In the U.S., Ford’s Transit Connect seems a bit small for a delivery and utility van, but as always seems to be the case, the Japanese have gone considerably smaller and have done so more than a quarter-century before anyone stateside. The kei vans have always occupied the city streets of Tokyo and Osaka since the 1970s, but Nissan went a small step bigger with their Japan-only Nissan S-Cargo in 1989. Thanks to the NHTSA’s 25-year import laws, however, Japanese Classics has imported this one for sale right now.
The S-Cargo was both a stylistic and name tribute to Citroen’s 2CV—the French basic transport that was also offered as a panel van—and Nissan introduced the retro-styled mini-minivan in 1989. With an 84-horsepower 1.5-liter S15S engine, the S-Cargo was also unlikely to go much quicker than at a snail’s pace when fully laden, though with a 2,100-pound curb weight, it wouldn’t be the slowest vehicle in Japan by a long way.
This one looks clean with 154,000 km (or 95,000 miles) on it and the interior is as spartan as possible: centrally mounted gauge cluster, a couple of plain-looking front seats, a foldable rear seat, and not much else. Nissan offered the S-Cargo with an optional bubble window in the rear, but the original owner did not check that box on the order sheet.
The unapologetically retro styling also borrows the happy eyes of the Austin Healey Bugeye (or Frogeye, across the pond), though the grille lacks the Cheshire Cat grin of the old Healey. This S-Cargo just looks content to exist and if you want a small delivery vehicle that stands out in a crowd, you could do worse than this little Japanese van.
S-Cargo?
That’s French for snail – and this thing looks like it would leave a trail of slime behind it. Unless you slotted a red-hot 3 rotor Mazda rotary under the hood…