The Cony Guppy was a tiny pickup truck manufactured by Aichi Machine Industry in Japan in 1961. With the company’s two-stroke, single-cylinder 199cc engine, the Guppy was originally designed to be a three-wheeled motorcycle. But designer Osamu Miyata eventually settled on a four-wheeled ute instead.
The center-mounted engine (just behind the cab) produced about 11 horsepower to the rear wheels via a torque converter and a scooter-based continuously variable transmission. This meant no gear shifting inside the Guppy, which was probably a good thing as there wasn’t really enough room in this tiny truck to move around.
An independent, four-wheel suspension system sat atop eight inch wheels.
Top speed for the little Guppy was about 50 miles per hour and its fuel economy was said to be about 117.6 mpg. The truck’s cargo capacity was about 220 pounds and it’s price was about $1,500 when converted to USD.
The Cony Guppy was only produced for one year before being discontinued and only a few hundred were sold. It was replaced by a more marketable vehicle called the Cony 360.
When Aichi was acquired by Nissan in 1966, 100 copies of the Guppy were produced for donation to the Kodomo No Kuni Children’s Park from leftover parts and engines. Playfully rounded bodywork and colors were used for these special productions, which were labeled as the “Datsun Baby” and given a speed limiter to hold them at 18.6 mph (30 km/h).
Several copies of the Guppy and Baby can be found in museums and collections throughout Japan, including one in the Toyota Automobile Museum.
Images courtesy of Wikimedia.
