Simon White shot and posted a van at the Cohort that I was not familiar with, a Toyota Deliboy. These are a bit obscure, and there’s no English Wikipedia page on it, but there is a German one. Built between 1989 and 1995, it appears to have been something of a rare flop for Toyota, hence its relative rarity.
Simon White didn’t say where he found it, but I’m thinking maybe not in Japan, since it’s parked on the right side of the street. But I could be wrong. it certainly started out in Japan, given the signage.
The Deliboy badge is visible on the grille, in case you didn’t believe me. This van shared some mechanical components with the much more common Liteace KM30, but was of course designed specifically for delivery, with its sliding front door and tall roof. But apparently that door was a bit narrow, and made it difficult to get in and out. The driver’s seating position was also considered to be flawed. And it was a bit under-motorized with either a 70hp 1500cc gas four or 73hp 2000cc diesel four. In its last years a 90hp 2.2L turbo-diesel as well as automatic transmission was available too. But apparently low sales led to its fairly early demise.
To get a better idea of how this van looks close-up and from the rear, here’s a shot from that German Wikipedia page. It was helpful too, because the text said this was a FWD van, which seemed odd given it’s based on the RWD Hiace. The rear differential pumpkin visible in this shot confirms that. It pays to be suspicious.
Rare? Hell no these things are fairly common, there are several being beaten to death as cheap work vans hauling tools etc around here, the 2CT is the best engine option as it was the most powerful in the Liteace range the Deliboy is part of.
Toyota has an interestin commercial range I found my Corona wagon listed amongst it instead of in the passenger car range I assumed it belonged to, but no the stripped out wagon with a fridge and pwr steer was a delivery vehicle which may explain the super thin padding on the fold down rear seat, nobody was meant to ride there.
Agree it’s probably not in Japan as although you can find vehicles parked on the right, the license plate is nothing like the Japanese ones I have seen in my travels over there.
In white, it would just blend in with all the other vans so can’t say I have noticed any myself. Will need to pay more attention next time.
It’s a British license plate and the phone number links to the ad on the bonnet for RHA Vehicle Maintenance. Cool little van!
Sorry for not giving location, this van lives in Honiton England, land of clueless parking.
I wonder whether this was a kind of half-baked response to Nissan’s S-Cargo?
The S Cargo was smaller in comparison, and meant mostly for fun. This is a genuine delivery step-van. A commercial vehicle.
Yes, I remember seeing these here in Tokyo – not many around anymore.
The major package delivery service here in Japan, Kuroneko Yamato or “Black Cat” Transport now uses a Toyota Van especially made for the company. They’re everywhere…
All it needs is eyeballs in the windshield to be in a Pixar/CARS movie! (I mean it as a compliment)
Interesting spot and a step up from Delboy’s little van.
(Delboy was a British TV sitcom character, if you are interested. Personally, I never got the show that enough to watch it.)
It’s in the uk
In devon
It’s now for sale
New mot
And service
£3250
‘Numbers on the van