What on earth is a Delta Mini Cruiser? That’s what I thought when I found this unique vehicle while on a road trip through Budapest, Hungary. I was with a fellow overlander and friend from The Czech Republic on a month long trek through Eastern Europe. We were just entering the Budapest area when this little yellow vehicle caught my eye. At first, I thought it was an FJ40. There aren’t many old Land Cruisers in Eastern Europe, so maybe it was just out of shear desperation and Land Cruiser withdrawal that I spied it. Milan and I flipped around to investigate further. It turns out it was a Delta Mini Cruiser. Sort of a copy of an FJ40, made by the Delta Motor Corporation in the Philippines under license from Toyota. Rough in construction, even when they were new from the factory, this one had even more character. The owner, recently passed, had imported it to Hungary and had added lots of his personal touches over the years. His daughter explained to us that he was famous all over Budapest for being the “Man with the little yellow jeep”
I ended up buying the Delta on the spot. A quick drive around the area made it obvious that I probably didn’t want to drive the Mini Cruiser the 350 or so miles back to Milan’s house. We went to a truck stop, and some efficient negotiations between Milan and a trucker, returning to Germany after dropping off a trailer load of new Mercedes Benz cars at a local dealership, netted a spot on a trailer bound for Hamburg for my new little yellow friend. Fortuitous! The rest of its journey to the United States wasn’t as smooth. The container ship it was on was lost at sea (temporarily) during Hurricane Sandy and months delayed, but that’s another story.
After spending the last 12 years at the Land Cruiser Heritage Museum, it’s finally time for this old friend to find a new home. I have a specific and really fun build in mind for this vehicle. Are you interested???
Inquires about this vehicle should be made to Jeremiah by emailing or calling the shop.
