Upper Middle Petrol Head:

Who'd have thought it?  Not one but two examples of the  Prince of Utes, the  Suzuki Mighty Boy    (please also see: https://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au/search?q=mighty+boy ).  Thanks to the T as r anian   Connection for this pic. U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au) Smart phone image.

Might-ee Boy!  Australia’s favourite Kei car?   Almost certainly.  Mine, anyway.     This one, resplendent in radiant yellow, was spotted in West Hobart, Tasmania.  It’s been nicely modded with a magnificent set of 13” JDM rims that have been cleverly colour coded to match the car’s grille badge and tie into its custom rego plates.  It’s also running nifty LED headlights and has a raptor-coated rear tub.  For those not in the know, the Mighty Boy is powered - if that’s quite the right term - by a 543 cc, three cylinder engine, matched to a four- or five-speed manual transmission or a two-speed sludge ‘box. That third option sounds a bit dire; in performance terms, it seems unlikely to be particularly inspiring to drive, even if the whole shebang only weighs in at a minuscule 550 kg.    But that was never the point.  In busy, congested Japanese cities, they were a useful delivery vehicle, whereas in Australia it’s probably fair to sa...

To be brutally honest, the Suzuki Mighty Boy wasn't all that mighty.  It had a tiny little motor and a tray that would barely fit a Chihuahua, let alone a proper dog (and what else are utes for, if not to cart your faithful hound around in?).  So why are they so darned cool?   This one, photographed in inner-city Hobart, certainly captured local architect Mark Drury's eye.  It must be a design thing. U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) An iPhone image. 

  Thinking about Kei trucks, which you probably weren’t, here’s another one!   This time, it’s a nifty  Daihatsu photographed at picturesque Beechworth in Victoria’s High Country. It’s clearly a working vehicle, based on its commercial livery.  However, whoever owns it has had a bit of fun setting it up with an array of roof-mounted LED driving lights, some very butch roof racks and a set of off-road rims and tyres.  It looks just like a real truck.  But tiny! And that other example of Kei that got you all in the mood for some miniature Japanese machinery?   How’s this for a cool little ute:   https://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com/2026/04/random-338-1986-suzuki-mighty-boy.html ? Did you enjoy this post?  If so, why not browse the rest of the uppermiddlepetrolhead site?  There are loads and loads of classic, sports and performance vehicles featured, as well as stacks of car shows and motorsports events.  Even better, you ca...

Be under zero doubt that this car - an Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2 , photographed in the pits after a day of Netier Capital Rally action in the forests around Canberra - is an absolute icon of world rallying and was more exciting to see stationary, with its engine switched off, than all the newer cars in the event combined!  In fact, I'd venture to say that just being permitted to gaze upon the S1 was at least as big a thrill than witnessing any number of late model factory teams' entries in full-noise competition mode!  (Okay, then -  n e a r l y   as big a thrill!) Why?  Because, unlike today's production vehicle-based competion cars, the S1 was developed purely to win Group B rallies.  It was loosely based on a road-going Quattro (Audi-speak for all-wheel-drive) and was even sold in limited numbers to meet homologation rules, but it was really just made to shred gravel and trounce its opposition!  It fulfilled its brief admirably! The mighty, mighty Mk...