The beauty of car collect-athon video games like Gran Turismo and Forza Horizon is their ability to offer mere mortals like us the opportunity to get behind the wheel of some truly incredible vehicles. Realistically speaking, these games are the only way most of us will experience ultra-exclusive Ferraris or Lamborghinis, or even ill-fated concept cars like the Mazda Furai.
These games also have the penchant for including some really weird cars, including our auction find for today: the Daihatsu Midget II. This kei truck was something of a franchise regular in Gran Turismo for a time, showing up in almost every mainline entry from 1999’s Gran Turismo 2 up to 2013’s Gran Turismo 6.
To say that the Daihatsu Midget II looks “interesting” is an understatement. The cab has an odd wedge shape to it, with elements like the lights and wheels jutting out of the bodywork. And how could anyone miss the spare tire sitting on its nose? The squat stance and big headlamps all contribute to its frog-like character.
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Things get weirder when you look at the Midget II head-on. It becomes very clear that the cab offers just a single seat, placed towards the middle. It also has a four-speed manual transmission, with power sent to the rear wheels. Sporty? Hardly. This little kei truck is notorious not just for its looks, but also for its lack of power.
Its 659cc three-cylinder engine manages just 31hp—barely half the legal maximum of kei vehicles, and not even close to many crowd favorites available in the Gran Turismo franchise. The Yangwang U9 recently added to Gran Turismo 7 makes approximately 42 times the power, for example.
Around the back, the truck bed also looks awfully thin. That’s because the Daihatsu Midget II can carry up to just 150kg, just enough for the local neighborhood delivery duty it was designed for. Interestingly, though, its predecessor from the ’60s served as the basis for Thailand’s iconic tuk-tuks still plying the streets today.
As of writing, this 1996 Daihatsu Midget II is currently up for auction on Bring a Trailer with the current winning bid sitting at $2,500, or P153,400. It’s finished in black with silver hardware, and currently has around 95,000km on the odometer.
Bidding for this kei truck ends this Friday, January 26. Good buy or goodbye? For a running example of a Gran Turismo franchise oddity, the current bid seems like a fair deal. Let us know in the comments what you think.
