(July 4, 2018) It's extremely rare to come across a Mitsubishi Delica cab-over van in the United States because is has never come to our shores. It has been sold in Japan and other Asian countries, some European countries and in Australia and New Zealand since its inception in 1968.

As rare as they are in the U.S., we found a loaded-down Delica traveling on State Route 12, designated a Scenic Byway proceeding from west to east for 122 miles crossing part of Dixie National Forest and Bryce Canyon National Park through mountains and desert in Utah. Several small towns can be found on the winding stretch of blacktop.

We made a stop in Boulder, a tiny hamlet of no more than a couple hundred people, for a bite to eat and saw parked in the restaurant lot a Mitsubishi Delica.



An occupant of the vehicle said it was a third-generation 1992 model from Japan with right-hand drive and powered by 2.5-liter turbo diesel engine with four-wheel drive. We didn't ask about the transmission, but that model was available with a four-speed automatic or a five-speed manual transmission.

He said the vehicle had only 100,000 miles on the odometer and could manage a steady 65 mph on the highway, although it was a bit slow in the acceleration department.

The Delica is a apparently becoming more common in the U.S. as importers are buying more used vans in Japan to sell in North America.

— Jim Meachen