Piaggio Porter

The Piaggio Porter is a cab-over microvan and pick-up produced and sold by the Italian company Piaggio since 1992 under its Piaggio Commercial Vehicle brand. It came from a joint venture between Piaggio, which held 51 percent, and Daihatsu, and was developed from the Japanese kei van Daihatsu Hijet S80, with a redesigned and strengthened front section to pass European crash tests. Production started at Pontedera in September 1992. The first versions were a panel van, a glazed four-seat van and pick-ups with a Daihatsu 1000 cc three-cylinder petrol engine. Diesel versions with Lombardini engines came in 1995, followed by electric, four-wheel-drive, LPG and twin-rear-wheel Maxxi versions. The Daihatsu-branded European version ended in 2002 when the joint venture was liquidated.