Mini Japanese pickups are seemingly on course to supersede customised Suzuki Jimnys as the must-have runabout for UK farms.

Already this year we’ve featured importers of two such vehicles – Abbey Commercials with its second-hand Suzuki Quadtruck, and Motoyama, which sells near-new Daihatsi Hijets.

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And now there’s a third, with Herefordshire farmer Monty Gorringe getting in on the action with his fledgling UK Mini Trucks business.

He will be bringing in older Hijet 4x4s, with vintages ranging from 2006 to 2018 and clock counts of between 30,000 and 60,000 miles.

© UK Mini Trucks

All come with 660cc petrol engines, which put out 45-55hp depending on the model. 

Both manual and automatic transmissions are available and the top speed on road tyres is 70mph. However, this drops to about 45mph when shod with Maxxis Ceros tyres.

These are fitted as part of his £1,699 “extreme off-road kit”, along with custom steel rims, a 2in lift kit and extended wheel arches.

Buyers can also spec a 750kg-rated towbar (£385), Raptor bed liner (£248), Gamic canopy (£650), full-length belly pan (£320) and a bull bar (£462), some of which Monty builds in his own workshop.

Standard trucks start at about £6,000 (ex-VAT), which includes a service and fitment of fog lights, a UK radio with handsfree and Bluetooth, MOT and road registration.

Once the off-road kit has been fitted, they’re usually priced between £8,000 and £10,000.