Mitsubishi Minica LA20
Mitsubishi turned its practical 360 light van into a tiny true passenger sedan, complete with a separate trunk and a name made from “mini-car.”
Mitsubishi Minica LA Front JPN.jpg · ignis · CC BY-SA 3.0
Research pending
A matching completed auction sale has not been verified for this exact year, body, trim, engine, transmission and market.
Joyride shows this gap instead of substituting an asking price, unsold bid or mismatched special vehicle.
More than a set of wheels.
Mitsubishi launched the Minica in October 1962 as its first passenger kei car. It borrowed the Mitsubishi 360 light van's front structure and rear-hinged doors but gained a cliff-cut rear window and a separate trunk to look and work more like a small sedan. The first LA20 retained the 360's front-mounted, air-cooled two-stroke twin and rear-wheel drive. At just under three metres long and 1.3 metres wide, it fit Japan's kei rules while seating four. Later first-generation Minicas gained more powerful reed-valve or water-cooled engines, so those upgrades are deliberately separated from this launch specification.
Look a little closer.
The name “Minica” comes from “mini-car,” and the chrome-ringed three-diamond badge sat right on the hood.
Photos show an example of the model or generation. The pictured vehicle’s year, equipment, or modifications can differ from the specification described here.
Van bones, passenger-car manners
The Minica was not simply a Mitsubishi 360 van with rear seats. Mitsubishi kept the front and rear-hinged doors, then redesigned the tail with a nearly vertical rear window and a distinct trunk. That gave buyers the look and luggage separation expected of a passenger sedan within kei-car dimensions.
Source: Mitsubishi Motors · Car History ↗Why later power claims do not belong here
Mitsubishi's history notes that later versions adopted a reed-valve inlet for sustained high-speed running. The October 1962 LA20 instead used the original 17 PS air-cooled ME21, so later 21 or 23 PS figures cannot be copied backward into this launch profile.
Source: GAZOO · 1962 Mitsubishi Minica catalogue ↗Where these facts come from
- Mitsubishi Motors · Car History
- GAZOO · 1962 Mitsubishi Minica catalogue
- Automobile-Catalog · 1962 Mitsubishi Minica LA20
Selected facts checked for this edition. Some source pages link to broader model families. Last reviewed October 1, 2026.