Time for some tiny haulers, with three samples still toughin’ it out in the world; all taken from the CC Cohort. First, this early 1970s Honda TN found by Rod in CBR. If you’re in the US, these Honda kei trucks are likely exotic to you, but elsewhere they’re rather well-known, as they made their way to large swaths of the world, from Asia to South America. This one is missing its original grille and looks a bit worn, but otherwise looks good for a small worker with half a century on its body.
These were an update of the Honda TN360, which originally appeared in 1967. The double headlight visage of today’s find dates to 1972, and stuck around to the TN-7 renaming of 1975 (shown above). The TN360 was originally powered by an air-cooled Honda 354cc SOHC inline-2 adapted from the CB450 motorcycle powerplant, and spun to 8,000 rpm to provide about 29.5HP.
Emission controls brought about the TN-V in 1972, with the powerplant revised to meet new emission standards; 26.6HP was the new output at a less peaky 7,000 rpm. As mentioned, the TN-7 update arrived in 1975, with further upgrades to meet further emissions requirements. Today’s find in Canberra is either a TN-V or TN7, which have just minor differences in exterior trim. These early Honda kei trucks are a rare find; most died long ago in their line of duty.
Less distant in the memory, and with a good number still around, the Suzuki Carry trucks –along with their extensive badge-engineered offsprings. Here’s a Bedford labeled variant, which went by the name Rascal, and was caught by Guillaume Vachey. Not sure what’s so rascally about them; as far as I know, these were rather trustworthy things.
These Bedfords did show up in the British TV series Doc Martin, driven by the Large family guys, Al and Bert, in whatever new sketchy enterprise they had gotten themselves into. Now, those guys were true rascals…
In any case, the Rascal is one of those badge-engineer jobs with several players at play; a GM-Suzuki alliance thing, using GM’s British Bedford marque, also sold under Vauxhall, and assembled at the Luton plant. Power for these UK-built versions came from a 970cc I4 powerplant and was sold from 1986 to 1994.
To close our kei truck post, here’s an Asia Towner captured by riveranotario in Chile. A seventh generation 1986-1994 Daihatsu Hijet built by now-defunct South Korean carmaker Asia, and built from 1992 to 2002 in that nation.
The Hijets had a variety of 3-cyl. engine displacements at their disposal, but as far as I can track down, the Towner was offered in South America with the 796cc one, which offered 43HP. Like the one captured by riveranotario, a quarter of century may have passed, but plenty still roam and work around the world. Proof that tiny doesn’t mean weak or unwilling.
There are a lot of the pickups in Florida.
Neat .
I really like Kei trucks, in the U.S.A. they were mostly not road legal and so used by gold courses and parks .
-Nate
I’m not sure the Honda TN360 engine was particularly related, other than Honda twin family design features, to the CB450 which was DOHC. The earlier T360 was a DOHC but a four cylinder. Nor were the TN or N360 engines based on the CB350 twin which was SOHC. I think some of the bike and/or car engines had a 360 crank and some 180.
It’s widely reported that the TN360 was based on the CB450 engine. I’ve looked into this before and it’s hard to prove one way or another. There are some key similarities such as a chain camshaft drive located between the cylinders, a crossflow cylinder head with angled opposed valves and hemispherical combustion chambers, and a needle roller bearing crankshaft, with four main bearings.But there are of course obvious differences too, especially in the head (SOHC vs. DOHC), and the TN360 had a 260 degree crank unlike the 180 in the CB450.
It’s pretty safe to assume that the CB450 engine was a logical starting point for the development of the TN360 engine. As I’ve said so often, it’s (usually) cheaper and quicker to remodel than start from scratch.
These kei trucks are starting to get a bit more common here in Virginia. Just a few years ago, I hardly ever saw them, but now there’s a quite a few Honda Actys and others roaming around here.
This post got me stumbling down the rabbit hole of looking at old Honda kei trucks, and I came across this video, which is apparently the same truck as our featured truck here from Canberra (same ACT license plate). Video is from six years ago – truck has its grille, but not the Cheeky Little Truckers logo on it.
Bedford Bambi mini motorhomes used to be a fairly common sight out n about, tight on space it’s true but useable.