcome sight. Gone yesterday, so a short visit by its owner.
Interesting little red trucklet. Kinda looks like a fire truck that’s missing some of it’s accessories.
Very neat! I’ve seen Japanese fire trucks advertised for sale occasionally – I find them fascinating, but I’d really love to know for what purpose people buy them here in North America.
As mentioned below there are a number of these running around my area and many seem to use them as weekend/adventure/overlander. So you’ll see things like kayaks, canoes, bicycles, recovery boards ect, strapped to the existing or embellished rack.
There are several of those Ex-Fire Trucks running around W. Wa. A couple of the local importers seem to pick them up when they can and don’t seem to have a problem selling them, presumably at a nice profit. I’ve seen a couple that still had all of their equipment when listed but many are lacking some or all of the equipment.
Looks like something a landscaper would want. Enough for a crew; plenty of racks for weed wakers and such; room for a small riding mower if a ramp was installed. The idea is to avoid a trailer.
I would love to drive it but would not be my first choice if I had to tangle with a Yukon!
The University of Oregon as well as the City of Eugene have a number of kei-class pickups for use on the campus and the city’s bike paths and parks. But they were bought new, and their public-owned tags apparently make them “legal” when they are driven on the streets. The privilege of being “publicly owned”.
A few municipatities in Southern California had Daihatsu Hijet trucks, mainly for use in large parks, ect.. I don’t think they were used on public streets.
The City Of Los Angeles used lots of Daihatsu KEI pickups as turf trucks in it’s many municipal golf courses .
Technically not street legal more than a few had Ca. license tags and were often street driven chasing small equipment parts, coffee, lunch etc .
I waited for them to come up in salvage but never quite managed to find one, I discovered later one of my work mates had been fork lifting them into the industrial size roll off bin because he hated anything small .
None I ever saw in the Park & Rec. fleet had A/C .
I’d love to score this van at the salvage auction but God help you in any collision no matter how slight .
-Nate
Some of our local jurisdictions use four-passenger ATVs for their Parks & Rec. or public works departments. I occasionally see them driving on public roads, which I suspect would get regular people in trouble.
I would love to know the story on this. My suspicion is that the municipal plate is more about a legal registration loophole of some kind than about this vanlet being used in actual fleet duty.
I’d like to know the story too. I suspect the van belongs to the college, but the Municipal plate is a head-scratcher – but states are all different on what kinds of organizations can qualify for different types of tax-exempt license plates, so the answer may be buried somewhere deep in bureaucratic obscurity.
Yes, the Hijet, that’s how I remember them. Van, flatbed or dump bed; 2002 Hijet 1300 dump truck below.
In Canada the import restriction is 15 years, compared to 25 in the US, so we have quite few around our town. A guy who delivers for Amazon has a newer version of this. He previously drove a Smart, which he replaced by a Fiat 500L. I just got a new computer, so I am still having problems with my photos, but if I figure it out I will post a picture. There are also a couple of pickups being used by local businesses.
In the early 80s I spent a couple of weeks in Nassau on business. The client had 2 vehicles, a Dodge Aries wagon and a Subaru Sambar kei van. I guess the k-car was to valuable, so we had use of the Subaru on weekends. I was the designated driver (much to my delight), so I have a bit of experience driving one of these. It also helped that I was the only one who regularly drove a standard transmission. It had 3 rows of two seats and was rear engined. What was odd was that it was left hand drive, like most cars in the Bahamas, even though they drive on the left. Where do you get a LHD kei car? In any case it was a great little van. I would consider getting one for my around town use, but I am concerned about service.
Wow – an LHD key car is truly a unicorn. I’d gladly volunteer to be the designated driver on that trip as well. I’m not sure I’d actually like to own a kei car or van, but I would like to drive one at some point.
Mike ;
I’m really looking forward to the pictures ! .
As far as service, you need to go ASK the guys at the local golf course where they get their turf truck parts, they’ll know .
These are all extremely simple and dead easy to service, typically they’ve had very poor service before being sold on but if you take the time to change every fluid and re pack the wheel bearings, change all the filters and fuel hoses etc. they’re reliable and cheap to operate, the parts supplier should be able to provide a parts catalog, you’ll want that to get the correct part #’s so you can search the internet for anything the parts dealer doesn’t have or says is N.L.A. .
Buy all the cosmetic bits A.S.A.P. as those are the first to be discontinued and are also the first things anyone looks at .
-Nate
Great find! These little Kei vans and cars always perk me up here at CC. Sadly the only time I have ever seen a Kei truck was during a visit to Seaworld San Diego in the mid 90s. I don’t recall the manufacturer but they had a number of Kei tucks with three sided fold down sides for easy access. Virtually all US municipalities use a mix of Ranger, Maverick, F150, Colorado or Canyon trucks with around 225 base horsepower and far more expensive than a Kei vehicle. One would think a BEV Kei car that is plugged in overnight would sell very well. BEV top speed could easily be governed to say 15 mph so they stay off public roads.
Here is a very cool 93 Suzuki Carry Dekotora truck for sale on Craigslist in WA.
Being from Michigan I am aware of those plates, but apparently have not paid quite enough attention. I believe the 106 before the x identifies the city, county, school district, etc while the 975 is the specific vehicle. I haven’t ever seen a list, but am pretty sure they are not alphabetical, so I don’t know how the numbers were assigned, and while I would be surprised if the private collage had those plates, I can’t say that for sure.
Obviously, the fleet manger was writing an email, ending with “Daihatsu? We’ll take a try, appare-” when the internet cut off.
He was in fact ordering a normal-size Delta truck, and has been too scared of losing his job to admit it ever since.
Ok Justy, I have coffee all over my keyboard after reading that…!!