4 Japanese Pickups You’ve Never Heard Of!

Описание: 4 Japanese Pickups You’ve Never Heard Of!

You have heard of Toyota and Nissan pickups, but have you ever heard of the Honda T360? Or the Prince Miler? What about the Hino Briska or the oddly named Kurogane Baby? These pickups may not be famous today, but each one tells a forgotten story about Japan’s early auto industry.

In the early 1960s, Honda shocked the world—not with a sports car, but with a tiny pickup called the Honda T360. It was Honda’s first production vehicle and packed a motorcycle-style engine that revved to 8,500 revolutions per minute. This tiny truck followed Japan’s kei regulations and even came in versions like a snow crawler for icy roads. It might have looked small, but it was a major step for a company trying to prove it could build more than just bikes.

Meanwhile, Prince Motor Company, which would later become part of Nissan, had its own workhorse called the Prince Miler. This truck began production in 1957 and went through several upgrades—more horsepower, more payload, and even a "Super Miler" edition with a 1.9-liter engine. It came in light and heavy-duty forms, and after the Prince-Nissan merger in 1966, the Miler quietly became a part of Nissan’s commercial truck lineup. Though it vanished by 1970, it had already served Japan’s rebuilding economy well.

Then there was Hino Motors, better known today for its buses and big trucks. But back in the early 1960s, Hino tried something smaller: the Hino Briska. Based on the Hino Contessa and originally powered by an engine developed with help from Renault, this pickup was practical and featured Japan’s first three-person bench seat in a compact truck. After Hino was absorbed by Toyota, the Briska evolved briefly into the Toyota Briska, before being replaced by the now-famous Toyota Hilux.

And finally, the Kurogane Baby—a name that sounds playful but carried real importance. Built from 1959 to 1961 by Tokyu Kogyo Kurogane, the Baby was Japan’s first forward-control kei truck. It had a two-stroke engine under the floor and was designed with help from engineers at Ohta Motors. It was small, slow, and kind of looked like a breadbox on wheels, but it helped set the template for many future micro trucks in Japan.

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