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Daihatsu Hijet

Also known as ダイハツ・ハイゼット, L35 and L36, Hijet Cab, Hijet 55 Wide, Daihatsu 550 Cab and 850 Cab (export)

In 1960 Daihatsu’s best seller was a three-wheeled truck whose driver sat astride the engine. Its first four-wheeled kei vehicle was meant to be a step higher, and named for it: the Hijet. Sixty years on, the name is still being sold.

Pale green small bonneted estate van with a chrome grille and red seats on a grey show floor.
A pale green first-generation Daihatsu Hijet light van at the Daihatsu 60th-anniversary display, Osaka Auto Messe, Japan, in February 2022.Photo: Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

The spec plate

Daihatsu Hijet

L35 to S80 · Ikeda

Built
1960–From November 1960, and still built
Country
JapanDaihatsu Motor Co., Ikeda, Osaka
Maker
Daihatsu Motor Co.A Toyota subsidiary since 1998
Engine
356 cc to 660 cc, twins and triplesAir-cooled two-stroke in the L35 of 1960; water-cooled from 1968; a 547 cc four-stroke from 1976–⁠77; three cylinders from 1986; 660 cc from 1990
Power
17 to 30 PS17 PS at 5,000 rpm in the L35 of 1960; 28 PS in the 55 Wide of 1977; 30 PS in 1986
Length
2,990 mm1,290 mm wide, 1,420 mm high
Weight
540 kgThe L35 truck of 1960
Seats
2More in vans with rear seats
Wheels
4A bonnet and the engine in front at first; from 1964 the engine under the seats of a cab-over
Production
about 7.4 millionSold in Japan by November 2020, every generation
Top speed
75km/h75 km/h

How big is it?

True proportion

2.99 m

It is 20 mm longer than a Fiat 500, about 1.7 adults laid end to end.

  • 1.29 m wide
  • 540 kg: about seven adults
  • A payload of 350 kg in 1960
  • 3,195 mm long from 1977
Drawn at true proportion. The track is 3.6 metres long; the adult stands at the same scale. The Peel P50 is the smallest production car, on every page for comparison.

The story

History

Daihatsu, founded in 1907, led Japan’s market for three-wheeled trucks, and its Daihatsu Midget of 1957 was a great hit with small shopkeepers. Four wheels promised more stability and comfort than sitting astride a three-wheeler’s engine.1 The name Hijet was coined to suggest more performance than the Midget’s; its likeness to Toyota’s HiAce and Hilux is a coincidence, for the name is two decades older than Toyota’s control of Daihatsu.2 The Hijet truck went on sale in November 1960, Daihatsu’s first four-wheeled kei vehicle, built within the 360 cc rules for kei cars.213 The JSAE lists it as landmark 3-17 of Japanese automotive technology, one of the vehicles that moved Japan’s small loads from three wheels to four.4

The L35 looked like a small pick-up, with a bonnet and its engine in front, ahead of the driver.24 That engine was a 356 cc air-cooled two-stroke twin of 17 PS, with three synchromesh gears; the truck was 2,990 mm (118 in) long, weighed 540 kg (1,190 lb), carried 350 kg (772 lb), and its top speed was 75 km/h (47 mph).4 A light van followed in 1961, which Daihatsu sold as a new family car linking business and leisure.1 In 1962 the Hijet introduced Daihatsu’s Oil-Matic, a separate lubrication system for two-strokes that Daihatsu claims as a world first, developed from the L35’s own, and it spread widely.14

The motoring journalist Hideaki Kataoka remembers his family’s first-generation light van delivering meat and ham.1

ハイゼットは荷物をたくさん積んでも力強い走りを見せたのが印象に残っています。

Hideaki Kataoka, writing for Daihatsu’s 60th-anniversary history of the Hijet, about 2020. In English: “What stays with me is how strongly the Hijet drove even when loaded right up.”1

Cab-over

Buyers wanted a full-length load bed, so in April 1964 Daihatsu added the Hijet Cab, with the engine under the seat to make the most of both bed and cab.213 Kataoka’s family moved on to one and were astonished at how much it held.1 The Cab Van of 1965 had 21 PS and, with two aboard, carried 300 kg in the largest load space of its class.1 In May 1968 came a water-cooled two-stroke of 23 PS, a wider cab and, on the van, independent suspension for a ride like a car’s.213 Electric Hijets were built too, and at the Osaka Expo of 1970 electric sightseeing vehicles ran on Hijet van chassis.1

By September 1971 more than 500,000 had been sold, and a new rounded Hijet arrived, with yellow as its colour.1 In February 1972 its van became the Hijet Slide Van, the first micro van of the kei class with sliding doors: one on each side and a top-hinged tailgate, five doors in all, round the largest load area in its class.213

550 cc and after

New kei rules let the trucks grow in 1976. Daihatsu fitted a four-stroke 550 cc engine, and in April 1977 brought out the wider Hijet 55 Wide, or “Go-Go” Wide, with a low-emission 547 cc twin of 28 PS and about 20 per cent more load space in the van; the 55 Wide measured 3,195 mm (126 in).213 The two-millionth Hijet, built in 1980, was one of them.2 The next generation of 1981 brought the Atrai passenger version and a high-roof van whose rear door opened right up to the roof, a first in Japan; four-wheel drive and a farm model, the Climber, followed in 1982, and the long-cabbed Jumbo in 1983.21 In 1986 came a three-cylinder engine, in 1987 a supercharger, and in 1990 the 660 cc rules.21

Abroad the Hijet was assembled in Indonesia, China and South Korea, and in Italy Piaggio built it as the Porter (see built under licence).21 At home it kept changing. In 1999 the van went semi-cab-over with a Giugiaro design, while the truck stayed a full cab-over; in 2010 the Hijet truck took first place in its market back from the Suzuki Carry after 39 years; and from 2012 Subaru’s Subaru Sambar has been a Hijet with Subaru badges, as is Toyota’s Pixis.1352 It is Japan’s oldest kei model name still in use.143

A small bonneted pick-up with a canvas cover and lettering on its door parked on a street, people with umbrellas behind.
Plate I · c. 1961–⁠64 A first-generation L35 with a canvas tilt in a street in Ishinomaki, Japan, in the early 1960s.Photo: Yasuhiko Ito, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Pale blue small cab-over pick-up with round headlamps and a ‘Hijet’ script on its nose.
The Hijet Cab of 1964, the first cab-over Hijet, at Daihatsu’s 60th-anniversary display in Osaka in 2022.Photo: Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Side view of a yellow small van with sliding windows, a wall of brochures behind.
A fourth-generation S38V van, of the generation that brought the Slide Van, in a museum in Japan in 2025.Photo: Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Pictures

More photographs, old and new

The car 7

  • Pale blue small bonneted pick-up with a chrome grille between a blue three-wheeler and a cream pick-up. Opens a larger view

    1 A pale blue 1963 Daihatsu L35 Hijet pick-up at the Motorcar Museum of Japan, Komatsu, Japan, in November 2023.

  • Cream small bonneted pick-up with a chrome grille and round headlamps beside a pale blue one. Opens a larger view

    2 A cream 1964 Daihatsu L35 Hijet pick-up at the Motorcar Museum of Japan, Komatsu, Japan, in November 2023.

  • Pale blue small bonneted pick-up with a chrome grille and red seats among other small vehicles. Opens a larger view

    3 A pale blue Daihatsu Hijet L35 pick-up, 19-64, at the Motorcar Museum of Japan, Komatsu, Japan, in October 2009.

  • White small cab-over pick-up with square headlamps and red seats beside a ‘3rd generation’ sign. Opens a larger view

    4 A white third-generation Daihatsu Hijet S37P truck with red seats at Osaka Auto Messe, Japan, in February 2022.

  • Rear of a cream small estate van with whitewall tyres on turf behind white posts and chains. Opens a larger view

    5 A cream 1963 Daihatsu Hijet Light Van with whitewall tyres from the rear three-quarter at the Toyota Automobile Museum Classic Car Festival, Japan, in April 2025.

  • Rear of a pale green small estate van with a side-hinged tailgate and a Hijet badge. Opens a larger view

    6 A pale green first-generation Daihatsu Hijet light van from the rear three-quarter at Osaka Auto Messe, Japan, in February 2022.

  • Cream small bonneted estate van with a chrome grille on artificial turf, visitors behind a rope. Opens a larger view

    7 A cream 1963 Daihatsu Hijet Light Van at the Toyota Automobile Museum Classic Car Festival, Japan, in April 2025.

The car: 55 Wide 4

  • Cream small cab-over van with a chrome bull bar parked on a street, people walking past. Opens a larger view

    8 A cream 1979 Daihatsu 55 Wide van with a bull bar on a street in Sydney, Australia, in January 2014.

  • Red small windowless van with a white roof rack parked outside a supermarket. Opens a larger view

    9 A red 1982 Daihatsu 55 Wide Cargo van with a roof rack in Chile in May 2012.

  • Faded blue small cab-over pick-up with a tall rack on its bed standing in a weedy yard. Opens a larger view

    10 A blue 1977–⁠78 Daihatsu Hijet 55 Wide truck decaying in a yard on Corfu, Greece, in August 2004.

  • Cream small cab-over pick-up with square headlamps and a ‘55 Wide’ plate on a grey show floor. Opens a larger view

    11 A cream Daihatsu Hijet 55 Wide S60P truck at Osaka Auto Messe, Japan, in February 2022.

The car: Hijet Cab 5

  • Pale blue small cab-over truck with a canvas tilt and round headlamps beside other small cars. Opens a larger view

    12 A pale blue Daihatsu Hijet Cab S35 truck with a canvas tilt at the Motorcar Museum of Japan, Komatsu, Japan, in May 2010.

  • Pale blue small cab-over pick-up inside a low barrier on a speckled stone floor. Opens a larger view

    13 A pale blue Daihatsu Hijet Cab S35P truck on a museum floor in Japan in March 2025.

  • Pale blue small cab-over van with round headlamps and a ‘Hijet Cab’ script in a car park. Opens a larger view

    14 A pale blue Daihatsu Hijet Cab van at a classic car meeting in Japan in November 2015.

  • Rear of a pale blue small pick-up with a wooden-floored dropside bed inside a low barrier. Opens a larger view

    15 A pale blue Daihatsu Hijet Cab S35P truck showing its dropside bed in a museum in Japan in March 2025.

  • Rear of a pale blue small van with a tailgate and a Japanese script badge in a car park. Opens a larger view

    16 A pale blue Daihatsu Hijet Cab van from the rear three-quarter at a classic car meeting in Japan in November 2015.

The car: S38 5

  • White small cab-over pick-up with black-wall tyres and a yellow plate in a car park. Opens a larger view

    17 A white Daihatsu Hijet S38P truck of 1974–⁠79 at a classic car meeting in Japan in April 2026.

  • White small cab-over pick-up with a yellow plate in a car park, a green pick-up behind. Opens a larger view

    18 A white fourth-generation Daihatsu Hijet S38P truck at the Just My Taste meeting, Tarui, Gifu, Japan, in April 2024.

  • Yellow small cab-over van with round headlamps and a black grille on a grey floor. Opens a larger view

    19 A yellow fourth-generation Daihatsu Hijet S38V van in a museum in Japan in March 2025.

  • Rear of a white small pick-up with a guard frame behind the cab and a yellow plate. Opens a larger view

    20 A white Daihatsu Hijet S38P truck of 1974–⁠79 from the rear three-quarter at a classic car meeting in Japan in April 2026.

  • Front of a yellow small cab-over van with round headlamps and a black grille on a show floor. Opens a larger view

    21 A yellow fourth-generation Daihatsu Hijet S38V van head-on at Osaka Auto Messe, Japan, in February 2022.

Inside and details 4

  • Inside a small van: tan vinyl seats, a thin steering wheel and a simple dashboard. Opens a larger view

    22 The cab of a fourth-generation Daihatsu Hijet S38V van, with tan seats and a steering wheel, in a museum in Japan in March 2025.

  • Close view of a cream van nose with a chrome ‘55 Wide’ badge, a headlamp and a bull bar. Opens a larger view

    23 The ‘Daihatsu 55 Wide’ badge on the nose of a cream 1979 van in Sydney, Australia, in January 2014.

  • Close view of a shield-shaped red and chrome badge on a chrome slatted grille. Opens a larger view

    24 The red and chrome Daihatsu badge on the grille of a first-generation Daihatsu Hijet light van at Osaka Auto Messe, Japan, in February 2022.

  • Rusty blue small cab-over pick-up with white paper decorations on its bonnet outside a shop. Opens a larger view

    25 A rusty blue Daihatsu Hijet S40P Super Deluxe truck decorated for a festival in Yamagata, Gifu, Japan, in October 2022.

Variants and relatives 5

  • Brown and white small cab-over minibus with red wheels parked on red brick paving. Opens a larger view

    26 A brown and white 1981 Daihatsu 55 Wide minibus on the market place in Uetersen, Germany, in July 2011.

  • Red small high-roof van parked on a sunny street under trees. Opens a larger view

    27 A red 1981 Daihatsu 55 Wide high-roof van in Chile in April 2009.

  • Blue small cab-over pick-up with orange-painted stake sides outside a supermarket. Opens a larger view

    28 A blue 1983 Daihatsu 850 Cab pick-up, the export Hijet, with wooden stake sides in Chile in May 2011.

  • Red small cab-over pick-up with a longer cab and a brochure on the windscreen in a hall. Opens a larger view

    29 A red 1983 Daihatsu Hijet Jumbo truck with its extended cab at an indoor event in Japan in May 2026.

  • Red small cab-over truck with a decorated canopy over its bed on a town street. Opens a larger view

    30 A red Daihatsu Hijet S38 converted to a songthaew share taxi in Hat Yai, Thailand, in February 2011.

Picture credits (30)
  1. 1 先従隗始, CC0
  2. 2 先従隗始, CC0
  3. 3 Kzaral, CC BY 2.0
  4. 4 Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC BY-SA 4.0
  5. 5 TTTNIS, CC0
  6. 6 Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC BY-SA 4.0
  7. 7 TTTNIS, CC0
  8. 8 Jeremy, CC BY 2.0
  9. 9 RL GNZLZ, CC BY-SA 2.0
  10. 10 Mr.choppers, CC BY-SA 3.0
  11. 11 Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC BY-SA 4.0
  12. 12 Yones, Public domain
  13. 13 Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC0
  14. 14 Ypy31, CC0
  15. 15 Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC0
  16. 16 Ypy31, CC0
  17. 17 TTTNIS, CC0
  18. 18 先従隗始, CC0
  19. 19 Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC0
  20. 20 TTTNIS, CC0
  21. 21 Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC BY-SA 4.0
  22. 22 Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC0
  23. 23 Jeremy, CC BY 2.0
  24. 24 Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC BY-SA 4.0
  25. 25 先従隗始, CC0
  26. 26 Huhu Uet, CC BY 3.0
  27. 27 order_242, CC BY-SA 2.0
  28. 28 order_242, CC BY-SA 2.0
  29. 29 TTTNIS, CC0
  30. 30 grolli77 (Marcus), CC BY-SA 2.0

Variants

The 360 cc and 550 cc years

The Hijet to 1990, by Daihatsu’s own numbering of its generations
VariantYearsWhat differsHow many
L35 truck, L36 light vanFrom November 1960A bonnet, the engine in front; 356 cc air-cooled two-stroke, 17 PSNot found
Hijet Cab (S35, S36)April 1964–⁠1968Cab-over, the engine under the seat; the Cab Van of 1965 with 21 PSNot found
S37May 1968–⁠1971Water-cooled two-stroke, 23 PS; independent suspension on the vanNot found
S38 and the Slide VanSeptember 1971–⁠1981A rounded body, 26 PS; in 1972 the first kei van with sliding doorsNot found
Hijet 55 Wide (S60)April 1977–⁠1981The wider body of the new kei rules; 547 cc four-stroke twin, 28 PSThe two-millionth Hijet, in 1980, was one
S65 and S661981–⁠86The Atrai passenger van; four-wheel drive and the farm Climber from 1982; the Jumbo cab from 1983Not found
S80 and S81May 1986–⁠1994A three-cylinder engine; 660 cc from 1990Not found

Specification

The L35 truck of 1960, from the JSAE’s landmark record unless noted

Engine and drive

EngineAir-cooled in-line two-stroke twin, in front; Schnürle loop scavenging, piston ports, a Solex carburettor4
Capacity356 cc (62 × 59 mm)4
Power17 PS at 5,000 rpm214Torque 2.8 kgm at 3,000 rpm by Daihatsu
GearboxThree forward speeds with synchromesh, one reverse4
DriveRear wheels24

Chassis

FrameLadder frame4
Front suspensionWishbones, independent4
Rear suspensionSemi-elliptic leaf springs and oil dampers4
SteeringRecirculating ball4
BrakesHydraulic drums4
Tyres4.50-124

Dimensions

Length2,990 mm4
Width1,290 mm4
Height1,420 mm41,465 mm in Daihatsu’s data, probably for the van
Wheelbase1,940 mm4
Weight540 kg4

Performance and running

Top speed75 km/h24
Consumption25 km per litre (4 litres per 100 km), claimed4
Fuel tank20 litres, petrol and oil mixed4
Payload350 kg4

How many were built?

Every figure, with its source

About 7.4 million sold in Japan by 2020English Wikipedia and Best Car Web agree on about 7.4 million Hijets sold in Japan, every generation, by November 2020. No count by generation has been found, and no total for the 360 cc and 550 cc years alone.

  1. about 7.74 millioncumulative production, in a report printed as “77.4 million”, which we read as a slipUnconfirmed

    Car Watch, 2 November 20203

  2. about 7.4 millionsold in Japan, 1960 to November 2020Two sources agree

    English Wikipedia; Best Car Web, read through a summary, agrees25

  3. 2,000,000the two-millionth Hijet, an S60, built in 1980One source

    English Wikipedia2

  4. over 500,000sold by the new model of September 1971One source

    Daihatsu’s 60th-anniversary history1

  • Two sources agreetwo good sources give the figure
  • One sourcea good source, alone
  • Unconfirmeda lead only, not yet checked

Famous for

Three points

  1. The oldest name

    Japan’s oldest kei model name still in use, on sale since November 1960.

  2. Oil-Matic

    Separate two-stroke lubrication from 1962, which Daihatsu claims as a world first.

  3. Sliding doors

    The Slide Van of 1972 was the first kei van with sliding side doors.

Survivors and collecting

Today

No survivor count of the early models has been found, nor a club, nor a notable sale; in 2020 about 2.2 million Hijets of all generations were in use in Japan.35 Daihatsu keeps the L35’s drawings and papers at Ikeda.4 Every generation of the Hijet has been photographed lined up at Osaka Auto Messe in 2022, and first-generation trucks have been photographed at the Motorcar Museum of Japan in Komatsu.

A row of small vans and trucks on a grey stand beside a red carpet, a pale green estate van nearest.
Every generation of the Hijet lined up at Daihatsu’s 60th-anniversary display, Osaka Auto Messe, in February 2022.Photo: Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources

Numbered as in the text

The first Hijet is documented by the Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan and Daihatsu’s own anniversary history; later details come from that history, English Wikipedia and two Japanese news reports. No period road test has been found. Sources are given as plain text; the links are on the Credits page.

  1. Daihatsu Motor Co., ハイゼット60周年 (Hijet 60th anniversary), the history by generation with specifications and an essay by Hideaki Kataoka, read in full.
  2. English Wikipedia, Daihatsu Hijet, read in a plain-text copy through the seventh generation.
  3. Car Watch (Impress), news report on the Hijet’s 60th anniversary, 2 November 2020, read in full.
  4. Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan, 日本の自動車技術330選 (330 landmarks of Japanese automotive technology), no. 3-17, ダイハツハイゼットL-35 (1960), read in full. It cites Jidōsha Gijutsu vol. 15 no. 3 (1961), pp. 139–141.
  5. Best Car Web, 「ダイハツ ハイゼット60周年 軽トラの王者は何が凄いのか」, 2020, read through a summary.