No party in ‘disaster year’ 2020? Certainly: the Daihatsu Hijet turns 60! Because we at Techzle do not miss a chance to talk about unusual, exotic cars, we will lift all versions on the stage for you.
Colleague Lars in particular is happy to use his position as editor of this beautiful website to inform Dutch car enthusiasts about models that are actually of no relevance in this country. The Japanese kei-car landscape in particular is a grateful and almost inexhaustible source for this.
However, the Daihatsu Hijet is by no means the most unknown from that playing field, because the mini-van was also delivered in the Netherlands. Yet we know for sure that the sixty-year history of this Daihatsu contains models that are completely unknown in the Netherlands. In the photo gallery above you will find all types in chronological order, always showing a regular ‘van’ and a pick-up.
That already started in November 1960, then the first Hijet (photos 1 and 2) was launched. With the model, Daihatsu, the oldest Japanese car brand, wants to combine the restrictions of the Japanese kei-car class with as much practical ease of use as possible. The car appeared as a small orderer and as a pick-up, a distribution that would also exist on all subsequent models. In fact, the Hijet was Daihatsu’s first four-wheel kei-car, which previously carried only tuk-tuk-style three-wheelers. The first Hijet was 2,990 mm long, with a significant portion of that length being consumed by a separate engine compartment. It contained a miniscule two-stroke two-cylinder with, yes, 17 hp.
The second generation (photos 3 and 4) was the first Hijet with the shape that would become so characteristic of the model. The hood had disappeared and the driver and passenger were now, as it were, on the motor. As a result, the regulatory length of 2,990mm fully benefited passengers or luggage and made the small Hijet even more practical. By the way, it was not faster: it stayed at 17 hp.
With generation 3 (photos 5 and 6) the Hijet gained power for the first time. A water-cooled two-stroke engine delivered 23 horsepower in this model, while the car itself was modernized all around for the year of introduction 1968. The distinctive front is mostly closed and contains two round headlights in a more or less square housing.
For generation 4 (photo 7 and 8) those headlights were optically fused to the windshield, for an even more special look. The car was prepped for the 1970s with a more spacious body, accessible through a large tailgate and a sliding door. As with the predecessor, a concept car with an electric powertrain appeared, but the production version just got a humming two-pitter.
In 1977, the year of launch of generation 5 (photo 9 and 10), the rules for the kei-car category were now somewhat broader than before. Literally, because the cars in this entry-level class were allowed to grow slightly. The Hijet grew with it, to a length of a still modest 3,195 mm. However, this edition of Daihatsu’s smart orderer is also wider than its predecessor, which, in combination with the permanently handy layout, once again resulted in more interior space.
A flat loading floor, an optional high roof, a larger tailgate and a real 4WD version were the highlights of the introduction of generation six in 1981 (photo 11, 12). On the outside, this edition is typical of a 1980s child, with round headlamps encased in a large plastic grille.
In this period, Japanese brands had a hand in coming up with successors at lightning speed. Daihatsu was certainly no exception and presented as early as 1986 a seventh generation of the Hijet (13 and 14). This is probably the best-known edition and also a car that has been extensively delivered in our country, where it proved to be a solution for, among other things, public parks services in tight inner cities. This generation of the Hijet also served as the basis for the Piaggio Porter, an Italian twin brother that is still for sale to this day. Yes, in the Netherlands too.
Piaggio Porter
The 8th, 9th and current 10th generation appeared consecutively in 1994, 1999 and 2004. At least that applies to the van with the name Hijet. However, something special is going on with the tenth generation. The closed-body Hijet got its own platform, which is no longer shared with the pick-up. The latter first appeared in a new form in 2014, which replaced the 1999 edition at the time.
Even so, Daihatsu seems to have less of a tendency to come up with new models at lightning speed these days. Of course, that does not mean that the Japanese are sitting still. On the contrary, the Hijet is regularly updated and has also received the necessary (bodywork) variants in recent years. There is the Atrai as a luxury passenger version and the eighth and ninth generations appeared as an unconventional ‘double deck’, a pick-up with a double cabin and a cargo box integrated into the body. For those who want to know: the most modern Hijets have a three-cylinder in-line engine that produces 50 hp and 63 Nm.