Latin American sightings

Another funky truck, this time from Colombia. TCC is the local equivalent of UPS, and like UPS they have their own customized trucks. I don't know if they sell their retired vehicles of not.

dhuff said:

I really like the Hiace. Great size / design. Wish they sold them new in the U.S., esp. with a diesel motor.

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It looks a lot like a Nissan NV350

KarlH said:

It looks a lot like a Nissan NV350

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It does... it's simply the most space efficient way to make a vehicle and it's also great offroad, since you can see where you are going! Trucks are getting more silly all the time with ridiculously tall and long hoods.

rruff said:

Trucks are getting more silly all the time with ridiculously tall and long hoods.

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And the weird thing is that they aren't getting a lot heavier (at least not the models I just checked). So it almost has to be styling or due to NHTSA regulations.

Style is the biggest driver for the pickups (king of the road, baby!), but crash regulations have killed the forward-cab vans.

Here's another one I saw in Tijuana last weekend:




I couldn't find a manufacturer badge, but it's obviously very new and has decent headroom, wide doors and good field-of-view from the cab.

I thought it might be electric because I didn't see any muffler. There's a door on the left side just below the window that could be either a fuel door or a charging port.

rruff said:

Style is the biggest driver for the pickups (king of the road, baby!), but crash regulations have killed the forward-cab vans.

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If the crash regulations have killed cab forward vans then why are class A motorhomes still being produced?

maki2 said:

If the crash regulations have killed cab forward vans then why are class A motorhomes still being produced?

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They don't crash test them... not required.

bebewanna said:

Lada Niva.... Small engine 4x4 jeep available in gas and diesel... Starts at just over $10k US
Made since 1977...Russia

There is an updated model for more but... I know about this because I lived in Eastern Europe... They are everywhere... Then a new one was 8k

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Probably pretty simple to keep it running too.

You can see a whole range of telatively inexpensive food trucks and camper vans on the “buy direct from China “ websites. Vehicles that the USA will not approve for importing.

dhuff said:

I really like the Hiace. Great size / design. Wish they sold them new in the U.S., esp. with a diesel motor.

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I drove one of those variants years ago overseas. Good design ( but I never had to work on it/ open the engine access). Ergonomicly it was likely for shorter folks just @6' max.
Visibility was very good, the A pillar wasn't overly thick, seating- comfortable enough, doors and latches simple and efficient. Exposed sheet metal, plastic panels judicially placed for some noise dampening, steering was very good and tight ( would perhaps get looser over the years).

A microbus driver I know liked the HiAce better than the NV350 because it's slightly wider inside, and didn't struggle as much on hills with a full load. (But she didn't remember exactly which engines they had, only that they were gas inline 4s, so it might not be a completely fair comparison.)

rruff said:

It's simply the most space efficient way to make a vehicle and it's also great offroad, since you can see where you are going!

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Stepvans are often pretty good in that regard also.

maki2 said:

You can see a whole range of telatively inexpensive food trucks and camper vans on the “buy direct from China “ websites. Vehicles that the USA will not approve for importing.

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There is so many cars, vans and trucks that are better way cheaper and more reliable everywhere BUT the USA....so that companies can rape consumers in USA