5 Of The Best Japanese Kei Trucks You Can Buy

The Honda Acty is a massively popular Kei truck and a great place to begin discussing this unique class of vehicles. The Acty was introduced to the Japanese market in 1977 to replace the TN Series that came before it. The first generation Acty sold incredibly well, and Honda didn’t substantially change the bones of the vehicle until the second generation was unveiled more than ten years later in 1988. 

By 1990, the truck had incorporated the same, larger engine that many other Kei trucks utilized. In Honda’s case, the Acty was gifted a new E07A three-cylinder, 656cc engine. The 1990 changes also brought an optional three-speed automatic transmission into the vehicle and a radio to make the drive a little more enjoyable. The round headlights of the 1980s models also left the front of the truck — something that many drivers would rather Honda kept on the Acty.

The Acty is a no-nonsense Kei truck built for reliability rather than comfort. Air conditioning or power steering were options, not standard. Acty models place the engine behind the cabin in a mid-engine configuration and utilize a rear-wheel drive layout. The vehicle is durable and reliable but almost certainly lacks some amenities that modern drivers take for granted in their everyday automobiles.

[Featured image by Kuha455405 via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 3.0]