Kei car, refers to the Japanese vehicle category for the smallest highway-legal passenger cars, with restricted dimensions and engine capacity. Similar Japanese categories exist for microvans and kei trucks. These vehicles are most often the Japanese equivalent of the European Union's A-segment "city cars".
The Mitsubishi Galant is an automobile which was produced by Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi from 1969 until 2012. The model name was derived from the French word galant, meaning "chivalrous". There have been nine distinct generations with total cumulative sales exceeding five million units. It began as a compact sedan, but over the course of its life evolved into a mid-size car. Initial production was based in Japan, but from 1994 the American market was served by vehicles assembled at the former Diamond-Star Motors (DSM) facility in Normal, Illinois.
The Mazda Carol is a kei car manufactured by Mazda from 1962 until 1970. The Carol name was revived again with Mazda's 1989 re-entry into the kei car class with the Autozam brand. Since 1989, the Carol has been a rebadged model manufactured by Suzuki for Mazda, based on the Japanese Suzuki Alto. The first two generations of the modern era Carols received unique bodywork, but since late 1998 the nameplate has been strictly a badging exercise.
The Subaru Rex, also known as Ace, Viki, Sherpa, 500/600/700, Mini Jumbo, Mini Subaru or M60/M70/M80 in various export markets, is a kei class automobile produced from 1972 to 1992 mainly for sale in Japan by Subaru, although it was also sold in Europe, South America, Australia and the Caribbean. The Rex superseded the R-2 as Subaru's kei car, and has been available in commercial use versions as well as in a passenger car version. It underwent major changes in 1976, in fall 1981, and again in late 1986. The second generation Rex (1981–1986) also formed the basis for the larger Subaru Justy.
The Mitsubishi Colt is a nameplate from Mitsubishi Motors that has been applied to a number of automobiles since 1962. It was first introduced with a series of kei and subcompact cars in the 1960s, and then for the export version of the subcompact Mirage between 1978 and 2002. Chrysler, Mitsubishi's longtime partner, also used the name when applying its long-running practice of rebadging Mitsubishi vehicles as the Dodge and Plymouth Colt captive imports for the North American market between 1970 and 1994.
The Daihatsu Fellow Max is a small Japanese automobile in the Kei car class. Originally introduced as the Daihatsu Fellow, the name was partially retained for its successor, the Max Cuore (1977), and then revived in 2000 for the Daihatsu Max.
The Mitsubishi Minica is a kei car produced by Mitsubishi Motors mainly for the Japanese domestic market from 1962 to 2011. It was first built by Shin Mitsubishi Heavy-Industries, one of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' three regional automotive companies until they were merged in 1964, and as such predates MMC itself. In Japan, it was sold at a specific retail chain called Galant Shop. In 2007 and 2011, the car was replaced with the Mitsubishi eK and the Mitsubishi i.
The Honda Z is a two-door hatchback kei car/city car manufactured and marketed by the Honda Motor Company, from 1970 until 1974. Exports mostly ended after 1972, when the domestic market models received redesigned pillarless bodywork.
The Mitsubishi Chariot is an automobile manufactured and marketed by Mitsubishi from 1983 to 2003. It is a small multi-purpose vehicle (MPV). Based on the SSW concept car first exhibited at the 23rd Tokyo Motor Show in 1979, the MPV derives its nameplate from chariots used by the ancient Greek and Roman empires.
The Suzuki Fronte is an automobile that was first introduced in March 1962 as a sedan version of the Suzulight Van. The nameplate remained in use for Suzuki's Kei car sedans as well as some commercial-use derivatives until it was replaced by the Alto name in September 1988. The word "fronte" alludes to the fact that the car is front-wheel-drive, although during the years when the Fronte was rear-engined, rear-wheel-drive, Suzuki stated that it referred to the car being at the front of the Kei class.
The Mitsubishi Colt Galant GTO was first shown as the Galant GTX-1 showcar at the 1969 Tokyo Motor Show. Sales began in November 1970, when it was the flagship hardtop variant of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries's then-new Colt Galant sedan. The nameplate was revived in 1990 for the Mitsubishi GTO, although this name was only used in the Japanese domestic market.
The Mitsubishi Minicab is a kei truck and microvan, built and sold in Japan by Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors since 1966. In Japan, it was sold at a specific retail chain called Galant Shop. It was also sold by China Motor Corporation (CMC) in Taiwan as the CMC Veryca, starting in 1985. A battery electric model of the Minicab, called the Minicab MiEV, is sold in the Japanese market since December 2011.
The Mitsubishi Toppo is a light recreational vehicle (RV) produced by Mitsubishi Motors from 1990 until 2004 and then from 2008 until 2013. The original version was derived from their Minica kei car. The name is a portmanteau of the English "top" (roof) and the Japanese "noppo" (lanky).
The Suzuki Carry is a kei truck produced by the Japanese automaker Suzuki. The microvan version was originally called the Carry van until 1982 when the passenger van versions were renamed as the Suzuki Every. In Japan, the Carry and Every are kei cars but the Suzuki Every Plus, the bigger version of Every, had a longer bonnet for safety purposes and a larger 1.3-liter 86-hp (63 kW) four-cylinder engine. They have been sold under myriad different names in several countries, including those with Chevrolet and Ford badges.
The Mitsubishi Galant Coupé FTO is a rear-wheel drive coupe produced by Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors from November 1971 to March 1975. "FTO" was meant to stand for Fresco Turismo Omologato, in a fine example of Japanese Italian. The compact Coupé FTO can be seen as the replacement for the earlier Mitsubishi Colt 11-F Super Sports.
The Mitsubishi Colt 600 is a five-seat, two-door passenger sedan produced by Shin Mitsubishi Heavy-Industries, Ltd - one of the companies which would become Mitsubishi Motors. It was rear-engined and rear wheel drive, powered by an air-cooled 594 cc twin-cylinder OHV engine producing 25 PS (18 kW), and debuted in July 1962 as the successor to the company's Mitsubishi 500 Super Deluxe. The 600 was the first Mitsubishi to bear the "Colt" name. Top speed was 100 km/h (62 mph).
The Mitsubishi Colt 800 is the first of a series of passenger cars with a fastback/hatchback design produced by Mitsubishi Motors from November 1965. It was introduced as a two-door fastback sedan, the first such design in the Japanese market. The series was discontinued in 1971, after the introduction of the company's Galant sedan but without a real replacement.
The Mitsubishi Colt (A20) was one of their first series of passenger cars produced by Shin Mitsubishi Heavy-Industries, Ltd, one of the companies which would become Mitsubishi Motors. Built from 1963 until 1970, they were available in four body styles and on two different wheelbases, with gradually increasing engine displacements 1000, 1100, 1200, and 1500. After a May 1968 facelift, they were marketed as the "New Colt". Along with the smaller, fastback Colts they formed the mainstay of Mitsubishi's passenger car lineup in the 1960s. With the late 1969 introduction of the new, larger Colt Galant, the outmoded Colt-series soon faded away, eventually replaced by the smaller Mitsubishi Lancer as well. The dimensions were kept small so as to provide Japanese buyers the ability to purchase a car that complied with the Japanese Government compact car dimension regulations and to keep the annual road tax obligation affordable.
The Suzuki Fronte 800 is a subcompact car with a two-stroke engine built by the Suzuki Motor Corporation in the latter half of the 1960s.
The Mitsubishi Lancer (A70) is the first generation version of Mitsubishi's long-running Lancer nameplate. When introduced in 1973, it filled the gap between the Minica kei car and the considerably larger Galant. It was a replacement for the Colt 1200, last sold in 1970. Although sedan production ended in 1979, vans continued on until 1985. This Lancer also formed the basis for the Lancer Celeste sports coupé of 1975 through to 1981. These Lancers were sold under a multitude of names in different markets.
