2003 Suzuki Transrover

I love micro trucks! Why aren't we privy to these here? All of the major Japanese automakers offered "kei" cars in their domestic market. A couple of small vans were officially imported to North America, but I'm pretty sure we missed out on the micro pickup trucks, which are awfully well-built, fuel-efficient, and practical. Oh, and cute. But therein lies the problem. Try to win over the F-150 crowd with a cute pickup.

What I haven't seen before is a Suzuki variety, almost identical looking to what Honda and Toyota put out.

Although there are no badges I can make out on the vehicle, it appears to be an eighth generation Suzuki Carry, produced from 1985-1991, although the seller calls this a 2003 "Transrover" (which sounds cool at least). The year could very well be true, as these were sold under a variety of nameplates for a long time. They also say it is from the Philippines, so production could still be going on there. The Carry also hold the notability of being the only car in history to be sold as a Chevrolet and Ford at one point.

The seller says it has only 28,561 kilometers which is only about 17k miles. They say everything works great, and they are just getting rid of it because it was used in a scrap yard and they don't want to ruin it. It most likely has a small three or four-cylinder engine under the hood powering the rear wheels.

Unfortunately, having bought the vehicle in the Philippines and never used it on the road, the seller seems to have never registered it and do not have a title. But they have "all the papers from the Republic of the Philippines." Who knows what that means. But if you check with your DMV and see how they process vehicles that seemingly weren't properly imported, you may have an opening. Otherwise, this will only be good for use on your own private scrap yard lot.

See? It may be cute, but it was used for tough work after all.

Available here on ebay in Lebanon, Oregon with no bidders and a Buy-It-Now of $3,550.