1997 Daihatsu Hi-Jet Is Series#BUC25926

1997 Daihatsu Hi-Jet Is Series, came to us straight out of the Japanese domestic market. Drive on this Hi-Jet Is Series is four-wheel drive. We have 10 pictures of this Hi-Jet Is Series here, all of the actual vehicle.

Specifics for this Hi-Jet Is Series

Odometer at listing is 54059. The source recorded no unit alongside that figure, so 54059 is reproduced exactly as stored rather than converted.

Background: the Hi-Jet Is Series

Daihatsu sold the Hijet in an unusually wide spread of factory body styles — flatbed, PTO dump, panel van, canvas top, the extended-cab Jumbo from 1983 and the four-seat Deck Van from 1988 — because Japanese buyers specified them for particular trades. Four-wheel-drive Hijets were aimed at farm and forestry work, which is where the sub-transmission low range and the differential locks in this family come from. The Hijet has been in continuous production since November 1960, which makes it the oldest surviving kei nameplate — and in 2021 it took a Good Design Long Life Design Award, a first for Daihatsu. The Hijet was built to be maintained by its owner rather than by a dealer: the seats tip forward, the engine is right there, and the service points are deliberately obvious.

Hi-Jet Is Series: engine and drivetrain

Gearbox on this Hi-Jet Is Series is a 5-speed gearbox, driving four-wheel drive.

Ownership and import of this Hi-Jet Is Series

Farms, vineyards, ranches, grounds crews and building sites are where Hi-Jet Is Seriess end up in the US, for the same reasons they ended up there in Japan — Japanese sources describe the kei truck as a necessity for moving tools, crops and catch. Built in 1997, this Hi-Jet Is Series is 29 years old and clears the 25-year threshold at which imported vehicles are exempt from US federal motor vehicle safety standards conformity. It is listed at $7,500.