4WD Vans: Mitsubishi Delica

The Mitsubishi Delica is to 4WD vans what the Toyota Landcruiser is to SUVs: a global 4WD icon--for those who want a van that does pretty much everything an SUV can do.

While a 4WD van might not be every off road enthusiasts cup of tea, there's something to be said for 8 passenger seating when it's combined with locking differentials, turbo diesel engines, skid plates, long travel suspension, and a low range transfer case.

While the Mitsubishi Delica might look at home in a Godzilla movie, it's actually right at home on rough trails, 4x4 access roads, and third world byways all over the planet. This is a van that climbs, crawls, and gets you where you need to be.

Early Mitsubishi Delica's (the L300s) were very basic unibody vans most often powered by a 2.5 diesel engine, but the later L400 Delica was essentially a van body bolted on to the very refined Mitsubishi Pajero chassis (complete with 2.8 litre turbo intercooled diesel engine).

Today the new Delica D5 is only sold in Japan, but older models are very popular grey market imports in countries around the world, from Canada to Austrailia--but not in the United States unfortunately, due to protectionist grey market import rules.