So as I was on my way home, I was on an old country road that I use to live on. I saw a Cushmen three wheeled car, and then something VERY odd.. I saw a minivan, but 3x smaller than an actual minivan, it had 4 doors, and looked like it was from the late 90s or early 2000s. I am very confused on what I saw, and is there a company that makes mini-mini vans? No I didn't have time to get pictures.
You may have seen a Kei Van, also known as a Microvan. Essentially a scaled-down minivan equipped with a motorcycle engine, these vehicles (made by several different manufacturers) are designed simultaneously to squeeze along crowded city streets in Japan, while also skirting some of the regulations and taxation of a full-size cars. Like any other vehicle, they can be freely imported into the USA once they reach 25 years of age, although they may not be registerable in some states, and are forbidden from freeways. Cab-over designs are more prevalent than the minivan-type. The popular Subaru Sambar (arguably the single most important vehicle in the entire archetype) retained its cabover design right up until 2012. Note also that these vans are typically built on the same platform as a matching pickup truck - these things are essentially the next step up from three-wheelers like the Pigeon. As for which specific vehicle you saw, I'm at a loss to tell you without further details. I encourage you to examine pictures of as many common and historic Kei Vans as you can find - these are actually kind of interesting. Now about that Cushman ... I saw a Cushman Truckster recently. Red with Flames. I didn't think of it at the time, but I'd essentially seen a doorless Pigeon!
These look VERY similar to what I saw, I'll go back to where I saw the car and post pictures tomorrow.
