Mitsuoka’s Toyota RAV4-turned-1980s Chevy truck is sold out until 2023

Vintage trucks and SUVs, as well as their follow-ups, have been in hot demand at this time, and crossovers rule the world’s sales charts. So few is going to be surprised to learn that Mitsuoka’s quirky Buddy is sold out until 2023. Unveiled in November 2021, it blends styling cues reminiscent of 40-year old Chevrolet models with the efficiency and reliability expected from the new Toyota.

It’s not entirely popularity that led to the Buddy selling out. Mitsuoka has never dabbled in volume, and also the Buddy isn't any exception. It will only build 50 units of the Buddy in 2021, according to Motor1, and it will manufacture 150 more in 2022. There’s not sure yet on how many it will make in 2023. These numbers will be a rounding error if we were talking about the conventional RAV4 (about 448,000 units were bought from America alone in 2021), but the Buddy is much more than a Toyota crossover with extra bling.

Stylists forged an improbable visual outcomes of Toyota’s hot-selling people-mover and your grandpa’s farm truck with the addition of a shiny grille, two-piece rectangular headlights, and boxier sheet metal ahead of the windshield. Toyota genes seep through the Buddy’s middle section, but the tail receives vertical lights – that are puzzlingly Cadillac-like – a hatch in the shape of a truck’s tailgate and much more chrome. Dog dish hubcaps can be found, too. 

Instead of the 350 small-block, buyers obtain a choice of factory Toyota powertrains. The bottom powertrain is a 2.0-liter four-cylinder with a rating of 171 horsepower or perhaps a 2.5-liter four-cylinder hybrid making 219 horsepower.

Pricing for that Buddy starts at 4,697,000 yen for that non-electrified model and 5,899,300 yen for the hybrid, figures that represent approximately $45,000 and $56,500, respectively. It’s about $19,000 more expensive than the usual base RAV4 around the Japanese market. With this thought, selling 200 units in a matter of days is definitely an impressive feat. We’ll have to admire it from afar, however, because nothing suggests it’s America-bound. As a trade-off, there are still thousands of real 1980s Blazers and Suburbans awaiting a new lease on life nationwide.