Photo: eBay User: tigabd-71
Van life, glamping, and off-the-grid living are just a few names attributed to people who leave their lives of rent payments and urban decay to live the life of a nomad. But for all the fancy Tik-Tok videos and blog posts you might see, living in an RV does have one or two issues. First and foremost is finding a place that can comfortably accommodate your camper, which is not always an easy thing when a Cracker Barrel parking lot serves as your impromptu RV campground.
You may very well run into this problem if your camper van is on the larger side. But if you own this 1996 Toyota HiAce camper conversion, chances are good you'd fit into just about any parking space in America without too much fuss. Though not quite kei car levels of tiny, the HiAce represents a style of cargo van that almost looks alien compared to the Ford Econolines and Transits we've become used to in North America. With a lineage that dates back to the late 1960s, the model also has a fair amount of heritage behind it.
This particular 1996 HiAce for sale out of Moreno Valley, California, near San Bernadino, is fresh from the Port of Los Angeles. Its trip from Japan was paid for by its current owner, who utilized the NHTSA's 25 year rule to lawfully import this camper to the States without having to pass its stringent safety and emissions guidelines. Now safely on US soil, we find that this HiAce's “Bambee” camper extension takes a timeless, albeit large and unwieldy form factor and compresses it into something you'd consider parallel parking without thinking twice about it.
Such is the way Japanese cars tend to be, as their roads are typically so narrow that even an American light truck like a Ford Maverick or a Hyundai Santa Cruz looks like an F-350 Super Duty on a lift kit. With a 2.8-liter Toyota L-series four-cylinder engine under the cab, chances are good this HiAce is more efficient than the Sprinter vans that are routinely the darling child of every startup camper conversion company these days. Then again, your average modern Sprinter van's cabin is probably better equipped.
Only taking the front cab into account and the hard interior plastics with city bus-spec blue cloth seats leave a lot to be desired. The right-hand drive layout isn't great either in most situations. But as for the rear camper area, it's a totally different story. With lovely polished wood walls and nicely-tailored red cloth seats to match the surprisingly spacious bedding and kitchen area, it's hard to say you won't get a lot for the $20,000 starting price this truck is going for on auction.
This particular 1996 HiAce for sale out of Moreno Valley, California, near San Bernadino, is fresh from the Port of Los Angeles. Its trip from Japan was paid for by its current owner, who utilized the NHTSA's 25 year rule to lawfully import this camper to the States without having to pass its stringent safety and emissions guidelines. Now safely on US soil, we find that this HiAce's “Bambee” camper extension takes a timeless, albeit large and unwieldy form factor and compresses it into something you'd consider parallel parking without thinking twice about it.
Such is the way Japanese cars tend to be, as their roads are typically so narrow that even an American light truck like a Ford Maverick or a Hyundai Santa Cruz looks like an F-350 Super Duty on a lift kit. With a 2.8-liter Toyota L-series four-cylinder engine under the cab, chances are good this HiAce is more efficient than the Sprinter vans that are routinely the darling child of every startup camper conversion company these days. Then again, your average modern Sprinter van's cabin is probably better equipped.
Only taking the front cab into account and the hard interior plastics with city bus-spec blue cloth seats leave a lot to be desired. The right-hand drive layout isn't great either in most situations. But as for the rear camper area, it's a totally different story. With lovely polished wood walls and nicely-tailored red cloth seats to match the surprisingly spacious bedding and kitchen area, it's hard to say you won't get a lot for the $20,000 starting price this truck is going for on auction.
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