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Japanese Motorhomes

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 10:28 am
by philmeup1
Sup folks??

So after purchasing my first Delica back in September of 2012, I've become completely infatuated with this diesel Japanese market thing. So much so that I'm now interested in a Motorhome from Japan.

If you do a bit of searching on the net you can find some pretty cool examples. Not just converted Delies but small cab over trucks like Isuzu's or Toyota's with camperized bodies.

I'm just wondering if anyone on here has imported one of these things?? The more i look at them, the more I really want one. Where does the addiction stop?

Cheers

Re: Japanese Motorhomes

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 3:44 pm
by trialsmaster2
The guy that I got my Delica from sold an Isuzu turbo diesel 5-speed based Japanese motor a few years back. That thing was pretty cool. I believe the owner of it has put on a crap-load of KMs on it driving it quite literally all over North America.

I don't have any interior shots, but as I recall, it was just like a North American RV but at 3/4 scale :)

Image

Image

Re: Japanese Motorhomes

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 5:04 pm
by TardisDeli
Mitsubishi made a RV version of the delica but used the non turbocharged engine version , the deli front end body was slightly different then the L3oo body we know and love. The Cantor/Fuso would make a great expedition vehicle platform. Try'' expedition portal '''web site for kool and funky vehicles .Cheers Jay TardisDeli

Re: Japanese Motorhomes

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 10:57 pm
by glenn
Like this . . . it's going through the auctions now. 1998 - it's only a 2 though.

Re: Japanese Motorhomes

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 8:23 am
by philmeup1
Yeah, that last pic is what I've been looking at. Sorry I'm still kinda new to this. Do you mean 2 as in like 2 out of 5 stars??

I've been told they don't go that cheap at auction and when you get it here obviously the electrics woild have to be dealt with and possibly the propane as well.

Not sure if it's all that economical. But after owning several VW campers, I love the small footprint. Yet it would be huge inside compared to a VW.

We'll see what happens I guess...... A little more research is required.

Thank's for the input :)

Re: Japanese Motorhomes

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 9:34 am
by CREGAN
philmeup1 wrote:Yeah, that last pic is what I've been looking at. Sorry I'm still kinda new to this. Do you mean 2 as in like 2 out of 5 stars??
I am thinking he meant 2 wheel drive. There are definately some awesome campers out there. Have you ever thought about a Karmann Gypsy? I think they are oddly interesting. Keep us posted on what you find.

Craig

Re: Japanese Motorhomes

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 10:42 am
by glenn
Sorry for the lack of clarity - I actually meant a 2 C grade at the auction. The best delicas landing here are 4 with a B interior. A 2 is usually pretty rough. I think the grading system goes as high as 10 - but that would be a brand new car. I'm sure someone can correct me if I'm wrong about this. If you were buying from auction, your importer would be able to translate the auction sheet to glean more details about why it got such a low grade.

Silk road specializes in camper vans - they often have Hiaces and Delicas with pop tops, etc. Have you checked their inventory?

Re: Japanese Motorhomes

Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 6:36 am
by philmeup1
I already have an importer but I've looked at the silk road stuff just out of interest. There's a ton of cool stuff out there.

I've even looked at those Karman Gypseys. They're cool however, then tend to leak over time and if I'm not mistaken, the frame on the inside of the camper body was made of wood which usually rots :(

There's some cool stuff coming down the pipe right now including a camper on a Toyota truck body. That might just be the ticket. I'll keep you posted.

Cheers

Re: Japanese Motorhomes

Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 12:15 pm
by glenn
2013-01-10 > USS Tokyo > № 35180
You've probably seen this already if your looking. but. . . .

Re: Japanese Motorhomes

Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 1:08 pm
by psilosin
Super cool and super slow. 8-)

I have an 'ace truck and when loaded with a load similar in mass to what a camper conversion like the above would be it is slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow as a turtle. Like 30kmh on the Cohqihalla snow tunnel hill. But it will get you there with gas to spare. Tough as nails and almost everything is fixable with a 10mm wrench and a screwdriver.

Re: Japanese Motorhomes

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 8:16 pm
by philmeup1
That looks cool too. But I'm kind of down to an Isuzu Elf with an Outback Express camper on the rear. Man, 4 by 4 diesel with a 3 or 4 litre engine!!!! That's what I'm talking bout!! The interiors look totally practical with all the amenities, yet the overall size of the camper seems small. It's a shame there's nothing like this already here....

Ima bout to change all that. Well at least one anyway....

Re: Japanese Motorhomes

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 4:37 pm
by Tojo
ELF Camper up for auction, 1994

Re: Japanese Motorhomes

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 8:19 am
by philmeup1
Yeah, that tics off the boxes. Very cool. The ones I've been looking at have a bed over the drivers area. It doesn't look lith this one would. Still pretty awesome. And there seems to be quite a few of these over in Japan. Anyway I'm still looking:)

Re: Japanese Motorhomes

Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 7:30 pm
by Brad P.
Holy Crap!!!

I own the Isuzu Rodeo motor home in the first pictures. Where did you take those pictures?

If you travel much and like to camp then it's a no brainer. Do it! I've never regretted buying that thing. I've put about 45 000 km on it and taken it all over western north America. I've taken it to many rock climbing areas and waited out many storms in comfort.

I don't have many pictures with me right now but will try to post some later.

Finding this thread totally made my day!! thanks guys!

Brad

Re: Japanese Motorhomes

Posted: Wed May 15, 2013 12:18 pm
by trialsmaster2
That's awesome to put a username to that exact Isuzu camper, Brad. What a cool little camper that is! Glad to hear it's getting lots of use.

The back story is that the camper was rather expensive to ship from the lower mainland, because of its size, so the seller (our friend, Sean), had some time and decided instead to drive it back to Calgary instead. We drove our Delica down to the coast to meet up with Sean and then convoyed back as far as the Okanagan with him...he then carried on the rest of the way to Calgary the following day. Those particular photos were taken along Highway 1 through the Fraser Canyon. (Here is the album that those photos were from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/trialsmast ... 792332606/)

Aaron
Brad P. wrote:Holy Crap!!!

I own the Isuzu Rodeo motor home in the first pictures. Where did you take those pictures?

If you travel much and like to camp then it's a no brainer. Do it! I've never regretted buying that thing. I've put about 45 000 km on it and taken it all over western north America. I've taken it to many rock climbing areas and waited out many storms in comfort.

I don't have many pictures with me right now but will try to post some later.

Finding this thread totally made my day!! thanks guys!

Brad