Japanoid K-Cars

Mitsubishi Minica Toppo.Nissan Pao.

Nissan Figaro.Nissan S-Cargo.

Gizmodo reported it a while ago, but a Canadian company called Japanoid is importing these and other tiny Japanese cars. How tiny? At or under 1.5 meters (under 5 feet!) wide with engines 660CC or under. They’re called Kei Jidousha, or Keicars, or just K-cars (though not to be confused with Chrysler’s K-Cars). Japanoid has 12 vehicles listed, but my favorites are those four above and this funny looking truck.

The deal is, however, that Canadian law only allows imports of 15-year-old vehicles. There are other restrictions, of course, and all of it is made a little more ridiculous by the fact that the cars are right-side-drive. But at 50 miles per gallon, perhaps some exceptions can be made. But don’t expect US law to make any exceptions. US law only allows import of 25-year-old vehicles, even if they might help ease our fuel crisis.

US drivers might want to look at the SMART, available in the US soon.