Mitsubishi Minicab for Sale

Generations and codes

The Minicab began in 1966 with the LT30 truck and LT31 van. The two generations that matter for anything importable now are the fifth — U41, U42, U43 and U44, from 1991 to 1999 — and the sixth, U61, U62, U68 and U69, from 1999 to 2014. Both are front-engined, with rear- or four-wheel drive, four- and five-speed manual gearboxes and a three-speed automatic.

The 3G83, and the four-cylinder oddity

The truck engine is the 657 cc 3G83 three-cylinder, offered in six-valve, twelve-valve and turbocharged forms across both generations. The fifth-generation van and the Bravo could also be specified with the 659 cc 4A30 — a sixteen-valve DOHC four-cylinder, which is an unusual thing to find inside a kei-class engine bay and one of the reasons people go looking for a Minicab specifically.

How it compares

Against the Carry and Hijet, the Minicab of these years is a front-engine design rather than a front mid-engine one. Against the Sambar it is conventional where the Subaru is not. Against the Acty it swaps Honda's mid-mounted engine for a more orthodox layout.

The badge history is worth knowing. Nissan sold the U71 Clipper as a rebadged Minicab from 2003 to 2013. Then on 27 February 2014 the Minicab became a rebadged Suzuki Carry, and from March 2015 the van a rebadged Every. Everything under this heading predates that switch.

What is in stock, and what to check

80 Minicab, 1990–2007: 52 recorded four-wheel drive, 74 manual, 5 automatic. Trucks, tipping dumps and a few vans, and a number of the dump listings note a limited-slip differential.

Confirm from the listing whether a given vehicle has the three-cylinder or, on van bodies, the four; they are not the same parts proposition. Then the usual: bed floor, frame, cab corners, and — where a differential lock or LSD is claimed — that it works. Check with your own state before you buy — registration requirements for imports are not the same everywhere. Ask us if you want a hand.