It’s always fun to look at the lighter side of global car culture. And if you can also show what is possible at the extreme end of the customizing spectrum, this often leads to unique feature cars. Or, in this case, a truck.
While JDM Where pickups are designed for transporting small loads across Japan. With a little out-of-the-box thinking they can be so much more. Back in 2014, Dino showed us a crazy build of Hello Special, based on the small Suzuki Carry platform. Let’s revisit that story for this week’s throwback post…
2014 Feature
In April 2014 I went to the Japanese countryside – or inaka – go hunting a wonderful example of a Shakotan S30 Fairlady Z owned by Oda-san. As exciting as the hunt for the S30 was, an equally compelling reason to be there was to investigate some rather colorful Where trucks I had seen a few months earlier at the Tokyo Auto Salon. If you know the more curious side of the Japanese custom car scene, ‘Hello Special’ might ring a bell. If not, what I’m about to show you will give you a pretty good insight into the extreme work of this habit. Where builder.
You now know how diverse Japanese car culture is. If there is a type of car, there will be a scene for it, and if there isn’t, sooner or later someone will make one. I think that’s how Hello Special came about. Oda-san saw the opportunity and seized it. And by this I mean he went all out and set up a tuning outfit that deals exclusively with Where trucks.
Yes cars and kNo vans (Where referring to a light class of vehicles with a limited physical size and a maximum engine of 660cc) are very popular because they are cheap to run and do not require a parking permit to show that you have space to park a car outside or close to you house to park. Yes Trucks, on the other hand, have always been the choice of Japanese farmers; Due to their small footprint they are particularly suitable for driving on narrow access roads around rice paddies or similar fields. And like everything with four wheels in Japan, they fall into the tuning trap! And that’s when Hello Special comes into the picture.
With this wild one WhereOda-san wanted to show what can be achieved at the end of the adaptation spectrum, and have some fun in the process – recognizing that most Where A truck owner may just want to add some costume items to personalize his pocket-sized pickup. To do this, he contacted an old friend whose shop is a 30-minute drive towards central Kyoto.
It seems like we’re mentioning Miura-san a lot lately, but the truth is that Rocket Bunny has been at the center of the JDM aero world for quite some time. The way it works has reduced design and production times to a fraction of what they once were, which in turn has made it more economically viable for small shops – like Hello Special – to produce their own lines of original aerodynamics, which is exactly what is what you see here. Oda-san calls this one the Naughty equipment.
Along with the one-piece front bumper, which features a series of integrated side vents and a bucktooth lower lip, Miura’s touch for the small Suzuki pickup included a series of factory-inspired fender flares. This was something Oda-san really wanted to go for as it would allow for a much more aggressive fitment when it came to the wheels.
To achieve the look he was going for, Oda-san fitted Hello Special’s original ’86’ wheels – a modern rim styled to emulate popular designs from the late 1970s and early 1980s. The 14×7-inch wheels are color-coordinated with the rest of that retina-piercing pink of the exterior and thin 155/55R14 Nankang Sport NS-II tires are stretched across them.
The Miura-designed aero has a deliberate continuity along the side of the truck, with side skirts setting the tone with outlined air intakes that mimic the other vents in the kit.
You just have to love the side intakes – very Ferrari Testarossa-esque!
A high rear bumper section gives the Carry a rear end you’ve never seen on the back of one Where truck – all integrated with a diffuser-like, grilled exhaust at the very bottom.
Ever seen one Where truck with bed spoiler? Well, now you have!
Oda-san has kept everything functional, so there isn’t a crazy amount of negative camber on display. The rear obviously has a solid rear axle, which makes the wheels nice and square – even though they are sporty. right amount of injection.
Apart from a Hello Special exhaust tip, which honestly doesn’t count, the engine remains stock as standard. The only real mechanical upgrade is the welded differential, which is created to transform the small farmer’s workhorse into a full-fledged drift truck! Okay, “full-fledged” might be a bit misleading, but when track conditions allow, drifting is exactly what Oda-san uses his pink pickup for. With literally no weight on the rear axle, narrow tires and a suitably aggressive clutch, the Suzuki Carry has no problem going all over the place. And with careful use of the throttle (read: pinning it to the ground) it can be held there.
Coolest of all has to be the bumper-mounted external oil cooler. How Hakosuka-like little Carry!
If you thought Oda-san had stuck with the exterior with the modifications, you’re completely wrong. The most popular parts Hello Special sells are interior accessories, and everything in the cab of these small trucks can be replaced and upgraded. He chose a few select details for his drift truck.
This also applies to the soft, padded steering wheel cover in pink camo and a silky soft carpet panel on the dashboard. What made it interesting to me is how some, if not all of these details are things you would normally see in the to the decor scene – another Japanese custom car subgenre that Mike briefly touched on 2013 examined.
Like the seats below, the headrests also received a pink camouflage treatment.
You’re looking at one of the most popular Hello Special items available: a heart-shaped one tsurikawa train handle strap – something we see all the time Kaido racers.
Here, Oda-san lifts the passenger seat to reveal the small three-cylinder 660cc KA6 engine that delivers the Carry’s approximately 50 horsepower to the rear wheels. Despite what the exterior dimensions of the truck might suggest, the position of the engine actually makes it a pretty easy-to-handle and neutral-steering little machine.
Because the cabin is literally above the front wheels, the front suspension turrets are actually in the legroom. That makes it very easy to quickly adjust the settings on the Hello Special adjustable coilovers!
Judging by the state of the rear Nankangs it looked like Oda-san had enjoyed an occasional slip, but I was reassured that this sort of thing is always done within the safety of a circuit.
I begged Oda-san for a little drift demonstration, but there was no way he could disturb the peace of the Japanese. inaka by throwing his truck sideways and bouncing the bike off the limiter. His neighbors would be far from impressed!
And so ended my time with one of the most unique cars of 2014 in the middle of the Kyoto countryside – little Carry’s natural habitat. I left happy to have met a man who turned a nice idea into a real business, catering and building cars that make people happy.
The Speedhunters
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Dino Dalle Carbonare
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dino@speedhunters.com