For many, when they think of the cars of the “fabulous Fifties”, images wild colours, acres of chrome, and fins that would make the Panavia Tornado jealous, are what spring immediately to mind. To them, I say “Bah!” That’s waaay to normal for here at the Lagoon. However, there were other parts of the world where the vehicles of that era were a lot simpler, and in some cases, not even cars!
One such place was Japan, where the three-wheeled truck established a solid following in the busy, developing era during the post-WWII reconstruction boom. Thanks to LS and Arii, we all can have a chance to experience these automotive oddities, at least in kit form! Check out my collection of 1/32 Arii Owner’s Club Three-Wheelers. It’s on the Scores and Collections Page, where else?
The Sprue Lagoon 
Hi Adam. Interesting to note that although the earliest of this type of vehicle design may have been the Piaggio Ape in Italy, the export to the rest of Asia of the Daihatsu Midget pictured is the apparently the origin of the tuk tuk, trishaw, Bajaj, call it what you will, the external appearance seemingly little changed to this day.
Yeah, I actually have a Matchbox of a TukTuk (of course I do…) and I noticed that it was almost a clone of the original Midget! I didn’t know about the Ape, I’ll have to check it out!