Hot Wheels: Local Businesses Discover Joys of Tiny Trucks

Above, Camford principal Brad Chaffee and Jack Daddario of Daddario Hardware and their respective microtrucks.

They aren't for everyone, but a number of area businesses have skipped the next trade-up to an over-size, V-8 pickup and instead opted for a lightly used microtruck from Japan. Why? They are fun to drive (but NOT on the Interstate!), economical (40+mpg), useful, and above all, great attention-getters for business signage, according to both Brad Chaffee of Camford Property Group, and Jack Daddario of Daddario Hardware.

And, it turns out, several importers have taken advantage of loopholes on importing older vehicles that allow the tiny trucks to be registered and driven on US roads.

In the post-World War II period European and Japanese companies both pioneered in building tiny trucks, though the Japanese had the most success and staying power, making the type the most common kind of truck in the world, according to Chaffee.

Jack says even his wife Carol has developed an affection for the vehicle: It has become their preferred mode of travel when heading out for a summer ice cream cone...