Little Japanese Vans, Big American Style

Written By: Phil Floraday

Filed Under: Aftermarket/Tuners, All News, Design, Economy Cars, Etc., Japan, Minivans, Small-Volume/Coachbuilt, Winding Road Features December 3rd, 2007 11:20 AM

It’s a sunny fall afternoon, and two classic American vans sit parked in a marina, surrounded by rows of gleaming white powerboats. The two vans, one green, one orange, look to be in fine condition, almost like new. Flying from one of them is a small U.S. flag. Their proud owners stand close by.

An idyllic enough scene and nothing too much out of the ordinary, you might think. Except this happens to be Japan, and the vans are not American at all. Yes, and take a close look at how big they are.

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15 Comments

Sammy B December 3rd, 2007 11:28 AM Link

AWESOME! Thanks for posting this

Reilly December 3rd, 2007 2:18 PM Link

I wonder what GM, Ford, and Dodge (Chrysler) think about this.

dante December 3rd, 2007 2:20 PM Link

Those are great! I like the exaggerated western-inspired dash on one of them and that old Dodge is the best. Maybe if I ever make a Chevy pickup look like a scaled-up ’80’s Toyota, I’ll make the dash top a giant hentai squid with the tentacles stretching across to cover the gauges and I’ll only drive around with Japanese women in school girl dresses.

VII December 3rd, 2007 4:06 PM Link

USDM Tight!! LOL

Brock December 3rd, 2007 7:39 PM Link

Hey, why stop with just the vans? They could do a whole ’70’s thing with little scaled-down Cordoba’s, Gran Torino Elite’s and Grands Prix on Honda Beat chassis! Give me a Firemist Green XR-7 with tan vinyl roof,fake trunk tie-down straps and a quad speaker 8-track.

BuildAndSucceed December 4th, 2007 7:06 AM Link

Wow, those are awesome!

YokohamaGaijin December 4th, 2007 7:07 AM Link

I work about 2 blocks from a business called “Deez Crew”. They take american vans (from any era, basically anything the customer wants) and then customizes it. They’re quite funny.

http://www.deezcrew.com/

PittyTheFool December 4th, 2007 10:12 AM Link

I was expecting to the a version of the A-Team van.

r3tr0.net December 4th, 2007 12:21 PM Link

[…] Japanese are at it again… this time, they’re taking their wee vans and making them look like American conversion vans. Actually, I kinda like […]

Daily Links | Akkam's Razor December 4th, 2007 1:25 PM Link

[…] Little Japanese Vans, Big American Style Respect the (mini) van. (tags: auto minivan japan US car culture) […]

The Anti-Boredom Team » The first Anti-Boredom Team linkdump December 13th, 2007 11:23 PM Link

[…] Vans from Japan: Tiny versions of classic American vans made in Japan. […]

Winding Road » Archive » Question of the Day: Who Has the Best Forbidden Fruit? December 15th, 2007 5:00 PM Link

[…] going to have to decide which continent has the best forbidden fruit. We’re not sure if the Japanese domestic market trumps the European-only selection, so you’re going to have to help us sort this one out. Let us […]

Question of the Day: Who Has the Best Forbidden Fruit? - Winding Road December 15th, 2007 5:23 PM Link

Home on the Road: Designers Create Mobile Living Space - Winding Road December 16th, 2007 4:24 PM Link

[…] what little we can glean, a pair of designers (Belgian if the website is any indication) has retrofitted this Mercedes-Benz commercial truck into […]

Terra 2 Imports April 22nd, 2008 5:06 AM Link

You can import VIP style vans and cars like these from Japan to Canada for cheap:
http://www.terra2imports.ca/ab-listings.php?model=vip

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