If there’s one thing that I feel like I can rely on in these uncertain times, it’s that Daihatsu will always motherclamming bring it to any concept car situation. Now they’ve done it again, at the 2025 Gaikindo Indonesia Auto Show in Jakarta, Indonesia, where the company showed a variant of their Gran Max light commercial van but modified to be more like their off-road vehicles like the Taft, and so the ruggedized one-off van concept gets the name Gran Max Taft Guy, which is a truly remarkable name for a car.
This concept was done in collaboration with Indonesian car tuner Gofar Hilman and Indonesia’s National Modificator & Aftermarket Association (NMAA). The goal seems to be to transform a workhorse utility van into a fun, go-anywhere overlanding van, albeit one that also manages to be plucky and kind of adorable.
I know the name has “Taft” in it, after the Daihatsu Taft off-roader that was sold in Japan and other markets (sometimes as a Toyota Blizzard) but the look of the front end is really far closer to the Taft’s replacement, the Rugger. Here, look for yourself:
That’s pretty much an exact re-creation there, even down to the indicators and bumper design. It definitely feels like the Rugger design vocabulary applied to a van, which, I suppose, is exactly what it is.
I really like the feel of this thing, the color, the character, the fun, pluckiness, all of it. Plus, based on these walk-around videos, it seems to have wind-up windows and pleasing upholstery that looks a bit like houndstooth? Ignore the awful AI voiceover:
Jeez, I guess they all have translated AI voiceovers:
Still, it’s fun. Here’s what Daihatsu has to say about it:
The Daihatsu Gran Max Taft Guy, a collaboration between Daihatsu, Gofar Hilman, and NMAA, combines modern toughness with classic Taft styling. Featuring a retro off-road style, the car can be won through a raffle for any Daihatsu car buyer from July 1–September 30, 2025. The winner will be announced at the peak of the IMX 2025 event.
Look at that! If you can get to Indonesia and buy a Daihatsu before September 30, you can actually win this one-off concept van! You’ve been wanting to go to Indonesia to buy a car, haven’t you? Sure you have.
The van’s normal taillights have been removed and simpler ones have been relocated into the rear bumper bar, a nice classic touch. The spare wheel on the rear door also adds a lot of off-roader character to the van, and since we’re talking about wheels, we may as well note that the Gran Max Taft Guy uses Turbo Bastard wheels:
I’m not familiar with this brand of aftermarket wheel, but they do seem to be A Thing, at least in Indonesia, and likely elsewhere. I just like to imagine almost any other OEM putting an official concept car on the stand with “bastard” written somewhere on it, because I feel like that’s pretty unlikely to happen.
This is a fun concept, and once again I salute Daihatsu for keeping things fun.
Now I want a SAAB 99 TURBO with “BASTARD” decals added on in the same font.
(And Aztek rims of course)
Love the wheels, although I wouldn’t be able to get away with them on my Prius. However, I have smoked a couple of guys at stop lights so I could get in the single lane that wasn’t being repaired…
The front of that gives serious Leyland Sherpa vibes, especially in that colour!
Why can’t I have this?
Agreed. Around-town errands would be so much more entertaining tooling around in one of those. The front end almost reminds me of something Soviet… like a boxy Lada trucklet or something, though the rear seems more generic Japanese Kei van. 16″ wheels mean cheap tires. Roll-up windows and some sort of interesting pattern on the seats? Perfect. 🙂
Serious answer probably has to do with US motor vehicle safety standards, but yes: why not?
I probably shouldn’t want to put my family in this? But I really want to, lol.
Perfect overlanding van concept designed by the most appropriately named fellow: Gofar Hilman
In case you miss it, there’s ANOTHER van concept next to it called the Gran Max City Pop inspired by the Kei Daihatsu Hijet which looks equally rad. https://daihatsu.co.id/giias/produk/gran-max-city-pop
Awesome web site!
This is another reason why Kei vehicles should be a 100% legal category of popular transport in the USA. And teenagers will have something cool to strive for that they could actually afford to buy.
Would you choose this or Toyota Grand Highlander?
Does the Grand Highlander have TURBO BASTARD wheels? No? Then I think you know my answer.
Turbo Bastard Turbo FAN wheels. On an overlanding kei van! This thing rocks.
Waiting for a pic from the professor showing he has Turbo Bastard wheels on his Grand Highlander
Unfortunately no, since the biggest size they offer is R16 for now. Unless if you can fit R16 wheels on Grand Highlander
Depends, where can I store all the cellos?
You can always put them on the roof rack if you feel the interior space a bit tight
Just when anomie threatened to overtake me, the state of the world seemed hopeless, this article about the Taft Guy, Grand Max no less, comes along, with its associated comments, and brings me straight to my happy place. Thanks Jason, thanks Daihatsu, and thanks Autopians. I’m gonna sleep well tonight. Now if I could just get the Taft “WH Edition,” (Dig it! WH=William Howard =White House!)with those deep deep bucket seats? Ah, heaven!
I MUST HAVE TURBO BASTARD WHEELS!!! Anyone have a boat i can borrow? Ill bring ya back a set.
The wheel brand seems to have used 1552 Turbomac wheels as a template for the base wheel, then added turbofan covers and lovely decals. I’m guessing you can make the covers and vinyl decals for less then your plane ticket. People have been making DIY turbofan covers now for a while. One company apparently makes them for Tesla wheels, which is dumb since they have regen braking and don’t generate heat, but hey! Let’s look futuristic with fan covers from 70’s racecars. Also Teslas…yuck.
Turbo Bastard would make a great speed metal band name.
Every time I see something like this posted, it makes me lament the death of small, joyful van adjacent vehicles in the US. It wasn’t so long ago that the Cube, Xb, Soul, PT Cruiser, HHR, Mini Clubman, Element, Transit Connect, C-Max, Metris and Mazda5 wandered our shores.
Now they’re gone. Every single one. With the cyclical nature of design, I will bet a pizza that by 2028 at least three car makers will be introducing small wagovans to plant their flag on this now uncontested territory.
Even as we speak, a group of young engineers are huddled around a Kei van asking themselves, “Why can’t we make something like this?”
I’ll agree with all of those but the HHR. I drove one as a rental years ago. I can recall nothing joyful about it.
The HHR carried on the proud legacy of cheap GM vehicles – it might be shitty to drive but it’ll keep driving shittily for a long time!
It definitely wasn’t a good car, but it was fun and whimsical.
Well there was an HHR SS…
I’ve never driven one though I am hopeful that they were/are fun to drive!?!
I’m a firm believer that while certainly some cars are more fun to drive than others… nearly Any motorized vehicle can be made to be ‘fun to drive’ i.e. hoon…
The secret is in the nut behind the wheel 😉
The Soul is still here.
Kia announced in May that they are discontinuing it after the 2025 MY.
I had not heard that.Thanks for the info.
I hope those hamsters find rewarding future work.
America had a car called the Edsel. Even then it was kind of a strange name. Today it would be like naming your car the “Oswaldo”.
To be fair, cars in our market didn’t always have sensible names other. Park Avenue, Lucerne, Monte Carlo, and TriBeCa are all cars that wouldn’t be… favored… by people of these locales.
The bumper looks like a Daihatsu Rugger despite being named after the Taft is because in Indonesia the Rugger WAS called the Taft. And sadly the original was not named after the president but “Tough and Almighty Four-wheel Touring Vehicle”.
And the wide track model briefly sold in the US was called Rocky. Not after the copyrighted Stallone character, but the general concept of rocks.
That last sentence nearly made my laptop become coffee stained. Well said fellow Autopian.
I still bought a Tomica of the Taft because that’s the name of the street I grew up on, named after the ex-president.
Pretty sure it’s named for President Taft, and why shouldn’t it be?!
President Taft was a large guy, he weighed 350 pounds. You can sit in a chair that was custom made so he wouldn’t get stuck in it. https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/21475
But was a weirdly good dancer, apparently
I wish Toyota would work with them to bring some of these weird things to the US market.
If dealers are worried about Kei trucks cutting into their sales, pressure Toyota to bring us something like this.
I saw a first generation xB today and I would absolutely buy another one of those given the chance. I didn’t needed to worry about damage from hauling things. It was fun to drive and was very easy to load and unload humans, cargo and dogs.
It was a great vehicle for in-town errands or short interstate stints.
100 percent bring this here AND the $13000 Toyota Hilux Champ!
Yes Toyota would have to make it here + get it certified, still can you imagine a 100 percent utility Toyota single cab work truck for lass than $20K!!!
https://www.motor1.com/news/698055/toyota-13000-dollar-hilux-champ/
Sigh I love it
Turbo Bastard was Rob Halford’s love child.
Turbo Bastard reminds me of the unfortunately discontinued DickAss parts.
I searched Amazon and eBay for “turbo bastard wheel” and got no results. 🙁
I heard there is an embargo on these wheels because they have same name as JD Vance’s nickname.
What?
I thought his nickname was Fat Faced Furniture F*cker. I got bad information.
Remember, he’s on his third legal AKA now, so he’s easily got more than one nickname.
His drag name is Ashley Furniture.
Torch’s is Amber Blinker.
I am glad I wasn’t drinking anything.
Never stop commenting. Those are gold.
The Sectional Predator.
No, you were correct.
Even upgrarage and gumtree don’t have them! Figured maybe you’d be able to get them in Japan or Australia.
I have to believe the Gran Max Taft Guy is an homage to William Howard Taft, the 27th President of the United States, a very large man and the only one (so far as we know) who got stuck in the Whitehouse bathtub.
Taft had a terrible relationship with horses and the presidential coach and coach horses were replaced by motor cars during his term as part of the White House modernization.
Taft was a huge man and it was a real problem finding a horse large enough to support his bulk. Taft was thrown by one of the horses that he attempted to ride shortly before it was decided to replace horses at the White House. It’s possible this was a factor in the decision to replace the White House horses and coach.
Taft had such problems with horses that when he was Governor-General of the Philippines and it was reported that he had taken a 25-mile horseback ride, Elihu Root, a good friend and then Secretary of War sent him a cable, “How is the horse?”
I’d like to think the little Daihatsu van is a good-natured poke at ol’ Willy Howard’s equine misfortunes. Otherwise, I like the Gran Max Taft Guy concept very much.
My mind went to WH Taft as well. And of all the presidents in US history, he was one of them.
The biggest one (so far)!
Literally, he could’ve been three of them.
I really hope this is true. I used to spend a lot of time in VT and the Taft Homestead was on my route. I thought about that fat bastard every time I passed the marker on Rt 30.
I hope the Taft Guy has helper springs.
Don’t be daft, get a Taft!
You (turbo) bastard.
I love the Rugger name. Can do without the turbofan wheels though. Overall I like.
I guess it’s supposed to evoke ‘rugged’, but it’s also what upper class twits call rugby.
I love how the font on those wheels looks like the motorhead logo
“That’s the way I like it, baby, (these wheels aren’t) gonna last forever!”