'What Is That Thing?' Tiny Trucks Are Causing Big Fights. [View all]

In the land of big trucks, a tiny pickup is stealing drivers’ hearts. Now owners of the little haulers from Japan say they’re being driven off the road.

Kei trucks are smaller than a Volkswagen Beetle and powered by an engine commonly found in motorcycles, but they have beds as large as a full-size pickup from Detroit. The combination of size and utility are virtues in their home country, where both land and natural resources are scarce.

Lately they have taken off in the U.S., where owners say they do nearly everything that bigger pickups can do and come with additional features—like being super sweet and making other drivers jealous. Even in states like Texas, where bigger is almost always better, kei trucks are flying off lots.

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But many states are barring them from public motorways because regulators say they are too fragile to share the road with American-sized automobiles. Kei truck superfans say size prejudice is at play and they’re revving up for a fight.

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