Start with a Toyota RAV4, render in classic Chevrolet sports utility cues … and, it’s the start of a special friendship.

SEEMS everyone wants to meet the Buddy, a Toyota RAV4 alchemised into something like an American Chevrolet sports utility from the 1980s.

It’s the latest work from Japan’s 10th largest passenger vehicle producer, a brand you can only name check from used import rosters, and since being revealed in Japan last month has attracted so much attention the entire production for the next two years is accounted for.

Mitsuoka Motors doesn’t export, yet even so it has developed something of a worldwide reputation for its speciality  - putting a retro spin on popular modern models.  

It’s been busy in recent years with the Himiko, a rebody of the previous generation of the world’s best selling sports car, the Mazda MX-5, so that it looks a bit like a 1980s’ Morgan, and the Viewt, a half-scale homage to the legendary Jaguar Mk II of the 1960s. Based off the Nissan March, which was sold new here as the Micra until five years ago, that one stayed in production for 25 years and achieved sales exceeding 12,000 units. A small number has found their way to NZ.

Those cars are now yesterday’s news. Consumers are now hankering for sports utilities – and so the Buddy was born to meet that demand.

The design influence comes from the Chevrolet Blazer pick up truck-based wagons produced for North America in the early 1980s.

The shiny grille and the two-piece rectangular headlights and the rear-end reshape are particularly reminiscent.

Even though the donor model has a relatively squared silhouette, the Buddy is much boxier still, so quite a few exterior panels have been replaced or at least altered.

The wheels as well. Buyers can order the Buddy with ‘dog dish’ hubcaps and vintage-looking wheels.  

Once again, the reproduction is a physically smaller vehicle than those that it draws inspiration from.

Don't expect to find a 454-cubic-inch V8 in the engine bay or a period-correct column shift  transmission; Mitsuoka has kept the original Toyota drivetrain in place.  

In this respect, though, the Buddy is at the leading edge of technology, in that the top version is provisioned with the electric-assisted 2.5-litre petrol hybrid setup that has become the most popular choice for Kiwi RAV4 buyers. 

AS said, if you’d like an example of this artisan car, be prepared to join a long queue. Mitsuoka doesn’t work in high volumes. They reckon on knocking out 50 next years and 150 in 2022 - and every build slot for the next two years is spoken for.

 Pricing for the Buddy starts at the equivalent of $64,000 for the non-electrified model and rises to just under $84k for the hybrid.