For some reason the Japanese Kei class of cars has been accepted into retro circles long before any arbitrary date cut off may 'confirm' it as being retro. Perhaps it is the retro styling that is often applied, or the general niche-ness of the cars being similar to driving a retro car, or perhaps it is just the coolness of the cars in general.
I was doing my usual dig through my Japanese magazines the other day trying to spot web addresses or any information that may lead to new discoveries when I spotted the term K4GP in a feature about a crazy cool Suzuki Fronte. I set out on a hunt for more information immediately
For those that don't know Kei class cars are a special class of cars in Japan for cars that are usually around 600cc, they have strict limits on size as well which make them ideal commuter cars, for more information see their Wikipedia entry
The K4 GP is a series of races run in Japan for Kei class cars, some of these are endurance races over 24 hours, or distance races, like the 1000Km ones. Classes seem to be structured that seperate race style cars and more road style cars. There seems to be a range of engine sizes too as there seems to be at least one Ford Ka racing, which has to be at least 1000cc. Some of the machinery is seriously modified, the Suzuki Fronte I was reading about had a center mounted seating position and seemed to be pretty much space framed!
The cars that compete are a mix of what you would consider traditional Kei cars, Daihatsu Mira, Suzuki Cappuccino and the like, as well as special race style Kei cars, which seem to be miniature copies of much larger vehicles. Interestingly there also seems to be a strong contingent of older small European machinery, including Minis and Hillman Imps.
I still haven't found any pictures of the original Suzuki Fronte, but I found the website of the car's sponsor which also happened to be a great place to find more pictures and reports. In usual Japanese website style finding this information can mean a fair amount of random clicking, although their Report page is pretty easy to navigate.
I also found this excellent gallery which is where the photos for this entry have come from.
Many Americans want low cost, fuel efficient cars.
Kei cars are a special class of cars in Japan. They are limited to an engine size of 660cc and have vehicle size, but not weight, restrictions. They are made by many different Japanese car companies and they are mature designs that are reliable, and get up to 60 mpg. They can cost less than $10,000.
If these cars were converted to hybrids, they might get 100 mpg.
However, they can't be driven in the U.S. because they can't meet U.S. crash test requirements.
I believe that adding my crumple box invention to a Kei car will allow it to pass U.S. safety requirements. Then it could be driven in the U.S.
Some American auto companies have ties to Kei car manufacture. They could make these cars.
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Kei Cars into U.S.
by: shopa (Gast) on 28-10-2008 20:35