Because it was designed as a kei car, the Mighty Deck stands out as one of the smallest pickups on the planet. It stretches just 133 inches long, 57 inches wide and 60 inches tall, and it offers space for two passengers in a cockpit that looks surprisingly roomy considering the pickup’s Lilliputian footprint.
Designers put a major emphasis on practicality. In its regular configuration, the Mighty Deck is a pickup with a compact cargo bed that’s accessed via a small tailgate. The separation between the bed and the passenger compartment can be removed when the driver needs to carry long, bulky item, a design solution that’s reminiscent of the Chevrolet Avalanche. Finally, the bed floor can be raised by a few inches in order to create a lockable storage compartment.
Power comes from a turbocharged three-cylinder engine that makes approximately 63 horsepower, the maximum allowed by kei car regulations. The three-pot is bolted to an automatic transmission, but Suzuki hasn’t revealed if the concept is front- or all-wheel drive.
What the future holds for the Mighty Deck concept is anyone’s guess at this point. It seems a little outlandish for production, but the Mighty Boy that Suzuki built during the 1980s was very similar to the Mighty Deck (at least on paper), so the show car could one day see the light that awaits at the end of the production line. If it’s built, it’s not likely to go on sale outside of Japan.
The Mighty Deck won’t be the only new model on the Suzuki stand in Tokyo. The company is also bringing a handful of new concepts and production cars including an experimental van called Air Triser and the production version of the heritage-laced iM-4 concept that was presented in Geneva earlier this year.
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