Personalized and Driven: May’s Customer Spotlight
Car meets aren’t the only place where you can show off your kei vehicle as the weather gets warmer. We release a monthly customer spotlight series that highlights our community’s creativity and passion for custom kei trucks and vans. For May, we’ll be looking at Cameron’s 1994 Daihatsu Hijet S100P (shop Hijet S100 parts and accessories), which he’s been driving since he was 16, and Tony’s 1992 Honda Acty Street HH4 van (shop Acty Street HH4 parts and accessories) a model he knew was special from his very first drive.
Cameron’s 1994 Daihatsu Hijet S100P Truck
Cameron purchased his rear-wheel drive 1994 Daihatsu Hijet through a motorcycle trade, and his work spent cleaning it up has clearly paid off.
He told Oiwa Garage: “I was 16 when I first bought it [1994 Hijet]. It was 1 of [my] 2 cars, but I mainly drove the Daihatsu. I had purchased most of the tune-up kits for this truck [from Oiwa] to make sure it was running well. The Daihatsu Hijet was an impressive platform, even after owning many others [kei trucks]. Driving this kei truck has just made me feel more free and happy. It’s fun, cheap, and gets all the attention.”
Seeing kei trucks online via platforms like social media inspired Cameron’s desire to be the first in his town to own one. This enthusiast provided Oiwa Garage with pictures of his Hijet decorated in Christmas lights. After decking out his vehicle with lights, Cameron went to a neighborhood with a couch in the back and handed out candy canes to nearby families.
Cameron added: “People are always surprised to see the gas miles it [1994 Hijet] gets, and they are shocked at how good a daily it is. Of course, we had to call my truck the DaiGyatsu. If someone were to buy a Kei truck, I’d honestly say to go test drive all of them and buy it used with a little maintenance done to it!”
Tony’s 1992 Honda Acty Street HH4 Van
Transitioning to the van side of our May customer spotlight, we’re featuring Tony’s 1992 Honda Acty HH4 van. Tony decided to buy his Acty van in April after a deal he never thought would come to fruition became available.
He explained: “I wasn’t even looking for it [1992 Acty van] in the first place. An ad just dropped in front of me on Facebook marketplace while I was looking for something else, since I had in the past searched for mini trucks, mostly for fun. But the more I looked at it and thought about it, the more it aligned with future goals I had in mind. So I decided to ask the guy, named Jonathan, to meet up and look at it. I was third in line. However, the 2 people in front of me: one couldn’t make it all the way from Florida to pick it up. And the second guy was a no-show.”
After going over every inch of the Acty with Jonathan, Tony had accepted an offer he couldn’t refuse before driving to the nearest DMV for a plate. It was during this trip that Tony realized how special his new vehicle was.
Tony told Oiwa Garage: “People constantly slowed down to drive next to me, take pictures, throw signs, smile, and wave. People were hard braking as they passed me to slow down and take a good look at the Van and me. There was one trucker who was flabbergasted by this thing, passing it on a highway, especially when he noticed that I was in the driver’s seat on the ‘wrong’ side. That trip told me that I had a very special car, and that I really needed to take care of it.”
When asked what surprises people most about his kei van, Tony said the vehicle’s bed space and its right-hand-drive configuration, which doesn’t reverse the pedal order. However, he noted that he sometimes forgets how the positions of his Acty’s wiper and turn signal handles are switched when transitioning back into his other car, and vice versa.
Tony has carried his previous experience working on a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee XJ into his Acty ownership service routine, which mitigates the difficulty surrounding wiring-related tasks like adding or upgrading the lights. What convinced Tony to purchase Oiwa Garage parts was the comprehensive nature of available kit bundles, especially of the tune-up variety. He added: “What both project cars have taught me is to never rush a job and always be patient.”
Plans for Tony’s Acty include making it into a daily driver and solar-powered storefront for his start-up business. which will sell 3D print models, along with die-cast racing for meet-ups and festivals. He also wants to install external lights, repaint, and get a roof rack. Tony has already made an extended passenger seat/bed for his dog to ride up front.
(Photo above by Ty Swaringen)
