>Out of interest, what superior Japanese large vans are out there? I'm
>curious to know.

Toyota Hiace (best van of all)
Nissan Homy/Caravan/Urvan
Isuzu Fargo
Mazda Bongo (also sold as Ford Econovan/Spectron)
Mitsubishi Delica/L300

All were/are available in 4WD and diesel. The Hiace & Nissan are the
only ones available in 3 wheelbases; they and the Mazda are the only
ones still made as cabover designs; the others are out of production
(Isuzu) or have been replaced by uselessly compromised wierd-looking
front-engined "semivans" of the same name (Delica). The Bongo remains
a facelifted version of the vehicle introduced in about 1984 or so;
the current Hiace was released in 1989 and still looks great; the
current Nissan replaced the ugly 1984 model only about 4 years ago,
having run for the equivalent of 2 generations of Hiace (Nissan was
in dire straits & probably could not afford to introduce a new model
in 1989, and this is probably Mazda's problem also). The small &
large Nissan vans always look suspiciously similar to the equivalent
Toyotas, but lack the Toyotas' well-integrated style.

All are less wide than the Vanagon, but lack the engine hump in the
rear and of course have tailgates opening to floor-level all have
top-hinged gates except for a rare split-tailgate Hiace variant; the
Hiace & Nissan I think are wider than the others. Some are available
with small rear wheels (double or wide), and this varioant has a
completely flat floor with no wheel humps. Hiace & Nissan are
available in high-roof, with of course a high tailgate. They are also
available in ultraluxury versions, though these are usually SWB. The
current LH100-series Hiace is available with 2.0 & 2.4 EFI gas
engines, 2.4 turbodiesel, 2.8 diesel & 3.0 EFI turbodiesel. There is
a front-engined Toyota "Hiace" Regulus, which is about the only such
van I can stand the looks of; its rear and side styling is closely
based on that of the upmarket real Hiace, and I suppose it was
introduced (about 1993) for those in Japan who wanted the
front-engined option in a large Toyota. I haven't seen a basic one,
nor any wheelbase other than short. I suspect that it is wider than a
real Hiace.

Here, and I think in Australia too, the Hiace far outnumbers any
other large van model (small vans are dominated by the Toyota
Liteace).

I had a long-wheelbase 2.4 diesel 5-speed floorshift 86 LH66 Hiace
for a while; it was dual-range parttime 4WD with dual sliding doors.
I eventually sold it because it needed expensive rust work to be made
legal (it was not really very rusty; we have crazy rust laws here).

A few weeks ago I bought an extralong-wheelbase high-roof
single-slider 2.2 diesel 83  LH60 Hiace (same basic body type as the
87) 5-speed column-shift which has been retrofitted with the later
2.4 2L engine replacing the original 2.2 1L. I took this on a
365km-each-way trip to christchurch on a very windy day to collect a
Corolla liftback for parts. I was surprised that the van barely
feltythe wind despite its long sides and high roof... the LONG
wheelbase must be a big help there. Despite being a big heavy van
pushed by a normally-aspirated 2.4 diesel four, it cruised very well,
and towed that Corolla happily at up to 120kmh, even doing some
overtaking.

I have images of some Japanese vans if anyone is interested.

The T4 & T5 VW vansare compromised by VW unreliability and also the
design... a long nose means a short cargobay, as well as a strong
tendency to understeer. Want the space? Well, then you have to have a
LONG vehicle to equal the floor-length of a SWB Hiace. The Frod
Trans*it and various Mercedes share this shortcoming.
--
Andrew Grebneff
Dunedin
New Zealand
Fossil preparator
<andrew.grebneff@stonebow.otago.ac.nz>
Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut