Typically a double cab panel van like this Hyundai is called an aannemersbus in the Netherlands, translated a building contractors van. Usually the cargo is in the van (all burly crew members included), on top of the van and -especially- behind the van. A diesel engine, roof rack, trailer hitch, dents and a missing hubcap are all part of the standard equipment.
The H200, introduced in 1997, is better known as the Hyundai Starex or Hyundai H-1 in other parts of the world. It was based on the fourth generation of the Mitsubishi Delica.
For those too lazy to Google this:
Front engine, REAR wheel drive,
Gasoline and diesel engines…the gasoline engines being 2.5 or 3 liter Mitsubishi engines (4 cylinder and V6), the diesels are 2.5 Mitsubishi units.
Available as cargo and passenger vans, and as a “pickup truck”, really a sort of flatbed truck with fold down side panels.
Some automakers offer you a choice these days. An example, the Mercedes-Benz Vito panel van (Metris in the US):
FWD, yet only combined with the 1.6 liter Renault diesel.
RWD, with the 2,143 cc Benz diesel.
AWD, combined with the most powerful version (190 DIN-hp) of the Benz diesel.
Most American contractors seem to prefer pickups despite the exposure of tools and supplies to thieves and weather. I don’t understand it, unless it was the Chicken Tax drag on domestic van development over the years. Maybe the Transit and ProMaster will change this.
From Here I Can Tell That Vehicle Had Been Designed By A Stable Genius.Great CC.Thanks.
HAHA!
Well, the Dutch are sensible then. In Aus, for years, many tradespeople (known universally here as “tradies”) drove such things, albeit rarely with the back seat. Now, they all drive double cab utes like the Hilux, often 4wd, which seems less practical to me.
Our version of this car was called the Mitsubishi Stable Genius, sorry, no, totally distracted by the funny comment above, the Mitsubishi Starwagon. (Only a slightly less silly name really, for a cheap work van). It looked like this but with a few less grills and nostrils on it’s face.
I just returned from Europe, Germany and Holland in particular. I think I saw one pick up truck in Germany and one in Holland. There were loads of vans of every type, of course.
In North America, a pickup truck is a lot more than a work vehicle. It is a symbol of group membership and an aspiration. Many folks would never drive anything else. As far as I can see, a pickup makes a rotten commercial vehicle. I see them pulling trailers all the time, with nothing in the bed. I also regularly hear of horror stories fixing the diesel engines in them. It all strikes me as rather odd, since for the price of the pickup you can have a nice, say, Hino 308. It will pull and carry a lot more than any pickup and cost less doing it.
Europe is just not into huge automobiles. Fuel runs 1.50 Euro a litre and there are significant road taxes. None of my Dutch or German friends would be driving a 6.0 litre seven metre long truck to work.That is if they even drive to work, as the public transport net makes it unnecessary in cities.
I assume you did see plenty of these though, the Euro-version of the pickup. Single or double cab, with a flatbed and dropsides. This size (VW T6 below) or bigger, like a Benz Sprinter, Ford Transit or Iveco Daily.
In the more rural areas the US pickup certainly isn’t a rarity, either diesel or with an aftermarket LPG system. Yet always used and registered as a commercial verhicle. For the guys who want an exotic ride.
But the panel van rules of course. Nobody throws their expensive tools and all other items that must be protected against the elements (thieves included) in an open cargo bed.
Canuck, concur with your opinion. Pickups signal “Rugged Individualist,” and if there’s one thing Americans of all persuasions love to do, it’s advertise themselves. But so dominant is the type, even the US Border Patrol uses them as paddy wagons, though you’d think a van would be more sensible for this role if you have a large haul of captives; could it be ground clearance? I’m doubtful, since vans like the E-series and Express have been built on high-clearance pickup chassis.
That’s the long-wheelbase+high roof model. The Mitsubishi version was also available with a short wheelbase (no metal panel between the rear door and rear wheelarch) and a low roof (same bodyside up to the drip rail then flatter roof above). I got a Mitsubishi (badged L400 in New Zealand) version new in February 2004 as a company vehicle – see photo below. It was petrol – with the 97kW 2.4 Mitsi engine and 4-speed auto. Long wheelbase+high roof, and identical to the Hyundai above from the windscreen back. Decent enough size, but the rear leaf springs were far too soft and it’d drag its rear on the ground the minute I loaded it up or towed anything. This inherent (due to its passenger-van origins) inability to carry or tow much means it wouldn’t be my first (or second or third, fourth or fifth) choice as an aannemersbus!