Enjoy your kei-truck with an overlander
“GARAGE ILL” is well-known for its kits that transform your car into a nostalgic 80s “eyebrows” face by simply bolting onto Daihatsu’s current “Hijet”. This time, GARAGE ILL has come up with a new style that is sure to cause a stir in the light truck industry. It was an Overlander equipped with a roof-top tent with an outstanding wild mood.
Exclusive roll cage and rooftop tent
The camping population has increased significantly in proportion to the recent boom in the outdoors. Auto camping, including car-based overnight stays, is particularly popular. This wave has also swept into the light truck industry, where attractive customization and remodeling are now heating up, and a new culture of enjoying outdoor-oriented light truck fun has been born, centered on trucks.
GARAGE ILL, which promotes retro taste as fashionable customization, proposed system-up parts to enjoy the outdoors more by adding an extra dimension to the very popular Daihatsu 500 series “Hijet Truck” & Jumbo style face kit. The style was the Overland model, which is currently attracting attention as a popular outdoor remake.
The advantage of an overland vehicle based on a kei-truck is that it can be used for work, play, or any other purpose with just one vehicle. The kei-truck also reduces maintenance costs and makes it easier to find a good place to park. The camper is a highly functional model that can be used daily and is very cost-effective to run.
AMW has introduced a variety of light truck remakes, but this is the first time we have introduced this style. The roof-top camper style proposed by GARAGE ILL is sure to create a stir in the light truck industry as a new style of auto-camping, including its cool looks.
Camper Style Popular in the U.S. and Australia
GARAGE ILL’s kei-truck camper overlander style is characterized by its roof-top tent style, in which the tent is mounted on top of a special roll bar. This style of camping is popular in the U.S. and Australia, the home of auto camping, because it makes it easy to enjoy full-fledged auto camping.
GARAGE ILL’s release of the roof-top tent began when Mr. Matsuura, the president of GARAGE ILL, met Mr. Wade Kawasaki, SEO of SEMA (Society of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers of America), at the “Custom Show Emirates” held in Dubai.
What are the advantages of a rooftop tent?
SEMA is one of the world’s largest after-sales parts trade shows with a history of more than 50 years in the U.S. As the organizer of SEMA, he is very sensitive to trends and knows all about the latest trends. After being introduced to the American boom in rooftop tents by Mr. Kawasaki, the company acquired a license as an authorized distributor for the American manufacturer Tuff Stuff and began selling the product in Japan.
The combination of the retro-mood 500 Series Hijet truck and Tuff Staff’s Overland Series soft-shell rooftop tent is an excellent match. The tent material is coated with a waterproof polyurethane coating, and a rainfly with the same coating is layered over it, so there are no problems even in the rain. 4 windows let the breeze in, so you can enjoy the view from the rooftop while relaxing inside the tent.
Roof-top tents are easy to set up and carry, and there is no need to load and unload. Roof-top tents are also more secure than ground-level tents, as a ladder is required to gain access to the tent.
The tent can accommodate up to five people (with a load capacity of approximately 362 kg) and can be attached to any type of vehicle as long as the vehicle is strong enough to withstand the combined weight of the tent and its 70 kg main body. Garage ILL developed an original roll cage carrier with a load capacity of nearly 500 kg to be installed on a Hijet truck. This enables the attachment of a roof-top tent while maintaining the cargo space which is the greatest advantage of a light truck.
translated by DeepL